Is Anti-Virus Software Necessary?

Software & Operating Systems Windows
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Hey guys I have a few questions about viruses, first off does anti-virus really protect you? I have gotten a virus one from Slender while I had Norton installed and running, it didn't detect a virus, and well eventually I had to wipe the drive to correct the problem (the virus took up 99% of my CPU) anyways is it Necessary?

Also a few questions, sorry guys just trying to keep my computer safe :)

Can you get a Virus by saving images from google images? ie. right click save as JPEG to whatever?

Can you get a Virus just by visiting a webpage or would you have to download something from a malicious webpage?

Finally is there another way to remove viruses other than wiping the drive because that is just annoying

 

Thanks for your help guys

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Blerg I just did this post like 40 minutes ago...

tl;dr - wipe the drive dude!

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Dont listen to this guy, While Anti Virus software are never 100% and will fail to catch all viruses, the majority of the time, They will if you use a range of Anti Virus, I use ESET and Malware Bytes. That gets rid of 99% of all viruses I come across. While itrs true that wipeing your HDD will get rid of all the viruses (Not including some sticky ones) Reinstalling windows every time you get a virus is just stupid. No one wants to spend days reinstalling software and windows every month. While its posible to have your system revert to a backup every day, I dont see the point.

Anyway. Always have Antivirus, You can get Malware from any site. Hell I got a Trojan from my ISP who were injecting ads into my packets. 

The idea is, Have a working UPDATED antivirus, Be smart with where you go, If you chronically watch porn and torrent games/movies, You will get viruses. Its like having sex with a whore. And do a system wipe and reinstall once every 6-12 months. I usually do it every 2-4 months to keep my system working at 100% performance.

When people say Linux or Apple devices don't get viruses, They mean so few people use these devices compared to windows, That the chances of them getting a virus is next to 0 most of the time. But every now and then everyone gets hit.

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Would you reccomend Norton Anti-Virus? Because Xfinity comes with a free Norton Anti-Virus

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  I agree completely here... 

 

 I currently have BOTH ESET and AVAST installed, Aswell as a linux mint on a live USB with Sophos installed, just for the that little bit extra "just in case"....

 

  And just cause im completely paranoid bout this kind of stuff.... if someone i dont know/ trust / has a bad rep posts a link i might want to check out ( or the link just looks a bit sus )  I usually run it through here http://sucuri.net/  before opening it up XD

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  Personally i wouldn't... But that could just be because every time i gave it a chance, i found it Bloated and heavy, and tended to make using my PC feel like Wading through knee deep mud...

 

  But i may be wrong... They MIGHT have optimised things a little since last year....  

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And another thread moved again...

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Best AV out there is common sense

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Use Webroot it takes less resources and not freaking 5 hours to scan your PC you can get a trial for 14 days when it expires make another fake email adress and they will give you the key its awesome 

 

MAMMA ALWAYS TOLD ME BOI EAT YO CHICKEN

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anyways is it Necessary?

Anti-virus software never has reliable detection and using it comes with so many downsides that I never recommend using any.

Common sense is everything that you ever need to be safe from malware. Though if you want to do something to feel safe, follow practices like principle of least privilege.

Can you get a Virus by saving images from google images? ie. right click save as JPEG to whatever?

No. Non-executable files can't carry executable code (exceptions are unimportant in practice). 

Can you get a Virus just by visiting a webpage or would you have to download something from a malicious webpage?

You can, but you would have to use a very insecure browser (IE, preferably older versions) for that. The point is, you shouldn't be on websites that spread malware in the first place and ads that may carry malicious scripts should be blocked along with all other ads on all websites.

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To get rid of the low hanging fruit you can set an AV to do scheduled scans while you sleep. I use ClamWin for this (well I used to, before I stopped needing to put up with Windows). Honestly I've not had a virus problem using this, but it has more to do with browsing and download habits than any antivirus software. I absolutely abhor real time scanners and that crap, they just slow down your computers worse than a virus, and are generally just as annoying.

Install ClamWin and setup regular scans, use 7zip, never open Internet Explorer EVER, use AdBlock and HTTPS Everywhere, turn on "Click to run plugins", avoid Java, don't download sketchy stuff from sketchy places, investigate before you click, always install updates, never trust a popup.

These are the steps that have worked for me in the past. I've never had a problem with malware by adhering to these steps. I say never had a problem, because I never had a virus that was dumb enough to make itself obvious. It can be practically impossible for even forensic experts to recognize a lot of the stuff floating around out there, because once a rootkit gets running on your computer, it has the full capability to hide itself completely. It can change what the operating system reports for running programs, skip over itself when the disk is read, blank out its portion in memory, etc. Even before it is running, all it takes to avoid detection is to change a bit in the file, and hashes become invalid. Concatenate the server time with the file every time it gets downloaded, and you've defeated a huge fingerprint database. More sophisticated techniques for identifying malware are just as easily defeated.

[cools rant jets] But I digress...

 

Sorry, I just find most AV programs to be far too annoying. I agree with you actually. Especially if it doesn't bother you, it can be a good idea to run multiple AV/anti-malware programs. And YES! ALWAYS INSTALL THE UPDATES!! If I had a nickel for every time I saw someone else's computer begging them to install the updates, only to be ignored...

My point originally was that if you want to be sure you have no virus (beyond firmware/bios infections) you must wipe the drive. If you decide, well maybe it's okay to let one or two viruses survive, then that's your call and maybe avoid making credit card transactions and whatever else people do when they think they're safe. You might not even have a virus anyway.