Mikkel L. Ellertson wrote: > David Brown wrote: >> Why would you be using an on-access antivirus program at all? They are >> a huge waste of money and resources, and totally unnecessary if you >> follow a few basic security rules (make sure nothing nasty can get into >> your computer by scanning your email, using a clamav for on-demand >> scanning of downloads, attachments, usb sticks, etc., avoiding IE and OE >> like the plague, and using a proper hardware firewall instead of some >> silly windows software firewall). >> > Good advice, but sometimes had to follow. Sometimes you run into > sites you have to access with IE. (Once that you have no choice > about accessing.) I use a good hardware firewall at home, but it is > a bit hard to manage that when traveling. On the other hand, I run > Linux 90% of the time. Between having a user for accessing the > Internet when traveling, and using a virtual machine for most of the > Windows access, it is fairly safe. It will be better when I get my > XP install converted to a virtual machine. (I need to put more > memory into the laptop...) >
There are *very* few sites left that require IE - the difference between different versions of IE is so big that it is extremely difficult to make a website that works with both IE6 and IE7 and yet fails to work with Webkit, Firefox and Opera. (Opera is particularly good for imitating IE to fool websites - so much so that most website counters miscount Opera users as IE users.) The only common exception is corporate websites that use ActiveX. It is safe enough to use IE for specific websites that need it, as long as you use a proper browser for general usage when you are not 100% sure of the safety of the website you are accessing. And of course, with Linux a good firewall is not hard to get - a well-configured iptables is as good a firewall as any hardware device (many of which are Linux systems). Even with completely open iptables, a typical Linux system is still more secure that a typical Windows system with its software firewall enabled. _______________________________________________ vbox-users mailing list [email protected] http://vbox.innotek.de/mailman/listinfo/vbox-users
