and if so any suggestions? i have like 6 on my windows phoenix-bashful

  • EmoThugInMyPhase [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    5 months ago

    I don’t use antivirus on any OS these days, with the exception of the default Windows Defender on windows.

    People say that Linux is inherently safer, which I’m inclined to believe, but it’s also not widespread enough to put that theory to the test. Windows and Mac are commonly targeted because that’s what most people use. You’ll see more effort put into hacking Linux if it became normalized.

    It’s not really analogous to seatbelts and condoms either, because while those things aren’t foolproof, you don’t really know what antivirus is doing besides what they advertise. I believe a few big name vendors were caught mining bitcoin.

    But if you must, having more than one will not make you safer. In this case, it’s like using a condom. Using multiple will just slow things down, potentially break your system, have a bunch of conflicts, and send your stuff to multiple places. I recommend deleting them and using the default Windows Defender.

    • ta00000 [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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      5 months ago

      it’s also not widespread enough to put that theory to the test.

      In a way it is in that most large servers are running Linux, which offers a pretty high value target for attackers. That doesn’t translate perfectly to desktop Linux because the attack surfaces are slightly different, but I think it’s safe to say Linux is targeted.

    • callTheQuestion [any]@hexbear.net
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      5 months ago

      Linux dominates web, iot, mobile, supercomputers, financial, cloud and development devices… Targets that are way more valuable than desktops which is probably what you’re thinking of.

      • EmoThugInMyPhase [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        5 months ago

        True, but also more secure by virtue of being valuable and maintained by large companies with resources. Windows and macs are used by the everyday shlub so it can be anywhere from an encrypted brick to “123admin” level of secure.