Do you wish you could do without antivirus software? There are certainly plenty of good reasons not to like it. After all, antivirus programs invariably slow down your computer, annoy you with false positives or status pop-ups, and of course most of them cost money — often on a recurring, yearly basis. But can you just say no to antivirus software and still stay safe? The short answer is “yes” — if you adopt some security-savvy computing practices.
Know Thyself
If you only use commercial software and never install programs you’ve downloaded from the Internet or copied from a friend, then your main sources of concern for contracting a computer virus will come from web sites and e-mail. Common sense — and following the guidelines below — will protect you the rest of the way.
On the other hand, if you’re addicted to free downloads, shareware, and “warez” sites that purport to offer commercial software at no cost, then you have no viable option. You must install antivirus software — and perhaps even use a couple of programs — to make sure you don’t fall victim to malicious software or phishing attacks.
Most people, however, run just the few programs that came with their PCs and don’t venture into dangerous territory on the web. For them, the guidelines below will provide adequate protection.
Web Sites
Today’s browsers have a lot of security controls built in, and these tend to do a fine job of preventing phishing attacks or the automatic downloading of potentially malicious software. Antivirus tools add little to their already robust protections.
So if you want to be free of antivirus software, be sure to use to latest versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, or Chrome, and keep those browsers up to date through your operating system’s automatic update feature. Also, do not disable or…