Number of new viruses per day

[baja_yu]

I was just installing AVG anti virus, and during installation one of their promo messages said something like "There are over 30,000 new viruses discovered every day"... Now, this sounds a bit too much, no?

[Icyculyr]

It wouldn't surprise me, one of the Get A Mac ads put it at 20,000 and it was released quite a while ago, Apple'd have got sued for sure if it wasn't true.

[mendhak]

It wouldn't surprise me, one of the Get A Mac ads put it at 20,000 and it was released quite a while ago, Apple'd have got sued for sure if it wasn't true.

It's a figure that Apple and other security vendor have pulled out of their collective asses for marketing purposes. There are about 30K pieces of data submitted to labs every day, not all are necessarily virii.

Of course, if you're naive enough to believe anything apple says, that probably overrides anything an actual security vendor would say.

[Icyculyr]

It's a figure that Apple and other security vendor have pulled out of their collective asses for marketing purposes. There are about 30K pieces of data submitted to labs every day, not all are necessarily virii.

Of course, if you're naive enough to believe anything apple says, that probably overrides anything an actual security vendor would say.

I'm not naive, and I believe what most companies say until proven otherwise, that doesn't mean I'm not suspicious though.

"Viruses" is a word that is easy for the public to understand, they are some kind of malicious software, I.E, viruses, malware, spyware, or whatever else, yes?

[namrekka]

[mendhak]

I'm not naive, and I believe what most companies say until proven otherwise, that doesn't mean I'm not suspicious though.

"Viruses" is a word that is easy for the public to understand, they are some kind of malicious software, I.E, viruses, malware, spyware, or whatever else, yes?

You're right, it should be viruses, I often use virii which isn't very accepted nowadays. It's probably because I'm over 3000 years old that I use such words.

[TheBigB]

Virii provide me with a living, so hey, no complaints here
(as long as I don't get them)

By the way, please don't make this the second (third?) Apple/PC discussion...

[Icyculyr]

You're right, it should be viruses, I often use virii which isn't very accepted nowadays. It's probably because I'm over 3000 years old that I use such words.

I wasn't actually calling you out on using the word virii, it sounds cool, I was just placing emphasis on the word "viruses".

[mendhak]

Oh! In that case,

I'm not naive, and I believe what most companies say until proven otherwise...

Interesting contradiction you have there. That's naivete. A company's purpose is to make money, not tell you the truth straight on. It's the job of the spokesperson to look good or save face, as the situation requires - which involves suitably altering the truth.

[abhijit]

Speaking of companies saying things, you should see the ad campaigns by Toyota and BP.

[pcuser]

"There are over 30,000 new viruses discovered every day"...

Wow, that sounds really scary!!! You better buy the PRO version just to be on the safe side...

Did you also happen to read the one that contradicts the one you mentioned? Something along the lines of "Did you know: Most of todays malware (don't remember the percentage) aren't true viruses..."

I believe the definition of a computer virus is any code that replicates itself. I can't see 30,000 NEW variations of this being discovered every day but what I can see is 30,000 questionable/malicious code samples being submitted every day.

If it's NOT a virus then DON'T call it a virus just for marketing tactics. The word virus scares people and both AV companies and malware authors have picked up on this. I don't know how many people I've had tell me "My computer says it has lots of viruses but it can't clean them unless I pay $49.95 for the program which I did and they still won't go away!!!"

As far as I'm concerned, "legit" AV companies are no better than rogue AV authors that use the same tactics that try to scare people into buying something they don't need.

One that really gets me is that notorious software that comes in a yellow box and annoys you every few minutes that "You're at risk!!!" because you haven't purchased additional backup services from them lately, even if you have a MUCH better backup system. The sad part is that once this "legit" software is installed on a system, it can be harder to completely remove than most malware that I've seen lately.

[Icyculyr]

Interesting contradiction you have there. That's naivete. A company's purpose is to make money, not tell you the truth straight on. It's the job of the spokesperson to look good or save face, as the situation requires - which involves suitably altering the truth.

