Got A Virus? It's Your Fault Says Microsoft

[Batou1986]

Chances are if your reading this you already know it to be true.
Thankfully ppl are stupid so i will still have plenty of computers to fix.

 

[Mussels]

Chances are if your reading this you already know it to be true.
Thankfully ppl are stupid so i will still have plenty of computers to fix.

*ahem*


DAMNIT QUBIT YOU'RE COSTING ME POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS

 

[qubit]

Chances are if your reading this you already know it to be true.
Thankfully ppl are stupid so i will still have plenty of computers to fix.

Yes, I do work on the side, too and it also helps me. There is indeed an upside to this.

 

[theJesus]

Isn't there some conspiracy theory about the big A/V companies releasing some real nasty viruses back in the day to scare people into purchasing A/V software?

 

[Batou1986]

Isn't there some conspiracy theory about the big A/V companies releasing some real nasty viruses back in the day to scare people into purchasing A/V software?

Not that i can remember, but i do believe Norton is in cohorts with HDD manufactures to move product by engineering the best software on the planet to wear out harddrives and make your pc run slow as a 486 machine.

 

[twilyth]

oh look, a pirated copy of that software i didnt want to pay for!

*double clicks crack, blames ensuing virus on crap antivirus product/OS*

All questionable software needs to be "aged", just like a fresh steaming pile. Once it's been sitting out in the sun and rain for several weeks, it's not nearly as offensive.

 

[hat]

I have to agree with them somewhat... I can browse porn sites, 4chan and whatever else and still not get viruses. It seems like it's mostly about not opening random emails, ads, strange links, or filling out forms to get that free laptop you just won.

 

[HTC]

2003 is irrelevant to the scope of this article. Back then it was an insecure OS. This is about current rates, in which we have much more secure OSes.

Not so: just because back then it wasn't as secure as it is today is irrelevant. It's the OS maker's job to make it so that worms such as Blaster aren't possible to begin with.

It's one thing to get infected when you click on something you shouldn't but it's quite another to get infected by simply connecting to the Internet (not opening pages or anything): is this the user's fault? Only if you count installing the OS and connecting to the Internet: then, it's the user's fault.

Just because today's OSes are more secure doesn't mean they don't get affected, and this article proves that.

 

[qubit]

Isn't there some conspiracy theory about the big A/V companies releasing some real nasty viruses back in the day to scare people into purchasing A/V software?

I've never seen any proof of this, so it's likely to be an urban myth, if a plausible one. My take? I think there's enough real viruses to go round to keep every a/v vendor busy forever. However, I do believe that a/v companies are not above releasing malware, which they then "detect" and "eradicate" before the competition can do it to boost their perceived value in the marketplace and thus sell more software. I have zero proof that this happens though, it just seems a reasonably plausible possibility.

 

[ObSo-1337]

No matter how much hate Microsoft get for this, they are bloody right. The only viruses i got were my fault and i knew that the thing i was downloading could potentially be infected (I was desperate!)

 

[Derek12]

The common sense and knowledge are in many cases the best antivirus.

 

[razaron]

Ever since I switched to Vista back in 2008 I haven't gotten a single virus. That's without any anti-virus software installed. Then when I changed to W7 about a year ago, I went half a year without any AV software installed. Still no viruses. I then installed MSE because it's free and still no viruses.
Windows XP on the other hand sucked donkey... ahem, what I mean to say is that XP forced me to do a fresh install every other month.

Do note that I don't browse the internet in a "safe" way. I go to all the sites that you're not supposed to go to if you don't want viruses.

 

[buggalugs]

I remember Microsoft saying the same thing years ago, its true though....

 

[Frick]

Yes, that's right the maker of notoriously vulnerable software

This does not help people getting over that image. It's just not true anymore (when looking at OSes at least)

 

[FreedomEclipse]

In my years of being connected to the interwebs. I myself have never had a serious issue with viruses or malware that left me with no choice but to wipe the system.

I had only had one mild case of malware infection a few months ago and everytime malwarebytes removed it, it would come back. Fortunately I was recommended a much more agressive anti-malware program called ComboFix which got rid of it.

I probably scan with Malwarebytes once a month or when i suspect dodgy software.

Virus scans im more touche about - I have terribytes of data so scanning for the first time can take potentially upto 2 days.


But yes - less stupid people = less bread and butter for me

 

[Derek12]

I've got virus only in my first months of computing and Internet, with Windows 98 and Mcafee installed, but now I haven't got any in the last 6 years and I don't have any resident antivirus but I scan it monthly with on-line scanners and Kaspersky virus removal tool.

 

[qwerty_lesh]

II had only had one mild case of malware infection a few months ago and everytime malwarebytes removed it, it would come back. Fortunately I was recommended a much more agressive anti-malware program called ComboFix

www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/anti-virus/combofix

dont use the .org the author is bleepingcomputer dont trust this utility from anywhere else.

some of the unoriginal copies when used against certain rootkits can wipe your drives contence.

only BleepingComputer.com and infospyware.com are authorised to distribute combofix by Subs, never get it from anywhere else.

 

[1c3d0g]

Question: was it the user's fault when simply connecting to the Internet gave you a 50% chance of getting infected by the Blaster worm within 12 minutes on Internet connection back in 2003?

If you left your damn machine unpatched, then hell yes, it's your own f*cking fault!

 

[Lionheart]

Fuck you gaysoft

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Fuck you gaysoft

Grow up

 

[Katanai]

Viruses are overrated imo. I don't know what's all the fuss about. Windows 7 x64 is the most secure OS I've ever worked with, except the internal XP SP3 by HP. That was XP done right, sadly not by Microsoft...

 

[Neuromancer]

I had no problems with Vista either (once I fixed networking shares issues) which I had to do again in 7 anyway...

I had 2 infections over the last 15 years of online presence. Both were my fault.

 

[MilkyWay]

To be fair lots of the time its the users fault, id rather people just learned good computer practises.

 

[KainXS]

1 billion percent right, everytime someone used to bring us a computer complaining about viruses, they were downloadin pirate software or downloadin porno, those are the 2 biggest virus getters.

even if you do have antivirus, if your downloading dozens of pirated softwares, sooner or later a virus will get by and you will be screwed.

 

[MikeMurphy]

Vista and Win7 with MS Security Essentials has been absolutely rock solid for me.

The BIGGER problem these days is junkware.

 

[streetfighter 2]

My work uses the newest version of Outlook and, with that in mind, I can honestly say that 99% of viruses are because Outlook has the security policies of a wet paper bag.

Years ago my standard brief to clients was, "don't download anything". I've changed it up a bit and it's now, "virtualize and do whatever you want". Although I recommend VMware or VirtualBox, there are other solutions such as Dell's Secure Browser but I've never tried it.