The Internet is an amazing invention; perhaps our very best.
It’s a place of endless information, rich media, rapid communication, and wonders yet undiscovered. But experiencing it without anti-virus software is like fucking a stranger without a condom – eventually you’re going to catch something nasty.
So to illustrate this point, I would like to share with you a really neat map of the world. What’s special about this map is that it shows infections and cyber attacks overlayed in real-time, and broken down by category. It’s unique, and really kind of beautiful in a way, so instead of trying to explain it, just check it out for yourself.
Better Wear a Rubber, Dude
I haven’t used Kaspersky products in many, many years. I dabbled with them at one point, but decided that I would simply bare-back the Internet instead. After all, I wasn’t one of those idiots that clicks on random banners, or opens foreign email attachments. I was smarter than that.
At this point in the story, a person would usually say that things ended up going badly for them, and that they finally decided to change their ways. But I’m not going to lie to you… I’ve never had a probably going it without anti-virus software. I’m not one of those idiots, you see. But even so, I decided to start using one about a year ago.
Why? Well, using anti-virus software is a little bit like insurance. You’ll probably never use it, but if you ever need it, you’ll be damn happy that you got it.
Just stay away from Symantec products, because I’m pretty sure they’re still rubbish… no better than an actual virus, in fact. I’m using Windows Defender these days because it’s both free, fast, and has a reasonably high detection rate, but to the best of my knowledge, pretty much all the anti-virus products out there are at least half decent. If you’re looking to blow some money, NOD32 is also fantastic.
Playing Favorites
Do you have a favorite anti-virus or anti-malware suite? If so, I want to hear about it in the comments below. In fact, feel free to weigh in about anything virus, malware, or exploit related. The last week has been a bad one for OpenSSL, but given how obvious the bug was, well… let’s just say my heart doesn’t bleed for them.
