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Groups > alt.comp.os.windows-10 > #181451

Re: Keeping Win 10 safe

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On Thu, 1/16/2025 1:13 PM, Bennett Price wrote:
> I know that there are workarounds to install Win 11 on older machines. What I'm wondering about is whether installing aftermarket virus software (Norton, AVG, etc.) would keep Win 10 safe after MS stops supporting it.  Clearly, Win 10 won't get patches to Notepad, Snipping Tool, etc.  but would anti-virus software keep Win 10 safe from malware on the internet?
> 
> What support that MS will stop providing can't be provided by aftermarket software?

I've had Defender, or something related to it, pop up and suggest I remove
the Asus AI Suite driver. There is a class of exploits, using certain
well known drivers, and the advice is to remove the item to make
one less attack surface.

I didn't even know the driver file was present. I may have run that, right after
building the computer, then used Add/Remove to remove it. And that file was
left behind.

This is not something that an aftermarket AV would be doing. An aftermarket
AV might concentrate on detecting current threats, or threats from things
you downloaded. If you "scan" the Asus file, there is nothing wrong with it.
But it can be abused, to burrow in.

The class of threats managed, could be subtly different.

Security on computers is a touchy subject. You might get an opinion for
example, of "why are you running Windows if you are worried about security?".

I've only been tipped over once, and it was WinXP, the attack came through the
browser, a large number of browser windows opened, and right after
that I was infected. A trial copy of Kaspersky removed the infection,
after three reboots. fortunately, it wasn't a worm and did not
infect anything else.

The threat level is perhaps a bit higher, for commercial installations.
If my domain was zeiss.com , I would expect more attempts to tip over
my machine than if I was a-b-c-d-e@comcast.com and just an anonymous
home user on the Internet.

For example, one user in another group, he was a small business man.
A one-man business. He had his own domain. Godaddy. He didn't cloak his
ID on the domain registration. Well, some perp crafted an email purporting
to be from GoDaddy, a domain renewal with a "PDF" attachment. Well, the PDF
attachment was actually a ransomware executable. He double clicked it.
Life for him, was over after that. Wiped out. Entire computer room.
All with red rectangles demanding bitcoins. As soon as you raise your
"profile" even a tiny bit on the Internet, that's what happens.

To some extent, it's your own habits that determine your security.
Do you know a bit of "safe hex" ? Do you keep clicking the Adchoice "Download"
green button when you see it ? Some people seem incapable of helping themselves,
they just keep doing that. If you know you are one of those people, self-awareness
is the first step. I know a guy who is like that, and he is armored to the hilt
with heavy weapons. It doesn't always stop the stuff from getting in, but I
approve at least of his ability to try to fend for himself. For that guy,
I would not "make do" with half a solution. I would recommend a proper solution
as a base to build on.

For many of the rest of us, we'll survive just fine. Always being careful,
checking over our shoulder, not double clicking attachments, and so on.

Third party AV only last for a limited number of years after OS end of support.
Say the AVG lasts for another two or three years for example. I'm not
aware of any of them lasting forever. Maybe the reason a company like
that does not do this indefinitely, is at some point the list of things
needing patching or watching, is just getting too large to manage.

   Paul

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Thread

Keeping Win 10 safe Bennett Price <bjprice@cal.berkeley.edu> - 2025-01-16 10:13 -0800
  Re: Keeping Win 10 safe Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> - 2025-01-16 18:57 +0000
    Re: Keeping Win 10 safe Hank Rogers <Hank@nospam.invalid> - 2025-01-16 15:02 -0600
    Re: Keeping Win 10 safe Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> - 2025-01-17 07:31 +0200
      Re: Keeping Win 10 safe "Thomk" <thmk@aol.com> - 2025-03-06 15:03 +0200
  Re: Keeping Win 10 safe Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2025-01-16 17:20 -0500
    Re: Keeping Win 10 safe "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2025-01-16 23:37 +0100
  Re: Keeping Win 10 safe Head of Cyber Security <security@cyber-security.com> - 2025-01-17 01:17 +0000
  Re: Keeping Win 10 safe Newyana2 <newyana@invalid.nospam> - 2025-01-17 08:55 -0500

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