Here are four commons reasons people give for not using anti-virus software and why those reasons are not valid.
- I have a Mac and the Mac OS doesn’t get viruses. This has been a misconception for years. While the likelihood of a virus infection on a system running Microsoft Windows is still considerably higher than a Mac, the number of Mac malware samples being analyzed are higher today than ever before. Most of the newer Mac malware closely resemble and mimic the Windows counterpart. For years, Apple has chanted the catch phrase “It just works” (regarding Apple products and services). Actress Jennifer Lawrence and model Kate Upton would not entirely agree after their photos were hacked and stolen under Apple’s infrastructure. The bottom line is that Macs are more vulnerable than they have ever been, and their danger levels and vulnerabilities are being threatened and compromised just as Windows devices are. The old quip that “Macs don’t get viruses” is simply not true anymore.
- I’m a very cautious person and only use my computer on certain legitimate websites. As Heartbleed and other recent website hacking breaches have shown, there is no longer such a thing as a “safe” website in today’s day and age. Sad but true. Cybercriminals are very savvy and are quick to exploit the latest vulnerabilities and penetrate even the securest of networks. Legitimate websites are getting hacked on a daily basis and not only are hackers stealing your confidential information but are also uploading malicious code to them so that when you access these sites, you are may unknowingly (and without your consent) be downloading malicious code directly to your computer.
- I’m not Wells Fargo and therefore not a target for attackers. You’re correct that you might not be a high-profiled target but your information (ie. even your username and passwords) are financially beneficial to cybercriminals. For example, if you dropped a quarter and it rolled down a sewer drain, it probably wouldn’t be worth your time to pry open the drain and manually climb down in an attempt to fetch it. However, what if your quarter was just one of four million quarters that fell down that same drain? When you consider your personal information (financial and other) and multiply that by millions of users, pretty soon you can see how your information becomes very valuable to spammers and hackers. Most of the world lives much of their lives online, and those quarters add up fast with so many users.
- Antivirus software slows my computers down. This is another common myth. Many independent security tests continue to prove this statement inaccurate. The bottom line is that today’s encryption techniques have been optimized to utilize minimal system resources. Computers are slowed down for many reasons, but in almost every case properly installed and configured antivirus software isn’t one of them. There are hundreds of miscellaneous apps and toolbars that people download without a care. These things slow down our machines (and possibly lead to vulnerabilities!). Whereas a solid antivirus product usually does not. It may take a moment to run a scan for infections, but isn’t it worth it?
Source: Ministry Tech
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