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You Don't Need an Antivirus (Except Microsoft's Built-in on Windows), Says Former Firefox Developer (ocallahan.org)

Posted by msmash on from the this-should-be-interesting dept.

Former Firefox developer Robert O'Callahan believes that antivirus software is not necessary, AV vendors are of little help, and that you should uninstall your antivirus software immediately. From a blog post: Users have been fooled into associating AV vendors with security and you don't want AV vendors bad-mouthing your product. AV software is broadly installed and when it breaks your product, you need the cooperation of AV vendors to fix it. (You can't tell users to turn off AV software because if anything bad were to happen that the AV software might have prevented, you'll catch the blame.) When your product crashes on startup due to AV interference, users blame your product, not AV. Worse still, if they make your product incredibly slow and bloated, users just think that's how your product is.

5 of 352 comments (clear)

  1. This is obvious even to AV vendors by The-Ixian · · Score: 5, Informative

    The writing has been on the wall for a while now. You rarely get "just AV" when you install an AV product these days. You end up with a whole suite of value added applications like password managers, system optimizers, registry cleaners, web site scanners, IPS and content filters, etc.

    The reactionary system we have been living in was never very good. Relying on signatures to detect malware is a fundamentally flawed system. As the operating systems and, more importantly, the applications that run on them become increasingly secure, the need for the signature-based AV systems declines.

    Any AV software company has seen this coming for a long time. At least I would hope they have.

    --
    My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
  2. Re:hyper-v and don't install chrome extensions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Another benefit of using a virtual machine is just powering it off when you are finished and having it reset to the last snapshot. Every month or so apply patches and move your snapshot forward.

  3. Ad Block by EvilSS · · Score: 5, Insightful

    These days one of the best AV products is a good ad blocker. I can protect myself from sketchy downloads: don't download sketchy software or from sketchy sites. I can't prevent some asshat from exploiting a zero day in a browser through an ad on a mainstream site, except by blocking all ads on all sites.

    *Yes, trusted sites can be comprised and it's happened in the past where downloads were infected but the odds that I'll download that software during that window where the infected files are being handed out are about the same as me getting stuck by lightning.

    --
    I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
    1. Re:Ad Block by interkin3tic · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I use addblock, ghostery, and noscript to protect myself from viruses

      "YOU'RE KILLING THE INTERNET!"

      Yeah, well the internet infected and killed one of my computers, so I'm going to be wearing an internet condom from now on. Besides, you can't tell me no one is viewing ads anymore when my aunt still is using windows XP.

      "What websites were you LOOKING at that killed your comptuer?"

      Oh the usual ones, porn, porn, yahoo, and more porn.

      "You pervert! Use google instead!"

  4. Re:hyper-v and don't install chrome extensions by CaptnCrud · · Score: 5, Funny

    I do the same thing, except I have the song ~smooth operator by sade playing in the background when im in "secure" mode.