Comments on: Do You Wear a Seatbelt? http://www.eset.com/blog/2009/09/18/do-you-wear-a-seatbelt Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:00:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: David Harley http://www.eset.com/blog/2009/09/18/do-you-wear-a-seatbelt/comment-page-1#comment-64120 David Harley Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:32:59 +0000 http://www.eset.com/threat-center/blog/?p=1783#comment-64120 I don't think that Randy means that if you're educated, you don't need antivirus software. After all, that's his livelihood. :) I think it's likelier that he means that the more you know about the risks, the less likely you are to do something risky, which means that you're less likely to need your AV to save you from the consequences. As you say, there is no 100% guarantee that AV (or any other type of security software) _will_ save you. But that doesn't mean that education is irrelevant. It means that the more you know, the more self-reliant (within limits) you can be. The most important thing that most people haven't learned is that having security software doesn't _eliminate_ risk, it only reduces it. You have to take some responsibility for your own actions. Whose fault is it when people don't do that? Well, partly it's the fault of the people (including some sectors of the security industry) who've told them they don't need to. But no-one said they _have_ to believe everything they're told. I don’t think that Randy means that if you’re educated, you don’t need antivirus software. After all, that’s his livelihood. :) I think it’s likelier that he means that the more you know about the risks, the less likely you are to do something risky, which means that you’re less likely to need your AV to save you from the consequences.

As you say, there is no 100% guarantee that AV (or any other type of security software) _will_ save you. But that doesn’t mean that education is irrelevant. It means that the more you know, the more self-reliant (within limits) you can be. The most important thing that most people haven’t learned is that having security software doesn’t _eliminate_ risk, it only reduces it. You have to take some responsibility for your own actions.

Whose fault is it when people don’t do that? Well, partly it’s the fault of the people (including some sectors of the security industry) who’ve told them they don’t need to. But no-one said they _have_ to believe everything they’re told.

]]> By: PC.Tech http://www.eset.com/blog/2009/09/18/do-you-wear-a-seatbelt/comment-page-1#comment-64106 PC.Tech Sat, 19 Sep 2009 01:25:07 +0000 http://www.eset.com/threat-center/blog/?p=1783#comment-64106 "... The more educated you are, the less likely you will need your antivirus software. The less educated you are, the more you need the protection, but you still have far greater risk..." > Terribly bad analogy. Better one is: The longer you go without getting bit, the closer you are to getting a hit. And education has absolutely NOTHING to do with it. As you said: "... There was a day that antivirus software could protect you against almost all of the viruses in the world, but that day was significantly more than a decade ago. In today’s environment the bad guys will not release some of their malware until they have tested it and are certain that it will not be detected when it is released..." > One could have a PhD and still have an AV that would miss some malware - none, including ESET, has a 100% rate of detection, just as you said: "...it is not possible for antivirus to detect 100%". So this is all now the client's fault? Nonsense. . “… The more educated you are, the less likely you will need your antivirus software. The less educated you are, the more you need the protection, but you still have far greater risk…”
> Terribly bad analogy. Better one is: The longer you go without getting bit, the closer you are to getting a hit.

And education has absolutely NOTHING to do with it. As you said: “… There was a day that antivirus software could protect you against almost all of the viruses in the world, but that day was significantly more than a decade ago. In today’s environment the bad guys will not release some of their malware until they have tested it and are certain that it will not be detected when it is released…”
> One could have a PhD and still have an AV that would miss some malware – none, including ESET, has a 100% rate of detection, just as you said: “…it is not possible for antivirus to detect 100%”. So this is all now the client’s fault? Nonsense.

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