I use a router firewall and haven't had any problems for four years straight.
None that you know of, at least. Today's viruses and trojans are written for spammers, and generally try to keep very quiet about their existence.
In addition, the vast majority of malware today is spread not via open ports as was done in the past, but by hijacking legitimate streams of data, such as a web page. This will easily penetrate the vast majority of firewalls.
Although there is some debate in the technical community, especially those not really associated with security, the ones who specialize are in almost complete agreement: A good security system consists of many layers of protection, and getting rid of some of those layers is very foolish.
Antivirus plays a critical role in security: It detects when something has gotten past your defenses. Once something does, you should wipe the computer and restore from a backup. Antivirus software does
not guarantee it can clean infections completely.
My opinion is: If you want the performance, fine: Go ahead and turn off real time detection. But
do run a regularly scheduled scan. I run mine when I'm at work. 30 minutes after I leave, the scheduler starts it. When I come back, it's finished. I never notice it.
Even the best drivers will get rear-ended. They can do alot to reduce the chances, but they can't eliminate them. Ain't their fault, but it happens.
Agreed. I was stopped at a stoplight during winter, and there was ice underneath the snow. The person behind me didn't realize that
. Luckily, it was just a very minor accident.
As you say, however, you
can reduce your chances. And that's what security is all about: Reducing your chances of getting infected. Every layer reduces the chance.
The secret is that I run Windows 2000.
There are
21 known unpatched vulnerabilities in Windows 2000.
There are
three known unpatched vulnerabilities in Vista.
I think I'll stick with Vista.
I dunno about you, but I'm tired of programs telling me to disable firewalls and virus protection to run them.
Quite frankly, I ignore the warning and keep my security stuff on anyways. I have never, ever had a program fail to install due to my antivirus or firewall. Personally, I think it's mostly there to keep the lawyers happy.
