Errr, what?!.. It's like saying condoms don't reduce the chance of getting STD... Of course there are numerous viruses and threats, and no preventive system can fight all of them, but it is utterly idiotic to claim that "no protection" is the best choice! I guess, servers under the supervision of this "genius" don't have Antivirus systems... so may be it's time to close all Google accounts and move elsewhere. Alternatively I believe Google has to find a new Security engineer ASAP.

An updated OS, a secure web browser with some security extensions is all you need. If we are talking about the basic PC usage for the average user. At least in my experience an AV usually warn you when it's already too late or giving you some false alerts. Browsers have come a long way now. They are more secure now against common threats. Plus Windows already has the basic AV you need by default. Running AV programs resulted only on slowing down my PC and nothing else. This is why security updates are so important. I remember how horrible was the web and how many viruses you could cought just by navigating through some websites some years ago. This is not the case anymore.

Don't care much for AV's myself but what he's saying looks like it's not meant for the home user. I guess it is very out of context. Security should be multi layered and not reliant on just the AV anyway. I tried bitdefender free recently and it started freezing the login screen for around 10 seconds and avast was overly complicated and nagging the last time I used it. Quite content with defender and passive scans of mbam.

Apparantly Apple Quicktime player is now deprecated and we are being told unsecure and should be uninstalled immediately. And Adobe Flash seems to be the same. But anyway, to me, the biggest problem is not some small mickey-mouse hackers or trojans but the big corporations and governments actively spying and collecting information in realtime on users through OS based spyware and computers and phones. In last week I have heard that Windows 10 picture viewer actively sends encrypted packets back to secret Microsoft registered IPs most likely doing a "Photo DNA" check on every picture their lovely Windows 10 users view on their own PC. And Apple in more or less realtime uploads call information to iCloud, unknown to users, most likely for some law enforcement reasons which can be used to realtime monitor any suspect a governent agency wants. Forget about "bogey-men" hackers - the imaginary threats invented to distract people from the very real threats from government agencies and their corporate stooges.

Errr, what?!.. It's like saying condoms don't reduce the chance of getting STD... Of course there are numerous viruses and threats, and no preventive system can fight all of them, but it is utterly idiotic to claim that "no protection" is the best choice! I guess, servers under the supervision of this "genius" don't have Antivirus systems... so may be it's time to close all Google accounts and move elsewhere. Alternatively I believe Google has to find a new Security engineer ASAP.

No, It's not. And, at least he has the courage to say this out loud. Please don't compare condoms to Antiviruses....Antiviruses will not help for users who are not tech-savvy. Those who are tech-savvy, knew this ages ago. Although, I like the Idea of online service, where people can put any file and get scanned for most popular malware...but as being programmer myself, I can make any harmful software which won't be detected...and I'm far from being the best. I just can imagine what they can do... If Antiviruses make you feel safer, then use it, but I compare it to a toilet paper which one tries to use against rain...

If Antiviruses makes you feel safer, then use it, but I compare it to a toilet paper which one tries to use against rain...

Hear hear. Recent antiviruses are about having Fancy UI, and keep telling you how good they are, and how you are vulnerable without it. Worse than annoying sellsman.

That's rich given some of the Kernel bugs in Android...

Errm no AV ok,but no Firewall,no Antirootkit?Nothing? Wierd,let our doors open for gov&hackers then. True some AV are useless,some of them if you disable their internet access you dont have TCP/UDP anymore. Adobe Flash is intended to spy (like M$ Win 10).Thats why Adobe dont find their security holes,they just to give access only for gov&hackers. Thats why you dont need to install Flash & Java.

Hear hear. Recent antiviruses are about having Fancy UI, and keep telling you how good they are, and how you are vulnerable without it. Worse than annoying sellsman.

Exactly. It's the known advertising money making tactic a lot of products and businesses use - fear. People can be motivated to buy any product through primitive instinct of fear. Think about insurance, security systems, vitamins/drugs, even boiler servicing or car maintenance - many examples of things people do or buy because advertising told them terrible things will happen if you don't buy this product or use this service from a certain company. It is such a simple sales tactic and yet people all over the world fall for it every day.

Errm no AV ok,but no Firewall,no Antirootkit?Nothing? Wierd,let our doors open for gov&hackers then.

But you have already let your doors open for government just by using their state sponsored "free" operating systems...

No, It's not. And, at least he has the courage to say this out loud. Please don't compare condoms to Antiviruses....Antiviruses will not help for users who are not tech-savvy. Those who are tech-savvy, knew this ages ago. Although, I like the Idea of online service, where people can put any file and get scanned for most popular malware...but as being programmer myself, I can make any harmful software which won't be detected...and I'm far from being the best. I just can imagine what they can do... If Antiviruses make you feel safer, then use it, but I compare it to a toilet paper which one tries to use against rain...

He has the courage to be idiot? Ok, it is his wish, but don't expect me to follow his idiotic view. Why should I not compare condoms to Antiviruses? Condoms will also not help those, who has sex with everything that moves... Antiviruses is not only for tech-savvy. Maybe installation and configuration is, but passive usage - not. I am tech-savvy, but my sister and mom - not. And it is not a paper protection against rain, antivirus will give them sufficient and better protection, even without much tech knowledge. Funny you mention online service, do you say that being online makes them not an AV scanners? Anyway you sound like you are trying to tell me there is no purpose in using a seat belt, if you are a pro-driver. Good luck with that. Being safe not depends only on what you personally do, so having no protection from outside\not self induced threats is just plain stupid. Saying otherwise and trying to convinve others is even worse.

