TSGL: ATTN: RAYMOND.........Re: Antispyware Win2K

Olivia Francis thecrosseyedcow at gmail.com
Sat Mar 3 18:05:39 EST 2007


Toni
>From what I understand, Raymond is no longer with the List.
Looks like someone else will have to help you with your question.
Olivia


On 3/3/07, Beezersmom at aol.com <Beezersmom at aol.com> wrote:
>
>
> Raymond, since you are a Certified Information Systems  Security
> Professional
> (CISSP) would you
> recommend to any of us on this list to follow the  advise in the article
> by
> Mark Snyder?  You've told us that you are a  huge fan of NOD32 and use it
> on
> all your PC's, would you even consider throwing  all your NOD32's to the
> wind or
> would that be akin to living on the edge or the  last rock?
> I, along with probably some other members, would truly be interested
> in  what
> you would have to say on Mark's article since your speciality  is Computer
> Security and would appreciate and respect your opinion, thanks  in
> advance.
> I'm not giving up my paid PC-cillin not matter what, so are we
> wasting  money
> or protecting our PC's?
> BTW, I haven't received any of the emails on this subject except
> misterclever's.  I did go to the Archives to check it out and there
> are  about 20 emails
> that I haven't received before and after
> _TSGL:  : Make your internet faster, safer, smarter. _
> (http://tsgserver.com/pipermail/list_tsgserver.com/2007-March/012293.html)  Chuck
> Neuenschwander
> _annandchuck  at yahoo.com _
> (mailto:list at tsgserver.com
> ?Subject=TSGL:%20:%20Make%20your%20internet%20faster,%20safer,%20smarter.&In-Reply-To=
> 45E4801C.8050003 at gm
> ail.com)  Fri Mar 2 12:34:17 EST 2007 and my email  it's  dated 3/2/2007
> 2:14:29 PM Eastern Standard  Time      being the last one I received
> before right
> before misterclever's.
> Toni
> "Everyone needs to be  loved...especially when they do not deserve  it."
>
> In a message dated 3/2/2007 11:57:47 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> misterclever at hotmail.com writes:
>
>
> So my  conclusion is, if you can't quite bring yourself to "cut the cord"
> at
> least go the free route and save some  bucks.
> ----------------------------
>
> I actually agree wholeheartedly  - I often chuckle at the posts on here by
> people running 3 AV apps and  seven bloatware antispyware apps when all
> they
> need to do is stop  downloading some new kittens screensaver or stop using
> thirty seven  different smiley emoticons in their email.
>
> That being said, it's useful  to at least run a spyware scan now and again
> -
> Hence my question about  Windows 2000 compatibility.
>
> Cheers,
> Geoff Glave
> Vancouver,  Canada
>
> >From: H Davis <hdavis1 at gmail.com>
> >Reply-To:  Tech Support Guy Mailing List <list at tsgserver.com>
> >To: Tech  Support Guy Mailing List <list at tsgserver.com>
> >Subject: Re: TSGL:  Antispyware Win2K
> >Date: Fri, 02 Mar 2007 12:42:32  -0500
> >
> >This is a condensation of an article written by Mark  Snyder which
> >appeared in Neat Net Tricks Premium, issue 138, 2/28/07.  There are no
> >easily available archives for you to access the article  and I was
> >reluctant to copy it here completely but the preceding issue  of NNT
> >asked readers to forward a copy to their friends to increase  readership.
> >So I guess I'm stretching a point by forwarding this but  it's
> >interesting and applicable. I've shortened it a  lot.
> >
> >You can subscribe to NNT at http://www.neatnettricks.com/  I think it's
> >about  $12/year.
