given that there are literally thousands of AV products available, some are open source and others are not...Quote:
Originally Posted by gallardo
Also there are hardening classes of AV software, which have an extremely simple rule (if the user doesn't classify it as safe, then it is a virus) which usually is a pain to maintain for most people but for those who setup a system and then leave it alone, it is hard to infect....
Also you tend to forget classic Bios Viruses, in which case formatting your hard drive is not going to eliminate the virus, if anything it is just going to give you a false sense of security.
The honest truth is yes should someone with sufficient talent want to take over your system or access your data, they are going to do it and there is absolutely nothing to stop it. BUT 99.999% of the viruses out there are not written by those people and generally are made by people pulling stupid pranks or trying to show off how "1337" they are. Those people are easily blocked with standard security practices.
So I still argue that when speaking of what practices should be, think of it like sex education. Teach basic common sense and the use of the best protection available. Such is the best method to prevent the need for such things in the future.
