[ WWW.TECHLIFE.NET ] [ 03 ]
— we need to practise ‘defensive computing’,
says O’Callahan. That sounds fine in theory,
although, as with driving a car, people’s instincts
aren’t always the best when it comes to handling
dangerous situations. This is why we have
defensive-driving courses that teach people
exactly what to do when things get sketchy.
Do we need a similar course for computing?
That term covers things like:
* Keep your programs and OS updated with the
latest versions/patches — in particular, your
web browser and email client (if you still use
one of the latter);
* Don’t click on dodgy links or open/download
files that could be risky — either in emails
or on the web in general; and
* Don’t visit dangerous sites.
In practice, though, not everyone can be
(or moreover, is interested in being) as tech-savvy
as your average Te ch Life reader. For many people,
it can, frankly, be a bit beyond their expertise —
and for them, there’s therefore a good argument
that running a third-party security suite is the
lesser of two evils.
So what about me? Well, I won’t be ditching
my security software just yet — but then, I’ve
specifically chosen a suite that has minimal
system impact... although that doesn’t, of course,
guarantee that it won’t interfere in some weird
way with the smooth running of other
applications. For now, that’s something I’m
prepared to live — but I’m happy to concede
that others may disagree.EDITORIAL
UNFETTERED SPECULATIONIN THE NERDIER parts of the internet of late,
there’s been a bit of an emerging brouhaha about
whether third-party Windows security software —
as sold by big brands names like Norton, Trend
Micro and Kaspersky — is actually something that’s
worth having installed, something that’s particularly
pertinent given this month’s cover story.
A post on ex-Firefox developer Robert
O’Callahan’s blog (see tinyurl.com/tla63-avsoft)
seems to have been the catalyst that kickstarted the
wider conversation. In the post, O’Callahan explains
that, after years of having to deal with problems
caused by badly behaving security software,
he’s reached the conclusion that it’s not worth
installing. He says it often interferes with other
applications (like Firefox) and that these apps then
unfairly cop the blame.
O’Callahan reckons that, instead of a third-party
security suite, you should just stick with Microsoft’s
built-in security back-end (aka Security Essentials or
Windows Defender). Now, independent testing by
the likes of AV-Test (from which Te ch Life sources its
security scan results) seems to show that Microsoft’s
security apps aren’t quite as effective at picking up
malware as dedicated third-party programs —
particularly when it comes to emerging ‘zero-day’
threats that require heuristic scanning to identify.
We guess the question then, really, becomes:
‘Is it good enough?’
Now, there’s certainly a lot of deliberately spread
fear, uncertainty and doubt when it comes to digital
security, and we all know that we should be wary
when it comes to interacting with the online world[ TECHLIFE #63 ][ LOCK IT DOWN ]Why you still need security
software. Probably.
TECHLIFE’S EDITOR PONDERS THE DEBATE ABOUT WHETHER WINDOWS’ BUILT-IN SECURITY
IS GOOD ENOUGH TO PROTECT YOU.
[ DAN GARDINER ]