> >
> >***************************
> >Having already in  these pages taken such controversial, i.e. "crazy"
> >stances such as  defending spam and even AOL(!), it seemed only expected
> >that I might  now suggest that antivirus and anti-spyware applications
> >are not only  unnecessary but a waste of your computer's resources. So,
> >on September  2, 2006 I disabled all security applications with the
> >exception of my  firewall. I did not, however, put my $3,000.00 in
> >computer equipment at  risk simply to write an article for this
> >publication nor did I  undertake this action without serious
> >consideration. It was simply that  I was tired of the cost, both in
> >dollars and computer resources that  this security was exacting on me and
> >my equipment. I suspected that  much, if not all, of this security
> >paranoia was being created by the  very entities that claimed to prevent
> it.
> >
> >Do I still have a  computer? Is it riddled nearly unusable with virus and
> >spyware? Have I  lost my mind? Read on and decide for yourself.
> >
> >Fear can also be  used by companies (and governments) to support and
> >promote actions and  policies that otherwise might be ignored. For
> >example, while many  malware alarms are legitimate, I have the feeling
> >that, all too often,  the purpose of the warnings is to advertise the
> >company's software by  creating paranoia rather than as a public service.
> >
> >The Pew  Group published a study in which 92 percent of 1,000 PC  owners
> >interviewed admitted to having various software programs  installed on
> >their computers at an average cost of $129.00 Of this same  number, only
> >seven percent could actually recall having had their  computer infected
> >before or since having installed the software.  Furthermore, of those who
> >reported using security software in an active  (always on) mode, fewer
> >than one percent reported having ever seen a  warning that the software
> >had stopped an attack. Yet, we all continue  to purchase or download and
> >install the latest most powerful antivirus  programs, antispyware
> >programs, anti-trojan programs, adware blocking  programs, and on and on.
> >In fact, not only do we install these programs  on our computers but we
> >are told that we must keep them running in  "background" or "active
> >mode," allow them to start as soon as our  computer boots, and even allow
> >the ability for them to "phone home" at  will (a true security breach) so
> >that they can automatically install  updates. But even that is yet not
> >enough. We find that we now must have  a "layered defense," (something
> >even I promoted two years ago in an  article for this same publication)
> >meaning that maybe having just one  of each of these programs is not
> >enough! And who is telling us this?  For the most part, the makers of the
> >software programs  themselves.
> >
> >In recent years, there has been a lot of debate  over whether there is
> >any need to run antispyware applications or even  an antivirus program.
> >In fact, according to the well-respected security  expert George Ou,
> >"Running an antivirus program on a personal computer  is like having a
> >bomb squad inspect a suspicious package inside the  house right next to
> >you." He continues, "Running antivirus or third  party security software
> >such as antispyware programs and firewalls  makes you even less  safe!"
> >http://blogs.zdnet.com/OU/?p=234&tag=nl.e622 In this same  article, Mr.
> >Ou claims to have run personal computers for over fifteen  years using
> >some form or another of Windows and has never had a virus  on his
> >computer. He claims that even his family computer runs without  an
> >antivirus or antispyware program and has never experienced any  problems.
> >His findings are backed up by Adrian Kingsley- Hughes,  writing in the
> >November 15, 2006 issue of Zdnet. Mr. Kingsley-Hughes  argues that an
> >over- reliance on security software (which, as you may  have by now
> >concluded if you have read this far, is not all that  secure) creates
> >"sloppy thinking". Using "common sense", he says, will  go much further
> >in protecting your computer than relying on software  programs.
> >
> >I agree. It is well known that most true computer  experts and IT
> >professionals do not use security software as such. They  have long known
> >that the disease is worse than the cure and that the  way to protect your
> >computer is by securing it through such means as  limiting administrative
> >rights, etc. In a quick and admittedly  unscientific survey that I took
> >for this article, only two out of 16 IT  professionals and three out of
> >22 qualified experts I contacted use any  type of antivirus or
> >antispyware programs running on their home  computers. This is not to say
> >that they do not use programs to scan for  spyware or viruses; but rather
> >than running them actively, they use  them only on demand to manually
> >scan. All admitted that the drain on  computer resources far outweighs
> >any potential benefit received from  having these programs running in the
> >background and increasing the  potential threats to their systems.
