So, what do people on this forum think of the antivirus software? Do they actually do more good than harm?
I mean, there are contless documented cases of the software on personal computers and servers ending up useless not because of a malware, but because of a buggy antivirus program. It's quite possible that a computer stops working (it's documented to have happened) because an antivirus software recognizes the updated version of "csrss.exe" file as a virus, or because some hacker manages to compromize the antivirus software itself to get control of a computer. Even the developers in Mozilla admit that a significant part of their time goes into making the new version of Firefox (especially the SpiderMonkey JavaScript engine) compatible with various antivirus software. Is there any study comparing the damage the malware does today with the damage the antivirus programs do?
On my new Linux laptop, I've decided to install the ClamAV antivirus. There are, as far as I know, no documented cases of a Linux machine being bricked by an antivirus software. ClamAV is free and, while it's said to be significantly less effective than the commercial antivirus software for Linux, it's also said that it, unlike other antivirus software, doesn't affect the performances of a system.
It's also said that WINE is the number one program that compromises the security of Linux. Maybe it's a good think I haven't managed to make it run on Oracle Linux. :-)
I mean, there are contless documented cases of the software on personal computers and servers ending up useless not because of a malware, but because of a buggy antivirus program. It's quite possible that a computer stops working (it's documented to have happened) because an antivirus software recognizes the updated version of "csrss.exe" file as a virus, or because some hacker manages to compromize the antivirus software itself to get control of a computer. Even the developers in Mozilla admit that a significant part of their time goes into making the new version of Firefox (especially the SpiderMonkey JavaScript engine) compatible with various antivirus software. Is there any study comparing the damage the malware does today with the damage the antivirus programs do?
On my new Linux laptop, I've decided to install the ClamAV antivirus. There are, as far as I know, no documented cases of a Linux machine being bricked by an antivirus software. ClamAV is free and, while it's said to be significantly less effective than the commercial antivirus software for Linux, it's also said that it, unlike other antivirus software, doesn't affect the performances of a system.
It's also said that WINE is the number one program that compromises the security of Linux. Maybe it's a good think I haven't managed to make it run on Oracle Linux. :-)
