Uninstall antivirus software - vendors are terrible
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SirDremor
I regard anyone claiming PCs should be used without AV very low.
In the same line as Anti-Vaxxers, Anti-Condom claimers and Global warming deniers.
jura11
Not using at all AV for many years and only protection what I've is MS Defender
Every three weeks I use Malware Antibytes or Combofix for scanning viruses
Hope this helps
Thanks, Jura
RealNC
Not using any kind of AV product either. Since around 2010, I'd say.
Who knows what kind of malware I have on my disk as a result. It doesn't seem like I have any, but I wouldn't know for sure, would I 😀
Hughesy
Got rid of mine a while back, as it's a waste of money, not before Norton begged me to stay over and over again...
H83
So i´m not going to pretend what´s best because i simply dont´know!
But i do have question for those more knowledgeable than me: i use AVG as antivirus and i scan every week my PC with the latest Spybot updates, it this protection good enough??? I haven´t found a virus for more than 5 years...
PrMinisterGR
Oh it's you again. The person that's using the whole operating system from a company you claim is even worse than phone scammers. How's the brain transplant queue going?
1) Make sure that your OS and browser are always at the latest version.
2) LISTEN when your browser tells you that a file is not trusted.
3) Have UAC activated.
4) Leave Windows Defender running in the background.
5) Do custom scans every week/less than a week with another non-resident AV like Malwarebytes.
6) If possible, use an anti-malware blocklist in your firewall/router.
7) Common sense.
EspHack
I used to be a ESET user back in XP days I think, after vista x64 I just stopped using any AV, they are more annoying than malware itself
w10 made me consider using AV software again with their defender thing since it seems fairly unobtrusive, ended up disabling it after less than a year
schmidtbag
Normally I'd agree, considering MS's Security Essentials were, at one point, so bad they lost their AV certification back in 2012. Not to mention, the spyware Windows comes with now.
All that being said, I think this developer said those things because MS's AV doesn't screw around with Firefox. After all, it is in MS's interest to discourage users from web browsers other than IE or Edge, so why would they support others?
Anyway I agree with this dev. I don't remember the last time I installed AV on any Windows setup I've done. For the past 9 years I've primarily been using Linux, and only once have I got a virus for that (I used a really crappy root password with SSH forwarded).
As for those of you saying "I've been using for years and haven't had a virus!" had it not occurred to you that you in fact have had infections that just slipped right past it? By that logic, that's like going to some crappy doctor saying "my head hurts" and he tells you it's just a headache, when in fact you've got a tumor. But, he's a doctor, so you have to believe him, right?
Ghosty
I agree with the ex Mozilla dev. No one actually needs an anti virus. Besides Windows Defender does a good enough job with Windows 10.
The only way to get a virus in the first place is by user error. Malware or viruses don't simply appear on your PC. They get there because you downloaded infected files, or clicked on links leading to sites that trick you in to installing something.
Australis
Cool story bro. Perhaps his new prospect is to become a hacker?
Dragondale13
Ex-Mozilla guy is crazy...someone should hack his ish just to be sure he's not part of a circle of hackers/scammers.
PhazeDelta1
last time I looked, you couldn't uninstall common sense.
Mineria
I stopped using 3rth party AV some time ago, either they hamper browser functions, make batch jobs run slow or hamper game performance, so if anything is going to break anything it might as well be MS.
I do use some additional protection for encryption, url blocking etc., and got some 3rth party on demand scanners for just in case scenarios.
The Ex-Mozilla guy is correct though, AV vendors don't really contribute to make browsers safer, they rather do the opposite by breaking things in them browsers, which kinda is his point.
Apart from that, all AV's are kinda useless anyway.
schmidtbag
Why is he crazy? Most of what he said is very true, and as the article stated, he's not the only professional who feels this way.
Also, being hacked is very different from getting a malware infection.
Dragondale13
I get his point, but, spewing it on the internet for the inexperienced to gobble up as well is simply irresponsible on his part.Which begs the question as to why he left Mozilla or did Mozilla let him go.
schmidtbag
I don't see your point. The reason he "spewed it on the internet" is specifically so "the inexperienced will gobble it up". He wants people to know that buying crapware like Norton or McAffee or AVG can cause more harm than good.
As for why he left Mozilla, I agree that is important to know.
Dragondale13
Believe what you want then.If Mozilla made the statement officially then I'd give it consideration, but not from someone who is no longer employed by them.
TeGarchoFF
If you keep tabs on running processes, CPU usage, starting programs and services and in general, your computer behaviour, you are all right.
I have never installed an AV solution either since 2009. Never used Windows Defender. And I've had my fair share of warez.
I just scan everything I download with Trend Micro's Sysclean from the command line and run a scan on my system once in a while with Housecall. Keep tabs on running processes and starting programs and that's it.
In short: no AV, but common sense.
The Laughing Ma
No it isn't, he added the statement that you should only be doing this IF you have an up to date modern OS which that alone is pretty good advice and is for most average users going to offer as much protection against malicious infections as most third party AVs.
I also assume you missed the quite logical reason he gave behind why Mozilla is unlikely to announce such a statement?
Dch48
He did not say that Windows Defender provided better protection. What he did say was that since Defender is made by the same people who make the OS and is included and imbedded in the OS, it does not break other software like browsers when they get updated. We have seen instances where third party AV's even break parts of Windows when it gets updated. Defender has never done that.
Having said that, I am currently using the new free version of Bitdefender on 3 of my machines. One other machine with W7 is running Panda and one W10 laptop is just using Defender. All of the machines are using the Windows Firewall. Apparently the new Bitdefender does not work well on older hardware like single core CPU's or versions of Windows like Vista or XP. On a multi-core system with W7 or newer, it works fine and has no noticeable effect on performance.
I would say that for home users, the combination of Windows 10, Windows Firewall, and Windows Defender, behind a good router, offers all the protection they will need 99.9% of the time. With W7 or older, you obviously need an AV from somebody.