> >
> >So, armed with all of the  above information, I disabled all of my many
> >security programs other  than my firewall on September 2, 2006. As of
> >this date, January 4,  2007, they are still disabled. I surfed the Web as
> >much as I always do,  visited the same type of sites that I always do,
> >downloaded around  thirty-five programs, many for future NNT reviews but
> >also a large  number of freeware programs. I used my computer no
> >differently than I  ever do. I am using a DSL connection and am on line
> >24/7, and generally  on the Internet an average of 7 hours per day. The
> >only disclaimer I do  need to make is that I do not use peer-to-peer file
> >sharing programs  nor am I a connoisseur of pornography, both types of
> >computer use known  to increase one's risk of infection. I scanned my
> >computer once a week  for viruses using AVG 7.5 and scanned for spyware
> >once a week using A  Squared, Ewido, CounterSpy, Spyware Doctor,
> >ZeroSpyware, and  SpySweeper, simply to make sure that I could report my
> >results as  honestly and thoroughly as possible. In four months of use I
> >found zero  viruses, and the only spyware discovered was an occasional
> >tracking  cookie (Atwola and About.com) which were easily removed. That's
> >it.  Period. What I did find, however, was that by not having these
> >security  programs load at start-up my boot time decreased from
> >approximately 107  seconds to 33 seconds and my computer responded as if
> >I had just  doubled my CPU and RAM. RAM usage alone dropped by 20 percent
> >and on my  machine that was like installing another 200MB of RAM!
> >
> >Do I  recommend that each of you reading this do likewise and disable all
> >of  your security software? That is for you to  decide.
> >********************************************
> >
> >I  share Snyder's opinion and have a NAT router (includes a  hardware
> >firewall function) for my Internet connection and run the free  Zone
> >Alarm firewall on each machine on the network. But I still use AVG  free
> >antivirus and Windows Defender, also free, as my only  active,
> >continuously running "anti" ware on each machine. I scan  occassionally
> >with AdAware, Spybot and AVG AntiSpyware and can't  remember the last
> >time I saw any kind of alert except tracking cookies.  And one of the
> >machines on my network is still running XP, SP1 with NO  updates since it
> >was bought. We refer to it around here as "the grand  experiment".
> >
> >So my conclusion is, if you can't quite bring  yourself to "cut the cord"
> >at least go the free route and save some  bucks.
> >
> >H Davis
> >
> >Geoff Glave wrote:
> > >  Hi Everyone,
> > >
> > > Just wondering what anti-spyware app  people are liking for Windows
> > > 2000 these days? I was a big fan of  MS-AS & then defender, but they
> > > don't support Win2K any more,  so I'm looking for suggestions.
> > >
> > > Cheers,
> > >  Geoff Glave
> > > Vancouver, Canada
> > >
> > >  _________________________________________________________________
> > >  Don't waste time standing in line---try shopping online. Visit
> > >  Sympatico / MSN Shopping today! http://shopping.sympatico.msn.ca
> >  >
> > >
> >
> >  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >  >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > >  Tech Support Guy Mailing List
> > >  http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
> > >
> >
> >--
> >H  Davis    hdavis1 at gmail.com
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >Tech  Support Guy Mailing  List
> >http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Find  out the restaurants participating in Winterlicious
>
> http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=43.658648~-79.383962&style=r&lvl=15&
> tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=3702663&cid=7ABE80D1746919B4!1329
> >From January 26 to February 8,  2007
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tech  Support Guy Mailing  List
> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
>
>
>
>
> <BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now offers free
> email to everyone.  Find out more about what's free from AOL at
> http://www.aol.com.
> _______________________________________________
> Tech Support Guy Mailing List
> http://www.tsgserver.com/list/
>


More information about the List mailing list