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47717768 (banned)
join:2003-12-08
Birmingham, AL

47717768 (banned) to Mashiki

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Re: Microsoft is advising Windows users to use a third-party antivirus instead

Yep. MSE does not update their signature database every single day.
Shady Bimmer
Premium Member
join:2001-12-03

Shady Bimmer

Premium Member

said by 47717768:

Yep. MSE does not update their signature database every single day.

Evidence?

Microsoft indicates otherwise: »answers.microsoft.com/en ··· 0e03ac4f

My own personal experience seems to find that MS does update their signatures as often as multiple times per day. This is in line with what other AV vendors follow.
dave
Premium Member
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio

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MSE does not update their signature database every single day

I'm sorry to let facts intrude into a promising line of bullshit....
DarkSithPro (banned)
join:2005-02-12
Tempe, AZ

DarkSithPro (banned)

Member

Dave, do you run AV and do rely on it? I know you're very well versed in the IT world and I have a hunch that you do noy rely on AV at all...
dave
Premium Member
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio

dave

Premium Member

I did not use to run any AV, but I run Microsoft Security Essentials now, for two main reasons.

1. My employer's VPN has started not allowing connections from Windows clients without some AV, and it eventually proved easier to not argue the matter.

2. MSE is sufficiently unobtrusive, unlike the ever-fatter freeware and commercial offerings, that given I needed it anyway, it seemed painless enough to leave it running all the time (rather than say, cranking it up just before using the VPN).
DarkSithPro (banned)
join:2005-02-12
Tempe, AZ

DarkSithPro (banned)

Member

said by dave:

I did not use to run any AV, but I run Microsoft Security Essentials now, for two main reasons.

1. My employer's VPN has started not allowing connections from Windows clients without some AV, and it eventually proved easier to not argue the matter.

2. MSE is sufficiently unobtrusive, unlike the ever-fatter freeware and commercial offerings, that given I needed it anyway, it seemed painless enough to leave it running all the time (rather than say, cranking it up just before using the VPN).

Ok, so with that said and done I must ask why the hesitation from the security experts to openly admit that at Antivirus in itself is utterly useless. I understand a real need for people to eat and provide for their families that produce antivirus technologies to the masses. However if they're selling snake and oil to their consumers then that's just not right. If AV doesn't cut it for experts then it shouldn't cut it for trusting consumers. So essentially companies that produce antivirus technologies are selling failed products from the beginning, knowingly well that their products are useless against modern threats.
Mele20
Premium Member
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI

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said by 47717768:

Yep. MSE does not update their signature database every single day.

Huh? They update MSE and Windows Defender for Windows 8 at least TWICE DAILY. I should know because I don't use Windows Updates to get the definitions. I fetch them manually from Microsoft Malware Protection Center.

But Microsoft only recommends once a day definition updates especially for Windows Defender on Windows 8. This is to avoid unnecessary overhead for the computer and because if an event happens that requires immediate attention, Windows Defender will force an immediate update. It also has a mechanism (Dynamic Signature Service) by which, if it encounters something it doesn't know or understand, it sends the information to MAPS. Depending on what is found an immediate download of definition updates may be triggered to handle it.
dave
Premium Member
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio

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I'm not sure whether I'm a security expert, but I do know I wouldn't want my elderly father to run without any sort of antivirus.

At the same time, since he tends to have old computers (cost/benefit of upgrading just isn't there), I don't want something that sucks the life out of the machine. At one point he was using Avast - that looks to me like its developers assume that people buy computers just to run anti-virus software.

And given the audience, I don't want an anti-virus product that asks him any questions he won't understand. That just encourages the click-anything response that leads to needing antivirus in the first place.

Davesnothere
Change is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada

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Davesnothere

Premium Member

said by dave:

....And given the audience, I don't want an anti-virus product that asks him any questions he won't understand.

That just encourages the 'click-anything' response that leads to needing antivirus in the first place.

 
Yes, and that point applies to the vast silent majority of users.

Exidor
Premium Member
join:2001-05-04

1 recommendation

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said by 47717768:

Yep. MSE does not update their signature database every single day.

Nope. See above Win7x64 system with MSE set (through registry mod) for hourly update checks. (System was shut down overnight.) Signature update frequency for MSE can vary day-to-day but is normally multiple times daily.

My Win7x64 system currently runs MSE...with backup from EMET 4.1, MBAM Pro, Zemana AntiLogger Paid Version and WinPatrol 2014 Plus. (All the paid/pro programs I was able to obtain through various software promotions/giveaways at a reduced cost or for free.)