Presumably, we are susceptible to malware attacks any time we are in front of a computer. Virtual pests are spread all over the virtual world, even just being connected to the internet can compromise the integrity of your data.
News about hacker and virus invasions is becoming more and more frequent and scares a good percentage of internet users. But security companies are working at a fast pace to develop programs that stop the malicious actions of such threats, which are emerging and proliferating at a frightening rate.
But there are also those who say that defense software is unnecessary. Often labeled as insane, these users prefer to bet on their experience to survive cyberattacks. But is it possible to survive without an antivirus protecting the computer? In this article, Tecmundo explains this related question.
Who said an antivirus is indispensable?
commitment to performance
The argument most often used by those who decide to remove computer antivirus is high resource consumption. At least in this, you cannot eliminate the causes of these people. Some protection software requires large amounts of dedicated RAM and processor memory, which can cause annoying slowdowns on machines with limited hardware.
Research by the Raymond website shows that an antivirus takes up 100MB of memory at rest. In another study by the same site, defense programs increased the boot time of the operating system (in this case Windows XP) by up to 110 seconds. Obviously, due to the wide variety of applications of this type, you can find options with much lower consumption.
Troublesome error
The “disadvantages” of antiviruses do not end there. Another very common complaint among users is the presence of false positives when protection software identifies a harmless feature of the operating system as a threat and eventually removes it.
These improper deletions can cause serious damage to the operating system if files necessary for its functioning are accidentally deleted. If this happens to you, know that a headache is for sure. To fix this, a little info can help alleviate the problem. “False positive: what to do when antivirus throws too many errors?” See article.
always late
Basically, antivirus software works by comparing the digital certificates of every file that tries to get into your computer against a list of known malware. If the content is not identified as a threat, it can install itself on the storage disk.
And then the gaps start to appear. If a newly created virus tries to find itself on your machine, the antivirus program will not recognize it, as its database (where the list of known malicious certificates is kept) has not yet been updated with the new malware.
So the malware has free access to do the damage it wants. Because of this way of working, many experts in the field consider antiviruses to be “outdated” applications by nature. Click here to learn more about how these programs work.
False sense of security
Contrary to what many users think, antiviruses do not clean up the mess created by intruders. These programs aim to prevent virtual malware from accessing computer resources. Problems caused by viruses are not solved with these applications.
It is possible that some antivirus alternatives include external tools to repair minor flaws caused by the invading action of malware. However, they do not have such a function in essence.
However, antiviruses give a false sense of security. It’s common to find internet users who, after scanning their computer, read a message like “Your computer is safe” and click on any link they pass by suspicious websites.
But are you really completely safe? Did the antivirus scan all sectors of the storage disk as it should? Has he checked that there are no holes in the OS exposing the machine? Has the program checked that the operating system and other applications are up to date?
It’s hard to be 100% calm among so many questions. Therefore, it is important for the user to have some basic precautions, which you will learn later. Want to know if we can trust antiviruses? Then read this article.
Survival Tips for a PC Without Antivirus
There are dozens of types of computer attacks. Among such threats, two have come to the fore in recent years. The first is called Social Engineering, which consists of deceptive techniques used to illegally obtain sensitive information. In the early days of their existence, scammers pretended to be other people to break into companies and get what they wanted.
In the age of technology, the method has been adapted for computers. Have you ever come across an email on behalf of famous banks (you don’t even have an account) asking you to update your registration? This is a simple and pervasive example of Social Engineering in action in the virtual world. The scammer causes the internet user to believe that this is a message from the financial institution to obtain access data to the person’s money.
The second modality on the rise is the spread of viruses through social networks, communication mechanisms that have become hot on the Internet. Via social networking sites, crackers try to deceive users or spread infected files to steal personal data.
Stay on top of all types of cyber threats with the article “Word of Evil: Know the different types of computer attacks.” As you can see, we are constantly surrounded by malware trying to trick us. In this context, antiviruses have a lot of work to do, and often they just don’t do it.
Research conducted by NSS Labs has proven that the response time of protection software is far from reassuring. According to research, the effectiveness of antivirus software drops to less than half when faced with unknown malware. According to the published chart, it took more than 45 hours on average for defense programs to take action against the attacker.
In response to this survey, Alfred Huger, president of the Immunet company, made an analogy to the Krebs on Security website:
“People need to understand that an antivirus is more like a seat belt than an armored vehicle: It may save your life in an accident, but it may not.
Advice to save your information
The expert’s words mean that we must constantly monitor ourselves while surfing the Internet. It is very important that we prevent contamination of the machine so that we do not have the stolen information. As the old saying goes: Prevention is better than cure.
Check out some suggestions that can protect the integrity of your personal data without an antivirus:
- Always keep the operating system up-to-date as new apps bring more advanced security features;
- Do not click on unknown links. If available, access the website specified in the posted address by typing the URL directly into the browser;
- Use a normal profile for routine activities. Users with Administrator permissions on the machine can provide loopholes for malware to use their privileges to circumvent OS defenses;
- Only download from trusted sites like Baixaki;
- Try using only password protected wireless networks;
- It is recommended that you verify any application before installing it using a technique known as sandbox;
- Create a partition on the storage disk to hold your documents and sensitive data – preferably encrypt this content.
Internet users who follow these tips will be more secure against cyber invaders and scams. Remember: you are the best antivirus!
useful tools
If, despite the recommendations outlined in the previous thread, you didn’t feel safe browsing your computer without an antivirus, here are some apps that are part of the essential kit for the most daring users:
- sandbox – program for analyzing software using the technique sandbox;
- Virus Total – Online service that scans the system using 41 different antiviruses. So you can only check the operating system status at any time. Another option for this type of action, ClamWin Free Antivirus Portable;
- Key Pass – password management tool (see more options here);
- Microsoft Virtual PC – having a virtual machine on your computer is an interesting way to run suspicious programs because if something goes wrong, your computer will not be affected;
- The browser we leave at your pleasureAlthough Google Chrome and Internet Explorer are listed as the safest browsers in this survey.
Observation: The apps mentioned here are just suggestions. Nothing will stop you from adopting other programs that better meet your needs. Feel free to browse Baixaki and search for the software you want.
Should I get rid of antiviruses?
Before some readers realize that Tecmundo will direct them to abandon antivirus and exclude computer protection programs, we should make it clear that the purpose of this article is to explain that surfing the Internet and enjoying the computer is possible only with your shared computer. perception.
The main purpose of this article is to emphasize that your machine’s best defense mechanism is yourself. Antiviruses act as a tool to broaden the barriers against malware. Users who don’t mind wasting a few seconds while the operating system is booting up or living with minor machine slowdowns during scans can keep their antivirus installed without a hitch.
However, this does not reduce your responsibility to be careful when entering the web. Therefore, if you want to remove your antivirus, we caution you to do so at your own risk.
further reading
Before jumping to any conclusions on the subject, we recommend that you deepen your knowledge of antiviruses and their tough fight against malware by reading the articles listed below in addition to those linked in the text:
Source: Tec Mundo
