IT Professionals

Proof Positive That Security Suites Don’t Work

Posted by on May 11, 2010 | 5 Comments

I could have told you this years ago. Software security suites are a lot like diet soda with a super-sized value meal. The label says it’s somehow “better for you.” Yet, in reality, neither is going to provide you with the desired result.

Now I am not saying that all of you should rush out there and uninstall your security software. Being as Windows users are generally running as administrators, you need all the help you can get. But for the love of common sense, don’t put complete trust in security software. It’s designed to earn its developers money — period.

Use your computers with care — any OS, any type of user (root or limited) — because this above article demonstrates that no security suite is going to provide the kind of security you think it is. At its core, you are running diet soda on your computer.

[awsbullet:Network Security Hacks]

  • Alex

    yeah not proof of anything just some guys opinion

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  • Levi

    According to the actual article by Matousec only 34 or 35 products were tested and only those using SSDT hookings were a problem. Also the bypass requires that the hacker already have access to your computer. Essentially you’ve already been hacked, they are simply bypassing your last defense. And this bypass didn’t work effectively on all programs using SSDT hooking, the results varied.

    As for suites, a suite is a group of different tools that perform specific jobs. This recommends against installing two pieces of software that do the exact same thing. As those packages will interfere with each other.

    Being safe and using good practices is a must but security software is a good way to protect yourself. It’s one of those good practices. Of course my favorite security software is not susceptible to this bypass, though they are weak in other areas. :P Haha

  • http://justenrobertson.com Justen

    I agree 100%. I was a technician for several years before going into web development and every single PC I ever removed a million viruses from had some kind of “security” software on it. This isn’t anything new. A decent antivirus and antispyware app (both can be had for free) along with a firewall, preferably built into your router hardware, will help keep out the worms and script kiddies.

    Almost all the really nasty viruses are trojans invited in by idio^H^H^H^H desper^H^H^H^H^H^H accidental user actions on websites. Antiviruses rarely pick that up and the rest of the “security” software most people bog their computers down with does absolutely nothing to help and gets in the way of legitimate activity on top of it.

  • Walt Kabis

    Kaspersky Internet Security has kept my PC clean, but I just switch to a new iMac to get rid on most sirus, trojan, and spyware issues.