| That always facinated me that anyone would go without anti-virus - |
It's all a matter of what you allow on your computer. I haven't had any AV in several years, but I don't open email from anyone unless I know who it's from and if I'm not expecting it I'll call or email them to make sure it's valid. I don't use bittorrent or news server warez and I also try to only download from trusted sites like WC. At home, I do use a hardware firewall to keep intruders out. I haven't had a virus at all on my home systems.
I have run into some IE hijackers (online gambling site) and had one virus on my office system but that employee no longer has internet access.
Spyware/Malware is a different story. I DO keep up with my Adaware and Spybot definitions and do very regular checks.
I'm personally of the opinion that much of the "hoopla" over viruses comes from companies that sell that software. Sure there was a time when viruses were common, but since they usually targeted large server based systems (or at least propogated there) they have caused a reflex where those systems are using the overkill method to control them so they don't get mainstream very much anymore.
