Hello everyone,
I’d like to submit a little bit of public commentary regarding Windows
Vista and the threat that exists of coming into contact with malicious
software (viruses, Trojans, worms, spyware, etc.).
At first I had composed and was planning to post a newsgroup article
which completely downplayed the threat of malware while using Vista, as
if Microsoft’s new OS had unequivocally brought us into a new era in
which we don’t have to give a second thought to this risk.
However, I have a slightly different view now, and because I have in
the past written newsgroup articles where I state that the threat of
malware under Vista is so incredibly low to the point of being almost
non-existent, I feel I have to correct myself.
This is not to say that I think Vista is completely failing us in the
area of security –- this is far from the truth.
I’ve been using Vista for almost seven months now (Ultimate, 32-bit),
and I’ve been relying on AVG Free Edition as my virus scanner and
Vista’s built-in Windows Defender as my spyware scanning utility.
It is true that up until this point, I’ve expended little energy
dealing with this matter. AVG and Windows Defender would simply
perform their chores in the background at the properly scheduled
moments, and I would happily go on computing, worrying very little
about this issue.
However, I recently decided to take a closer look to see if AVG and
Defender had in fact missed anything. In addition to these two aids, I
downloaded, installed, and ran the following free programs: PC Tools
Anti-Virus, Avast! Anti-Virus, Spybot Search & Destroy, and Spyware
Terminator.
And, to my chagrin, there were some items that were detected by this
additional software. (I say “chagrin” because I am a Microsoft fan and
Windows advocate.)
If I may put this into perspective though, it’s not like my entire
system was absolutely /plagued/ with malware -- but sure, I admit,
there were some things that were found. Essentially, the results
varied. Windows Defender keeps telling me it hasn’t found any unwanted
or harmful software yet. AVG has two files quarantined (one of them is
an archived file that has existed on my system before I ever upgraded
to Vista, so I’m not sure if that one even counts). Spybot S&D
detected dozens and dozens of things – but ALL of them were browser
tracking cookies (which are considered harmless by most people, and not
even classified as spyware by others). Avast! has isolated a total of
three infected files (however two of them are the same). Spyware
Terminator did locate one threat, but it was merely an invalid startup
item associated with one of the other software packages I have
installed. And finally, PC Tools essentially gave me a clean bill of
health, because once again the only thing it found was yet another
archived file that was already on my system before I ever upgraded to
Vista.
So what does this tell us? Well, put simply, it tells us that even
with Windows Vista, malware is still pretty much a threat that we have
to take seriously. We are not truly immune to it.
But you know what?
The results of the scans that I did could have been so much worse –- a
LOT worse.
I mean, seriously! First of all, these utilities didn’t cost me a
dime. And they uncovered very few true infections. They’ve been
cleaned up now, of course, but I’ve got to say, I’ve been heavily using
my Vista machine day in and day out for almost seven months now, and
there doesn’t seem to be any evidence of damage that may have been
caused by these infected files that were found. Malware simply has not
been a terrible burden throughout my Windows Vista experience.
What this really does is confirm a belief I have regarding PCs running
Windows, and that is the belief that by taking the proper precautions,
the risk of having one’s system comprised by malicious software becomes
manageable, and the threat can be overcome, even minimized. It’s
simply a matter of doing the right things. For example, turn on
Vista’s firewall. Enable User Account Control, or UAC (this feature
prevents unauthorized programs from running on your computer without
your permission). Use anti-malware software packages to scan and
cleanse your system on a regular basis (there are quite a few to choose
from, even good, free utilities such as the ones that I mentioned).
And don’t open attachments or click on hyperlinks sent to you via
unsolicited e-mail (these are the typical pieces of advice you’d hear
from experts on this subject).
Just because you use a Wintel PC instead of a Mac (or Linux) doesn’t
necessarily mean that malicious software is going to hold you hostage
all the time, and defending yourself doesn’t have to be an expensive
endeavor either. Simply use common sense and exercise wise computing
habits, and you can still have a fun time being productive with your
computer.
Thank you.
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