On Sat, 2003-07-19 at 07:17, Peter Evans wrote:
We read that in Windows:
Running without anti-virus tools is suicide expecially if you use that virus spreader called Outlook (lookout).
I was using MS-DOS and Windows from 1991 until about one month ago. I never used an anti-virus tool to check a Windows program, I never used an anti-virus daemon, I routinely downloaded stuff from the net, and I was never affected by any malicious software.
Yes, you can do pretty well without an anti-virus package on Windows, especially with a machine that is on a dialup connection, where your only major point of infection is your e-mail. In a LAN you have a different problem, because your machine is permanently connected to other machines and they share drives and printers, etc. This is a typical office network setup. Then your chances of getting infected is higher. I recently set up a WinNT box to test an application. I did not even install Outlook etc. I only had to use a few network shares to install and setup the application. 30 minutes later, all binaries on the machine was infected with the funlove virus. I had to trash the machine, re-install windows and first install and anti-virus package. My desktop workstation has been running Linux for 8 months on that LAN without me even worrying about a virus. I have NFS and SAMBA shares all over the place. The thing is that I got so used to not worry about a virus, or file extensions or payloads in mail, that I never even thought of using anti-virus software when I set up the NT box. The fact that by using Linux, I don't have to go and inspect the file extensions of every mail attachment I get, makes it worth using Linux. When I used Windows, I was up to date with the latest virus information. How they are distributed, what they look like. I did not dare open a mail before I checked what attachments came with it. It is a waste of time. (Even if you do have an anti-virus package, you need to be careful) With Linux, I can read my mail without worrying about the attachments because my mail client does not open any attachments that is not plain text. Even if I open the attachment, it would have no effect. Why should I be walking on eggs when I can be running on rock? I think using Windows without an anti-virus package is tempting fate. You can be lucky, until some script kiddie hits your box while you are downloading mail. Bottom line is that for an office/corporate network, it is just suicide to run Windows without anti-virus software. Home users can still get away with it, but not in a business. -- Andre Truter Software Engineer Registered Linux user #185282 ICQ #40935899 AIM: trusoftzaf http://www.trusoft.za.net ~ A dinosaur is a salamander designed to Mil Spec ~