Shopping for antivirus software
It is still shocking to me that a lot of people do not use virus protection software on their computers. Some, like Mac and Linux users, believe that their operating system choices preclude them from attack in the first place. Others , like Microsoft co-president Jim Allchin, believe that built-in security features in Microsoft Vista operating system and advances in Internet Explorer render anti-virus software unnecessary. The rest of us purchase virus protection software and services out of an abundance of caution or because we've been bit too many times to go without it.
Like too many thing in life, once we decide to purchase something (a car, a vacuum cleaner, anti-virus protection, etc), we tend to stick with it out of laziness, familiarity or neglect. Stepping out of character, when my McAfee anti-virus subscription expired recently, I let it lapse and decided to try something else this time.
Part of my decision to drop McAfee on my desktop computer was based upon my dropping them from my laptop after I picked up a cool Yoggie masking device that protects me from sniffers trying to hack in through a public wireless Internet connection. This nifty device has its own built-in anti-virus protection and since it runs on a separate microcomputer, my laptop runs much faster without all the extra protection software.
The other reason I decided to drop McAfee is that I believe it's a good idea to switch protection choices once in awhile just to see what spyware, adware and other problems may exist on your computer that didn't get caught by a particular provider.
Accordingly, I'm on a 90 day trial subscription to Microsoft Live OneCare ... OK, now is the time to boo, hiss and otherwise diss the Redmond WA bad boy Microsoft. If they perform well, I'm not above using the evil empire to suit my own needs.
So far it's working OK. My only complaint is that it has an anti-phishing feature that I choose not to use and it keeps reminding me that I am not yet fully protected. I think I'm savvy enough to spot a phishing scam and don't want this extra nuisance so until the reminders get on my nerves, I'll stick with it (at least for the 90 day trial).
Y'all be safe out there, ya hear?
Chris Crawford
Photo credit = Microsoft clip art
Comments
I have to say that since switching to Mac, I've had almost zero issues with viruses, adware, malware, etc. I'm flirting with disaster, in that I don't use much in the way of protection, but Mac seems to breed that overconfidence
Posted by: James Faulk | May 27, 2008 01:19 PM