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What do you think of the Viral Update news?


Guest_Jim_*

  

15 members have voted

  1. 1. Should we keep the regular Viral Update news going?

    • Yes
      11
    • No
      4


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After four weeks, I'd like to hear back about what you all think of the weekly Viral Update news items I've been posting. They were started as an experiment, to see what kind of response they might get, and now it's time to hear from you. There's a poll above for you to tell us, and of course you can post your thoughts too.

Even if the results of the poll are to stop doing these updates, you can still expect news items on important news, such as the Duqu virus, which was discussed in both the November 4 post and today's.

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You mention a bit about as needed approach to updates. While I see nothing wrong with the weekly update I believe prefixing the Viral Update with something like [important] if well something important happens. That is if something is really doing the rounds and is really quite harmful.

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I don't want to state the obvious here but if you know about this or that virus doing the rounds then so do the AV program producers? Most OCC members will be running a decent AV program that will hopefully pick them up so unless the viruses are actually bypassing AV programs do we need to know? ;)

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I don't want to state the obvious here but if you know about this or that virus doing the rounds then so do the AV program producers? Most OCC members will be running a decent AV program that will hopefully pick them up so unless the viruses are actually bypassing AV programs do we need to know? ;)

 

+1 This

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I don't want to state the obvious here but if you know about this or that virus doing the rounds then so do the AV program producers? Most OCC members will be running a decent AV program that will hopefully pick them up so unless the viruses are actually bypassing AV programs do we need to know? ;)

True, but not all AV's catch everything. Still, it should not be many that are missed, but that's why it is not a good idea to rely just on the AV, but to be cautious, because sometimes, once the virus get's in, it is very hard to get out.

Of course, the majority of new viruses are of little importance. If it wasn't for Duqu or Stuxnet, these updates would get really boring.

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True, but not all AV's catch everything. Still, it should not be many that are missed, but that's why it is not a good idea to rely just on the AV, but to be cautious, because sometimes, once the virus get's in, it is very hard to get out.

Of course, the majority of new viruses are of little importance. If it wasn't for Duqu or Stuxnet, these updates would get really boring.

 

Don't get me wrong I'm not "having a go" but if you know about the viruses then it's inexcuseable for any reputable AV program to let them become a problem. I agree that once they get through they can be a problem that sometimes warrants/needs a complete OS reinstall. I never open any emails I'm unsure about and steer well clear of dodgy attachments but not all PC users are aware of the dangers. I run MSE but I often wonder given my internet usage, staying clear of "dodgy" sites, never opening emails unless I'm sure of the source and never ever opening attachments unless I'm 100% sure of the source, do I need AV software? The answer is of course yes because you can never be 100% sure the sender, even if you know them, is quite as aware. Have any OCC members had a problem with Duqu or Stuxnet? I suspect not but if there's the slightest possibility they might then certainly continue to report them but I suspect the users that do won't benefit from the warnings?

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I dont see why not. Information is always a good thing. Cant believe some people actually voted to stop info that affects all of us.

 

ex:

I got that viral Paypal email that was going around. Thankfully i read the post about it, otherwise i might have acted sloppy and not noticed that it wasnt verified, potentially exposing my bank account. Yikes!

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I dont see why not. Information is always a good thing. Cant believe some people actually voted to stop info that affects all of us.

 

ex:

I got that viral Paypal email that was going around. Thankfully i read the post about it, otherwise i might have acted sloppy and not noticed that it wasnt verified, potentially exposing my bank account. Yikes!

Never open an email from paypal... Just saying

 

Log into paypal and look at your messages there. Emails from "paypal" are quite often malicious in nature.

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Never open an email from paypal... Just saying

 

Log into paypal and look at your messages there. Emails from "paypal" are quite often malicious in nature.

True. Paypal really has gone to **** imo. Too bad its hard NOT to use them when everyone else does. I think paying directly with your CC would be safer.

Edited by damian

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IMO the weekly update is stupid. By the time a new week rolls around the subject virus is old news and something else is infecting everyone. If you want it to be of any value, a viral update should be posted as soon as information about it is available.

 

It's always nice to know what a virus is doing, however if I am even remotely curious about a specific virus I'd likely hit one of the main AV's databases.

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Hmm, interesting trend here. The majority of those posting are against, but the majority of the votes are for the viral updates to continue. May just keep them, but less frequently, except for major things.

By the way, d3bruts1d, the viruses are old news by the time an AV database gets info on them too. The virus first has to be found before it can enter a database, and they're normally found either from an infected computer, because the AV couldn't catch it, or the heuristics of an AV noticed it was weird, asked if a sample could be sent home, and the user said yes. Antiviruses are defensive by nature and what proactive abilities they have are limited. The only proactive measures to protect a computer is taking care when online, opening email, and when connecting a drive. There are programs to track and stop applications from affecting things in memory, other programs, the registry, etc. but these will not always give enough information for even experienced users to identify if the detected action is legitimate or not. They're like the UAC which most people click through or turn off.

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....

By the way, d3bruts1d, the viruses are old news by the time an AV database gets info on them too. The virus first has to be found before it can enter a database, and they're normally found either from an infected computer, because the AV couldn't catch it, or the heuristics of an AV noticed it was weird, asked if a sample could be sent home, and the user said yes. Antiviruses are defensive by nature and what proactive abilities they have are limited. The only proactive measures to protect a computer is taking care when online, opening email, and when connecting a drive. There are programs to track and stop applications from affecting things in memory, other programs, the registry, etc. but these will not always give enough information for even experienced users to identify if the detected action is legitimate or not. They're like the UAC which most people click through or turn off.

Right... something is old by the time it gets into the AV database and even older by the time OCC regurgitates the info from the AV database. Things like the Steam, Sony, and BoA hacks that are posted early and tell people to keep an eye on their accounts and change passwords, malicious Android apps that may have been downloaded, or the latest virus currently circulating Facebook/Twitter are going to be more beneficial to people. You are telling people what is going on right now that they need to be concerned with rather than telling them in a week how they were screwed. ;)

 

Don't get me wrong... any content on OCC's main page is nice. :thumbsup:

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