Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sun 23rd Sep 2007 10:54 UTC, submitted by irbis
"For at least a decade, the standard advice to every computer user has been to run antivirus software. But new, more commercial, more complex and stealthier types of malware have people in the industry asking: will antivirus software be effective for much longer? Among the threats they see are malware that uses the ability of the latest processors to run virtual machines that would be hidden from antivirus programs." Note: Please note that our icon contest is still running! So if you have an idea on how to rework this story's icon, read this.
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Member since:
2007-08-22
I'm not sure measuring an AntiVirus's effectiveness against Malware, Adware, etc. is really the right thing here as those are in a very different scope. But even then, AntiVirus software is - at least on Windows - a good thing to have as it will at the very least keep out the virii that came in the past, which if people stopped using AntiVirus software the virii writers/distributors would certainly return to if not just because they could and cause more havoc with little effort.
Also, measuring how well an AntiVirus does at preventing Malware/Adware/etc, is like measuring how well an Airplane is at racing in the Indy 500. They're just two different things - an virii attackes weaknesses in the software and exploits those weaknesses, while Malware/Adware/etc attack normal uses of software and (primarily) user habits. If you want to protect against Malware/Adware/etc, then use the right tool to do so. If you want to protect against computer virii, then use an AntiVirus software like ClamAV.
Personally, I run ClamAV on all my Windows systems, and am looking at putting it on my Linux systems - especially my network router, to help protect the Windows systems - as well. It has also been shown recently to be one of the top 3 AV's - on par with McAfee, so I feel rather confident in this choice, even though I originally did it to avoid the fees to McAfee/Norton/Symantec/etc and be able to have an up-to-date virii database with the software.