But you have already let your doors open for government just by using their state sponsored "free" operating systems...

It's true, You're right!! it's an illuminat-reptilian-comunist conspiracy!!

It's true, You're right!! it's an illuminat-reptilian-comunist conspiracy!!

Moronic response. I gave statements based on facts and others testing and research and evidence that exists. You respond with this usual bull**** from bluepills like yourself.

He has the courage to be idiot? Ok, it is his wish, but don't expect me to follow his idiotic view. Why should I not compare condoms to Antiviruses? Condoms will also not help those, who has sex with everything that moves... Antiviruses is not only for tech-savvy. Maybe installation and configuration is, but passive usage - not. I am tech-savvy, but my sister and mom - not. And it is not a paper protection against rain, antivirus will give them sufficient and better protection, even without much tech knowledge. Funny you mention online service, do you say that being online makes them not an AV scanners? Anyway you sound like you are trying to tell me there is no purpose in using a seat belt, if you are a pro-driver. Good luck with that. Being safe not depends only on what you personally do, so having no protection from outside\not self induced threats is just plain stupid. Saying otherwise and trying to convinve others is even worse.

Dont make fool of yourself by comparing vitual world security with the one you live in. Nobody forces you how to secure your PC or your sex. If you happy with your AV that all what matters. I respect that, and I do hope it serves you well.

A white list isn't going to stop malware. It's stupid to even make that claim.... Of course, it's stupid to believe antivirus keeps your computer completely safe either. Quite honestly, given the security holes found in Android and the fact that Google profits from collecting and selling every single bit of data they can about every person that uses their products, a Google "security engineer" is the last person I'd trust for security advise. That's like trusting a Microsoft rep to pick the OS that's best for you......

Moronic response. I gave statements based on facts and others testing and research and evidence that exists. You respond with this usual bull**** from bluepills like yourself.

TRUE!!! Lucky you found a matrix error, right? You're finally free to wake up the rest of humanity!

He has the courage to be idiot? Ok, it is his wish, but don't expect me to follow his idiotic view. Why should I not compare condoms to Antiviruses? Condoms will also not help those, who has sex with everything that moves... Antiviruses is not only for tech-savvy. Maybe installation and configuration is, but passive usage - not. I am tech-savvy, but my sister and mom - not. And it is not a paper protection against rain, antivirus will give them sufficient and better protection, even without much tech knowledge. Funny you mention online service, do you say that being online makes them not an AV scanners? Anyway you sound like you are trying to tell me there is no purpose in using a seat belt, if you are a pro-driver. Good luck with that. Being safe not depends only on what you personally do, so having no protection from outside\not self induced threats is just plain stupid. Saying otherwise and trying to convinve others is even worse.

No, please don't put your words in my mouth. I've never said what you just said. And about condoms again. I don't use it because me and my gf are clean and we don't cheat on each other. Condoms are for protection when you do it with a stranger or people you don't trust. And I don't do it with strangers or people I don't trust...I have only one partner. So? //Just please don't talk about birth control, it's already offtopic Whatever you say, Sir Dremor. Just check how antiviruses actually work.

I think he's right when talking of Google's OS's. AV's in them have never worked very well. In Windows, I'll continue to use one because I know from experience that they can and do provide a good level of protection. The only OS I know of right now that doesn't need the protection is actually Windows 10 Mobile.

Adobe Flash is intended to spy (like M$ Win 10).Thats why Adobe dont find their security holes,they just to give access only for gov&hackers. Thats why you dont need to install Flash & Java.

We know from the Snowden leaks that while the government pressures companies for backdoors, they don't use them on a large scale. The large scale surveillance happens at big networking hubs that they have gained access to so they can monitor internet traffic. MS is tracking in Win 10 so they build a database like Google to sell ads. Their privacy policies have shifted to be more like Google's as well. Luckily the tracking is easy to shut down. It is easy for a normal user to ditch Flash and Java, not so much for businesses that may have software that depend on those. Java is especially tough to get rid of.

In Windows, I'll continue to use one because I know from experience that they can and do provide a good level of protection. The only OS I know of right now that doesn't need the protection is actually Windows 10 Mobile.

Except... they're frequently proven to NOT have a good level of protection. I personally would rather have 100 viruses than any of the AV programs available. There are 3 things you want to avoid most about getting malware: 1. Annoying popups 2. Giving away personal information and/or paying for a scam 3. Bogging down your system And guess what, every single AV program that even slightly does what it claims it will does all 3 of those things. I've literally been paid on multiple occasions to remove AV programs because they were nothing more than dead weight - I was called over because malware already slipped right past these programs. Random rant: People always say "Mac and Linux are so secure because they're incompatible with Windows viruses and they're in the minority" but that couldn't be more false. Forward port 22, have a short (or no) password on a Linux-based system, and within a week of doing absolutely nothing, you will get a virus. Your /var/log/auth.log will be multiple megabytes in size. The point of me saying this is popularity has nothing to do with security. Don't get me wrong, these OSes are inherently more secure, but that's because assuming you have a decent firewall and secure root password, you just simply can't screw with them enough to cause long-term damage. Unlike Windows, they're not a sandbox with the gate wide open. EDIT: The greatest issue with Windows is the UAC is effectively useless (many people instinctively ignore it) and even on a very locked-down system, users still get way too many privileges at the system level. Malware takes advantage of this.