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Anti Virus is a net good, although the entire OS industry understands that it is an outdated way of thinking about endpoint protection. You could say what you s
by parl_match 2y ago
Anti Virus is a net good, although the entire OS industry understands that it is an outdated way of thinking about endpoint protection. You could say what you said about lots of software, including almost anything with a built in updating feature.
That in mind, there's no reason to use anything but Windows defender on Windows (unless youre a high value target)
- soraminazuki 2y agoNo, the same can't be said about other software. No other kind of software runs with kernel privileges and goes out of its way to touch everything within sight, be it files, sockets, devices, or processes. No other kind of software disables or gets in the way of implementing hardening measures of other security critical software. No other kind of software messes with browsers and OSes, and at the same time, invest so less in making its architecture and implementation at least as secure as the thing they're messing with. Well, maybe except other user hostile software like malware and DRM. Antiviruses dramatically increase the attack surface of the system, both in theory and practice. Even an antivirus without the flaws isn't much useful. It's in essence solving the halting problem. Only worse because instead of determining whether a program halts, antiviruses seek to determine whether a program is "bad." A vague criteria that even human beings have trouble defining let alone come up with an algorithm for it. Many of these issues are inherent to antiviruses. Windows Defender, coming from an OS vendor, may perhaps be better in terms of implementation. However, even good implementations can’t overcome fundamental problems that stem from the very idea of the software itself.