No, it's not. You also didn't quote the rest of my post where I say I'm suspicious of them, or aware, that they could be lying. You do realise I am aware they might be being a little deceptive? And, I am aware how they could be, at least on a few things.

Just because I believe what Apple says in this case doesn't mean I'll believe everything Apple says in any case, likewise with other companies, it depends on what they're saying.

[dilettante]

Where do you get "virii" from anyway? Even if the Latinform plural was valid it would be "viri" instead.

[si_the_geek]

With mendhak you have to expect an extra i

[akhileshbc]

With mendhak you have to expect an extra i

[wossname]

Which is better Mac or Windows? I was thinking of getting a new computer but not sure which to go for.

kkfangsbay

[TheBigB]

Obviously you should get a Mac.

[abhijit]

Which is better Mac or Windows? I was thinking of getting a new computer but not sure which to go for.

kkfangsbay

Get a Mac and install Windows on it.

[Siddharth Rout]

With mendhak you have to expect an extra i

Which is better Mac or Windows? I was thinking of getting a new computer but not sure which to go for.

kkfangsbay

@Si/Wossy: ShutUp!!!!

I almost spilled my coffee and threw up on my computer screen . I am still holding my stomach laughing.... Every one is staring at me in the office....

[JuggaloBrotha]

@Si/Wossy: ShutUp!!!!

I almost spilled my coffee and threw up on my computer screen . I am still holding my stomach laughing.... Every one is staring at me in the office....

And in the right corner we have our winnar!!

[si_the_geek]

mission accomplished!

[minitech]

Which is better Mac or Windows? I was thinking of getting a new computer but not sure which to go for.

kkfangsbay

Bleh, who needs to pay for an OS when it's so easy to make your own OS in assembly? I think a "Hello, world!" boot loader was only 52 lines or so...

[kregg]

It wouldn't surprise me, one of the Get A Mac ads put it at 20,000 and it was released quite a while ago, Apple'd have got sued for sure if it wasn't true.

If that was the case, then the PCs we have installed at home with Windows, and no antivirus/firewall would be dead by now.

They are all still alive after 5+ years with no need of formatting.

Oh, and the last time I scanned my PC with antivirus software, it marked up an ad-based cookie (a text file with tracking information about my usage with websites) as a virus.

And that was the last time I relied on antivirus software.

[Shaggy Hiker]

With mendhak you have to expect an extra i

That is indeed excellent!

[Icyculyr]

If that was the case, then the PCs we have installed at home with Windows, and no antivirus/firewall would be dead by now.

They are all still alive after 5+ years with no need of formatting.

Oh, and the last time I scanned my PC with antivirus software, it marked up an ad-based cookie (a text file with tracking information about my usage with websites) as a virus.

And that was the last time I relied on antivirus software.

Not necessarily, it isn't hard to avoid a virus on Windows. If you be careful where you go (I.E, crack websites, etc.), don't download, run, or install unknown files, you should be pretty right.

[baja_yu]

Oh, and the last time I scanned my PC with antivirus software, it marked up an ad-based cookie (a text file with tracking information about my usage with websites) as a virus.

Installed Malwarebyte's Anti Malware yesterday, scanned, detected (and auto-deleted) VLC Player as a Trojan. Uninstalled.

[minitech]

VLC player is obviously a Trojan, then. It must have been infected in the time you went without an AV

[baja_yu]

I did have Avast. And that Malwarebytes looks to be crap.

[minitech]

It's highly recommended by Maximum PC, and they certainly know what they're talking about...

And, according to MaxPC, Avast isn't that great anyways.

[baja_yu]

Well, I haven't heard of them and I wouldn't care even if I did. I like my personal experience better than someone else's opinion.

EDIT: Oh yes, by their comparison review, Symantec's AV has the highest score. You're right, they really know what they are talking about. [/sarcasm]

[minitech]

They sure do and the benchmarks say something too

[kregg]

Installed Malwarebyte's Anti Malware yesterday, scanned, detected (and auto-deleted) VLC Player as a Trojan. Uninstalled.

Epic fail.