For years, malware purveyors and antivirus developers have played a game of whack-a-mole, and now it seems that antivirus software has well and truly come out on top.
I remember years ago when malware infections were so prevalent that there were specialist sites set up to help users identify the various types of malware and come up with solutions.
There is still plenty of nasty malware around, of course, but these days, pretty much the only way malware can infect the system is via hands-on access or by tricking users into infecting their own systems. Indeed, the combination of improvements in antivirus solutions plus enhanced security measures built into operating systems has forced malware purveyors to change their plan of attack.
Now, instead of trying to directly infect systems with Trojans, key-loggers, etc., the malware purveyors have turned to tricking users into clicking on malicious links, malicious attachments, and visiting malicious websites to deliver their payload.
In other words, whether users’ systems become infected with malware or not is very much in their own hands these days. I don’t necessarily always follow conventional wisdom, but in this case, conventional wisdom is what will keep you safe... in a nutshell, think before you click.
BOTTOM LINE:
I can’t remember the last time one of my systems was infected with malware. If I had to guess, I’d say around 20-odd years ago, in the early XP years. I don’t have any fancy security software; Defender provides my sole line of defense, but I double-check and triple-check anything that even smells a tad fishy.
What do you think? Have malware infections essentially become a thing of the past?
—
I don’t think Virus’ , trojan’s or malware are a thing of the past, not yet anyway. There will always be that one developer that will slip through the cracks, especially with AI advances now, AI can be our saving grace when it comes to fighting infections but it can also become our worst nightmare when it comes to writing virus’ and causing infections.
It’s kind of a double edged sword I guess.
My last infection? the Happy99 worm, I was using Windows 98 at the time.
Hey Ed,
Nobody said malware was a thing of the past. In fact, quite the opposite- as per the article, “There is still plenty of nasty malware around, of course“. I’m talking about “malware infections“, cases where the malware successfully infects the system.
As far as AI and malware are concerned; AI’s biggest threat is that it can create very realistic phishing attacks. However, as mentioned in the article, these types of attacks can quite easily be thwarted just so long as the user stays vigilant and doesn’t click on something they shouldn’t click on.
I agree with you Jim. I too have not had a virus/malware infection/issue in last 30 years and all I have relied on is defender in windows and nothing on my linux PCs. I am very aware of where I go on the internet and I always check software given to me on flash and other drives. I run sessions for seniors on using PCs and other new tech and emphasize their need to be vigilant.
I remember the olden days where my cousins/friends would call me to fix their computers from viruses. Tried so many programs. I’m glad we don’t have to be defragmenting and optimizing, it was time-consuming. As for your article, it’s true, no longer looking over someone’s shoulder. HijackThis! brought back memories, found alot of start-up malware with that program. Gone are the days of Avast!, Avira, and Bitdefender. Nowadays, I do a monthly scan with Windows Defender and Emsisoft’s Emergency Kit, all good.
Yep, one has to wonder if the antivirus vendors might be doing it tough, financially.
I have been running my systems with NO antivirus software for over 20 years. Result – lightning fast! As you can surmise, I don’t go to nefarious or questionable sites and even at the reputable sites, I am wiser than an owl on how and what I do. Result – absolute exhilaration! My machines never ran smoother! And, have never, even once, been infected.
Thanks Jim
I still pay for and use Norton Security over Windows Defender on my office machine because it is very proactive in stopping phishing emails that seem to regularly and easily bypass my GMail filtering these days whereas once they seemed to be caught more often than not. It doesn’t help that my email address has been regularly hacked along with the millions of other users over the years through various corporate hacks. So it is likely I am regularly being targeted over those other more fortunates who haven’t been caught up in a data breach. I do only rely on Windows Defender for my games machine because I don’t interact with anything other than Steam with it.
More worrying was the news I got the other day that there was malware inside a couple of staples of mine from the Developer’s own downloads website – CPUID and HWMonitor which I am sure you have likely used yourself. Fortunately it appears that the HWMonitor exploit didn’t work anyway (the CPUID did) and the downloads were only available for a very short time period before discovery (6 hours) so I wasn’t affected as I didn’t get chance to download the “wrong’un”. But just goes to show however careful you are, we are still susceptible to malware in some form or other.
Cheers
Reg