Slashdot Mirror

We used to use Symantic antivirus at my workplace. Then we had a virus outbreak. Not a cutting-edge virus, just an old USB-stick-infector that symantic was powerless against. Didn't even detect it half the time, and when it did failed to do anything. So we use Sophos now.

Apparently some (most/all?) AV vendors age out virus signatures after a while, so that there aren't too many to be checked. You might want to consider AppGuard, which helps fill the gaps left by AV products. (Disclosure: I work for the company that makes AppGuard.)

This isn't true, and you can prove it yourself by looking at AV comparative tests. Most signatures apply after some form of hashing, so the problem isn't O(n) anyway.

We used to use Symantic antivirus at my workplace. Then we had a virus outbreak. Not a cutting-edge virus, just an old USB-stick-infector that symantic was powerless against. Didn't even detect it half the time, and when it did failed to do anything. So we use Sophos now.

Apparently some (most/all?) AV vendors age out virus signatures after a while, so that there aren't too many to be checked. You might want to consider AppGuard, which helps fill the gaps left by AV products. (Disclosure: I work for the company that makes AppGuard.)

Since I lost the battle to raise my kid with a Linux computer, I bought an anti-virus product (Norton Internet-something) with the XP machine we ended up getting and also installed AppGuard. The Norton product allows me to block certain types of web sites and also catches most malware that may be encountered by MSIE, Firefox, and Thunderbird (I won that skirmish). AppGuard guards against zero-day attacks for stuff that isn't in the anti-virus signatures yet and is an excellent final ring of defense. I also have Windows Defender installed and have Windows auto-update turned on.

I personally believe that employees should be professional enough not to go surfing porn sites and the stuff the web-blocking component blocks, but your parents have a right to run their business the way they choose. It is, however, unrealistic to expect non-IT employees to recognize every possible attack vector, particularly when even IT people with years of experience can be taken in, and it is crazy to run Windows computers in an office environment without an anti-virus.

Full disclosure: I work for the maker of AppGuard, but I work on different products. My recommendation is based on my personal experience with it.

Instead of reloading Windows after you format, install a Linux distribution. Problem solved. Or, if you insist on reinstalling Windows, get AppGuard, which will block the stuff your anti-virus misses. (Full disclosure: I work for the company that produces it, but it's kept my daughter's computer virus-free for six months now.)

Also, as others have suggested, a Mac will reduce your workload, but I consider Apple to be even more of a dictatorship than Microsoft.

Try EdgeGuard or AppGuard. They provide protection against malware from USB drives or zero-day web site exploits. (Full disclosure: I work for the company that produces these.)

Try EdgeGuard or AppGuard. They provide protection against malware from USB drives or zero-day web site exploits. (Full disclosure: I work for the company that produces these.)