Do you use an anti-virus program?

Question

Why do or don't you use one? If you do, which one?I use one, but never really thought about it much. Therefor I'm with Avira (free version) for over a decade now. Recently I got fed up with those pop-up windows prompting me to upgrade for paid version.

throwmeariver1 · Accepted Answer

There is no need for antivirus if you are technical literate and have a good grip on your threat assessment. If you handle a lot of external storage you don't know the origin of I would advise to have raspberry pi around with clamav to check them before sticking them in any workstations or servers. As general advice stay away from consumer grade products they are mostly filled with dark patterns and snake oil even by providers that do good security research. If you are on windows and feel the need for AV, a hardened [0] Windows Defender is really all you need.[0] https://0ut3r.space/2022/03/06/windows-defender/

throwawayninja · Answer

Nope, never. I run Arch Linux with projects under nspawn containers, the only AV tool I keep around is ClamAV so when coworkers have USB drives I can slap `clamscan /mnt/auto-sda1` and let them know if it's clean.

fattless · Answer

I dontI dont have much critical information or useful things on my computer so security is not my top priority. I found most anti virus just gets in the wayWindows defender does an alright job, and dosent get in the way. As long as your smart about where you go and what you download I would say your probably ok, depending on how critical your security is.

zaphar · Answer

Nope, everytime I've ever used an Antivirus they caused more problems than they prevented. After reports like Project Zero I just decided they weren't worth the risk.

walljm · Answer

I use microsoft defender on my windows boxes. nothing on any *nix servers i use.

omgmajk · Answer

Yes, I use Eset Nod 32 because they gave me a good price for their product.