Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sat 17th Oct 2009 12:45 UTC
Windows A little over two weeks ago, Microsoft released Microsoft Security Essentials, a security software suite protecting users of Windows against malware and viruses. The company has released data about the number of downloads and fixed infections, and the results are encouraging.
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depressing stats
by Adurbe on Sun 18th Oct 2009 18:36 UTC
Adurbe
Member since:
2005-07-06

it shows you how many virus we now are bombarded by.

an average of more or less 8 virus per user were detected.

yet, despite these numbers, how many people are running systems without av or appropriate security?

after all these years, still people don't seem to learn

RE: depressing stats
by PlatformAgnostic on Mon 19th Oct 2009 07:19 in reply to "depressing stats"
PlatformAgnostic Member since:
2006-01-02

It's probably more like, "of the computers that have more than one virus, the average count is eight." Malware often likes to bring friends along for the ride.

I seriously doubt the average computer user has 8 viruses on their machine (but I have no data on hand to back up my assertion).

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RE[2]: depressing stats
by lemur2 on Mon 19th Oct 2009 10:02 in reply to "RE: depressing stats"
lemur2 Member since:
2007-02-17

It's probably more like, "of the computers that have more than one virus, the average count is eight." Malware often likes to bring friends along for the ride.

I seriously doubt the average computer user has 8 viruses on their machine (but I have no data on hand to back up my assertion).


If I encounter a compromised computer, which the owner describes as "it has become very slow" ... then in my experience the number of detected viruses often is more than twenty, and is sometimes fifty or more.

Some of the newer ones are all but impossible to remove. I generally save all the user data files, wipe the disk and re-install the OS, then re-install all the applications. It's a lot quicker that way than trying to find cures for twenty or so nasty and persistent viruses.

Edited 2009-10-19 10:05 UTC

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