With or without an Antivirus Solution?

As you surely know, most of the computer owners prefer to install an antivirus solution to protect their computer against the infections available on the Internet. No matter if they are provided by Symantec, Kaspersky, Softwin or McAfee, the antivirus solutions are regarded as some must have tools because the Internet is too dangerous to browse without a security utility. In this period, the most powerful infections are distributed via e-mail, file sharing applications or instant messaging clients while the most attacks require the users' approval. Usually, a successful exploitation demands users to run a malicious file that is often blocked by the antivirus tool. The conclusion? An antivirus program must be installed on every computer.

In the last weeks, security companies from the entire Internet reported numerous security flaws in the antivirus programs, the most affected companies being Symantec, McAfee and Kaspersky. You're right, exactly the most powerful providers of antivirus solutions. The vulnerabilities allowed attackers to control a computer using a simple remote connection and, once a port was opened, the entire system was revealed. The conclusion? An antivirus program is useless.

On January 30, Microsoft released Windows Vista, the latest version of its operating system that is often regarded as the most secure version of the application. Although it contains several tools to assure the protection of the information, numerous vulnerabilities and bugs were already discovered in the operating system, making the users vulnerable to attacks. As you might know, Symantec developed Norton 360, a security suite able to enhance the security of Windows Vista, making the application even safer than Microsoft presented it. The conclusion? An antivirus program must be installed on every Vista computer.

So, no matter if the antivirus solutions are vulnerable or not, all the users prefer to install them to feel a little more secure. I must agree that an antivirus application is more useful when it helps you clean your computer so, you're the one that decides: install or not.