Why I don't use a Virus Scanner

Many people I know criticize me for not running a virus scanner on my laptop or desktop computers. I haven't used a virus scanner in over five years now -- and haven't been infected once.

Why? Simply because virus scanners aren't worth the money you pay for them, nor the CPU cycles they waste, if you have a properly configured computer, and being a little smart about files you receive/download. By properly configured, I mean secure.

Nowadays, almost all "viruses" come in the form of E-mail worms and malware. So there's really a simple solution to this problem: Be clever about applications you run. If someone sends you a .exe file you aren't expecting, simply throw it away.

So what do I mean by "properly configured" or "secure"? I mean not logging in as the Administrator user under Windows. Linux and Mac OS X have figured this out: viruses are basically rendered impotent without administrative privileges. Almost all of them try to install themselves into components of your operating system (such as Internet Explorer or as a Service).

It's really very easy:
Go to your Control Panel, and double click User Accounts. If you haven't already created an account for yourself, do so. Otherwise, select your account. Click "Change Type", and select "Limited" instead of "Computer Administrator".

Bam. Malware can't install itself when you browse to a bad website. And the most damage attachments you accidentally open is deleteing all of your documents (which you should have regular backups of).

You'd be surprised how many Software Engineers I know who still log onto their computer as an Administrator. I think Aaron Margosis (from Microsoft) said it best:


With today's threat landscape and the way malware works today, you are better off running as non-admin WITHOUT anti-virus than you are running as admin WITH anti-virus.

Comments

Submitted by Joelith on Sun 16/07/2006 - 18:36

Or use a mac and then you don't have to worry at all!

Submitted by nemesis on Sun 16/07/2006 - 20:35

Oh man, I can't wait for the Mac Malware to start flooding in. Your day will come.