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Ask HN: Do you use an anti-virus program?

12 points by WHA8m ↗ HN
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.

9 comments

[ 21.8 ms ] story [ 338 ms ] thread
omgmajk
Yes, I use Eset Nod 32 because they gave me a good price for their product.
throwawayninja
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.
throwmeariver1
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/

fattless
I dont

I 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 way

Windows 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.

spansoa
> I dont have much critical information or useful things on my computer so security is not my top priority

So when is security a top priority for you? Do you have separate machines for sensitive things?

fattless
For reference, I am a student so my computer is mostly used for personal things, games, homework, ect.

I would imagine many jobs require handling somewhat sensitive information, and at that point I could probably reassess. Regardless I think there are better ways to go about security than anti virus programs, like being mindful of what you click on, proper firewall setups, ect. But I’m new to all that so what do I know

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