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I question why Windows continues to need increasingly demanding and intrusive anti-malware when Mac and Linux get along just fine without it. The architecture o

I question why Windows continues to need increasingly demanding and intrusive anti-malware when Mac and Linux get along just fine without it. The architecture of Windows must be aging terribly if the only way one can keep it safe is by humongous and intrusive real time scanning. My experiences with Windows Defender's realtime protection has not been pleasant. Almost one core being used exclusively to check every network and filesystem operation. I recommend if users have any security common sense whatsoever they can safely disable Defender and manually run it once a month.

floatingatoll 7y ago
Mac has intrusive anti-malware that is almost a carbon copy of Windows Defender, or used to be anyways (perhaps one or the other have changed in the past few years!). See also https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20407233 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20407233 Linux is a wasteland of terrible security practices that sysadmins excuse as "acceptable" for their own workstations and servers because they think that locking down SSH is sufficient defense against e.g. malicious infections or "curl | bash". I'm sorry that Defender has harmed you, but that's no excuse to recommend others disable automated Defender scans on some sort of schedule.
- jrochkind1 7y ago
  The link you link to is "Apple has pushed a silent Mac update to remove hidden Zoom web server." It has little to do with the functions of Windows Defender. It was a special purpose function removing one very particular file from a specific location. It was not scanning your whole system, or downloads, for malware signatures. When you say MacOS includes software that is "almost a carbon copy of Windows Defender," are you talking about something else? I am not aware of anything that comes with MacOS that has similar features to Windows Defender.
  - cwyers 7y ago
    macOS has had malware detection since Snow Leopard: https://www.osnews.com/story/22059/snow-leopard-to-include-anti-virusmalware/ https://www.osnews.com/story/22059/snow-leopard-to-include-a...
  - floatingatoll 7y ago
    You misunderstand how this system works. The Zoom removals were malware signature definition file update #45 and #46, iirc, since the feature went live years ago. I encourage further research.
diminoten 7y ago
Every person you recommend that to is worse of having heard you say that. Stop telling people to turn off Windows Defender.
mattlondon 7y ago
The best way to keep it safe is let it auto install patches, and don't download or run anything dodgy. Same as it had always been. I leave windows defender on 100% of the time on my personal laptop. It's totally benign in my experience and doesn't have any obvious performance impact that I can see. I would never tell anyone to turn off windows defender. I have told people to uninstall ageing AVG/avast/Norton et Al installs that have not had definition updates in months/years and really do seem to impact day to day use of the computer. My view is leave the virus checker that was built by the people who made windows and is built directly into windows there to do the job that the people who built the damn thing designed it to do :)
Beldin 7y ago
I question why Windows continues to need increasingly demanding and intrusive anti-malware when Mac and Linux get along just fine without it. If nothing else (and there is), mac and linux need anti-malware to make sure they will never spread windows malware. E.g. in mails, or uploaded files.
bitwize 7y ago
"I question why Rust continues to need increasingly demanding and intrusive borrow checking when C and C++ get along just fine without it." Today, we consider C and C++ to be inherently unsafe, because nobody ever does the things you need to do to make them safe. It's time we said the same about operating systems. "Oh, just don't run anything sketchy off the web!" Except your user base won't do that. In 2019, any OS that does not come with strong antimalware protection is inherently unsafe at any speed. Yes, this means Windows is safer than Linux. Don't @ me.

floatingatoll 7y ago

Mac has intrusive anti-malware that is almost a carbon copy of Windows Defender, or used to be anyways (perhaps one or the other have changed in the past few years!). See also https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20407233 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20407233 Linux is a wasteland of terrible security practices that sysadmins excuse as "acceptable" for their own workstations and servers because they think that locking down SSH is sufficient defense against e.g. malicious infections or "curl | bash". I'm sorry that Defender has harmed you, but that's no excuse to recommend others disable automated Defender scans on some sort of schedule.

jrochkind1 7y ago
The link you link to is "Apple has pushed a silent Mac update to remove hidden Zoom web server." It has little to do with the functions of Windows Defender. It was a special purpose function removing one very particular file from a specific location. It was not scanning your whole system, or downloads, for malware signatures. When you say MacOS includes software that is "almost a carbon copy of Windows Defender," are you talking about something else? I am not aware of anything that comes with MacOS that has similar features to Windows Defender.
- cwyers 7y ago
  macOS has had malware detection since Snow Leopard: https://www.osnews.com/story/22059/snow-leopard-to-include-anti-virusmalware/ https://www.osnews.com/story/22059/snow-leopard-to-include-a...
- floatingatoll 7y ago
  You misunderstand how this system works. The Zoom removals were malware signature definition file update #45 and #46, iirc, since the feature went live years ago. I encourage further research.

diminoten 7y ago

Every person you recommend that to is worse of having heard you say that. Stop telling people to turn off Windows Defender.

mattlondon 7y ago

The best way to keep it safe is let it auto install patches, and don't download or run anything dodgy. Same as it had always been. I leave windows defender on 100% of the time on my personal laptop. It's totally benign in my experience and doesn't have any obvious performance impact that I can see. I would never tell anyone to turn off windows defender. I have told people to uninstall ageing AVG/avast/Norton et Al installs that have not had definition updates in months/years and really do seem to impact day to day use of the computer. My view is leave the virus checker that was built by the people who made windows and is built directly into windows there to do the job that the people who built the damn thing designed it to do :)

Beldin 7y ago

I question why Windows continues to need increasingly demanding and intrusive anti-malware when Mac and Linux get along just fine without it. If nothing else (and there is), mac and linux need anti-malware to make sure they will never spread windows malware. E.g. in mails, or uploaded files.

bitwize 7y ago

"I question why Rust continues to need increasingly demanding and intrusive borrow checking when C and C++ get along just fine without it." Today, we consider C and C++ to be inherently unsafe, because nobody ever does the things you need to do to make them safe. It's time we said the same about operating systems. "Oh, just don't run anything sketchy off the web!" Except your user base won't do that. In 2019, any OS that does not come with strong antimalware protection is inherently unsafe at any speed. Yes, this means Windows is safer than Linux. Don't @ me.