Do you even need an antivirus?

[mattxd00]

Someone recently who works in the computer industry as a programmer told me that antiviruses aren't really needed and he thought they were a waste of space for users who know what they're doing. He added that all they do is take processing power and that if a virus is going to infect you it will do so without the AV doing anything.

I just want to raise this point because I am considering removing my Avast subscription and if it actually would be ok to do so.

Before launching any suspicious files I test them in various online/local sandboxes to ensure they do not infect my system since I bank on it aswell as game. I know what I am doing and have spotted infected files before such as ransomware and RATs which prevented me having an infection, etc. And sure, online sandboxes are not reliable due to detection however this is the same for an antivirus. Realtime protection is meant to prevent the execution of malicious files based on their signature.

Now, if a black hat is to write a good trojan, that trojan is 100% to be encrypted meaning it will fly through the detection and launch. It might be scanned by others thus distributed to the companies for signature analysis which would note the signature and add it to the database but that would be after a certain amount of time.

 

For me personally, I never use my AV. I analyse files myself using tools so I know not to launch the file if I find anything malicious.

 

Should I remove Avast! or not? Keep in mind I have like 8 types of protection services such as firewall, web shield, file shield so it takes up ALOT of CPU power which could be used to speed up my system.

[Firefox]

Keep your antivirus...

Its like this, do I really need to wear my seat belt in my car even though I know how to drive and I drive safe?  Yes I have to wear it not only because it keeps me safe in case of an accident, but it protects me in case something does happen...  Its pretty much the same concept with AV's... they may be installed on my computer and they never detect anything (because I too know what I am doing) but one day, I may have a lapse in judgement and accidently reek havoc...

If I find techs that start speaking like that, I don't walk away from them.... I run....

[mattxd00]

What would you recommend instead of Avast! then. I just need real time protection instead of a whole AV. I pay for the subscription and get extras like a firewall and all that which I don't need. They market it as if I'm going to get hacked, nobody is going to hack a random person they don't know anything about. If i turn off my firewall it's not like my money from my bank account is going to disappear in an instant.

I just want some sort of AV that offers real time protection without the heavy load of extra stuff I will never use. Like for example the secure-line VPN, anti-spam, sandbox, home network security. None of this affects me, I'm wasting money on stuff I don't use and it's pissing me off especially when because of it my system runs slower.

I'm considering purchasing Malwarebytes Premium for the real-time protection because it has saved me alot in terms of online websites. It's good at blocking random ads that pop up on some websites and files too without a heavy load. Is there any other similar ones? Free ones? Possibly paid?

Only real-time protection. No scanners, firewalls, vpns, anti-spams. Just simple real-time protection web and file based.

 

Edited June 30, 2017 by mattxd00

[sman]

One will never let his guard in absence of attacks.. There is already MSE/Defender security.. If you can, Why not custom build and share the benefits?

[Firefox]

Assuming you have Windows 10... it already comes with a built in AV (Windows Defender) that together with the paid version of Malwarebytes should be sufficient.

As for AV recommendations, this forum really does not recommend one or the other, its a matter of choice and preference from user to user....

I myself do not think the Window Defender is enough (however the latest version is much better that its predecessors) I use Symantec Endpoint Protection along with Malwarebytes

[exile360]

Just to add, one thing I saw the OP mention was that they always check any suspicious files/downloads before running them.  The problem with this approach is that not all threats get in this way, using executable files that you have a chance to analyze before being infected.  For one, there are exploits and similar drive-by attacks that do not rely on you executing (or even seeing) any files at all and there are even some threats that infect you simply by viewing the file in Windows Explorer (i.e. you see the file in the folder on your PC and *boom* it's already infected your system thanks to vulnerabilities in the Windows shell).  There are countless other similar mechanisms of infection out there which do not rely on the user actually downloading and running any files at all, so I would not recommend going online without any protection at all to anyone, regardless of how much they know.  Knowledge is irrelevant when you can't even see the attack happening because it's totally silent.