Quote:
|
I pretty much gave up on defending my computer with programs and just decided to be smart about what I did.
|
There's a word for that - Irony? Oxymoron? Contradiction? I am not doubting a computer can remain malware free without an AV. But that is like the driver who drives without using his seatbelt. That is a selfish decision by an irresponsible driver. Chances are, he will not be in an accident. But his poor judgment makes him a threat (deadly threat!) to others around him, especially his passengers! If there is an accident, perhaps because another idiot rolled through a stop sign, he will not remain behind the wheel to regain control quickly enough to prevent causing collateral damage, or worse. By you not using adequate protection, when your machine is connected to the Internet, it becomes a vulnerable target and you become a threat to the rest of us! Not cool! That is not being a responsible Internet user.
So regardless your cares about your identity or safety, or the wellbeing of your computer, now that you know you are a threat to others if you connect to a network that has Internet access, to "be smart with programs", you need to select a AV, and use it!
***
I forgot about PSI, thanks for that Vince - did you notice in that link they
finally went final with 1.0 just yesterday?
I agree too about "safe browsing" - fortunately IE7 also has an able Phishing Filter built-in, and I am happy to report the IE8 version, renamed "SmartScreen Filter" has even more anti-malware capabilities.