A Final Word on Security.
First of all I
DO NOT advocate the position I have taken regarding security.
For the past six months I have used my computer without the variety of anti-virus freeware (or software) and all other wares associated with security.
It maybe argued that my use of online scanners constitutes a breach of the so-called minimalist position regarding security (this position is discussed by others in this thread and elsewhere in these forums) however I needed some assurance along the way. I am certainly not experienced enough to lay claim to being a 'true' minimalist.
I have kept - since the beginning - HijackThis and the MVP's Hosts file (read about that
here). I regard these two tools as part of my maintenance routines which are daily events in my computing life. Something I enjoy.
I have been 'dismissed' from those forums (from which I learnt the little I consider myself as knowing in the earlier years of my five online - namely the Microsoft Community Newsgroups) for having trimmed Windows Millennium down to what was described, by a waggish habitue of those august(serious) groups as being, "nothing more than a version of Windows98". I can only hope this doesn't feed the fires that burn within the breasts of fervent Win98 users in these forums - and lead to a flood of comment in this thread!
Since the first week (Oct 2005), and reported in detail in the attached .txt file, I have found no malware (including viruses) in any of the online scans I had have done.
So what have I concluded? About security.
It depends entirely on how we use our computers and for what. I do not need security and have no intention of reverting to the time when it seemed to be a must and occupied my thinking quite considerably. I am very happy to be free of the need for it. But remember that is me - not you. It is a very personal decision.
Cheers.
Ben.
P.S. For those who didn't 'catch' my previous post dealing with this matter (or read the attachment therein) I attach it here.
P.P.S.
I didn't mention firewalls specifically (for those who might wonder), I was using, not a firewall, but a router - and removed it for the second three months. It is now back in- line primarily because I paid lots for it (in 2000) and I like the way the Gibson Leak Test paints a solid green 'all service port' scan. That test available
here.