Symatec AV is dead

[#1]

http://www.techspot.com/news/56656-symantec-claims-anti-virus-is-dead.html

[#2]

A Gerald Ratner moment 

[#3]

I suspect the reality is that Windows XP was the OS most vulnerable to virus attacks,  but now XP support has ended and everybody should be moving to more secure platforms,  that the virus writers have moved on and are concentrating on other means of attacking computers.
Therefore the likes of Symantec are reducing their anti-virus efforts, but widening protection for new attack vectors.

[#4]

There are plenty of Vista / Win 7 / Win 8 / 8.1 computers that are getting infected
In this area increased (mostly caused by downloading torrent(s) ) now that they have to look at other than Piratebay (& their AV's / firewalls turned off )
I have seen less drive-by attacks or any infected by going on any hacked site (for example)
For some it may be a downward spike that will no doubt go fluctuate back up in time
A lot of companies have been hit be M$ Flavoured of the (FREE) MSE which is quite effective & in many cases much better than the paid for by 3^rd party vendors
Sorry PlusNet (reality strikes in)
Look at the likes of
McAffe / Intel
Norton
AVG
& most of the other top players
Where they want an all ingrained solution (including software updater's / grime / crud removers) etc
Think of it like stereo equipment (separates are always best)
I can remember when AVG 6.0 WAS the best circa 2003 (when it was just an AV) NOT an all in one package that it is today
NO AV / FireWall is not 100% and is only a preventative measure
When you think of it
With PlusNet you get
1 X Online Firewall
1 x Router Firewall
That is 2 x Firewalls as opposed to just 1 x router FireWall with other ISP's
Then you should have (if you havent) then you really should have
1 x FireWall on you device (Some operating systems (Built in)) & should be turned on unless using a 3^rd party firewall
1 x Resident AV (decent highly recommended) like MSE / Avast / BitDefender / Avira
1 x Back up AV / Malware NON resident like MalwareBytes / SuperAntiSpyware
1 x Spyware remover like Spybot S&D / TeaTimer
Some may say overkill I say better to be safe than sorry
I have seen the disruptions to businesses & consumers alike what these viruses / malware does & the desperation on their faces when they want their devices back in 5 mins as they can not live without their extra limb(s)
Yet some will continue to turn off their AV's etc so they can d/load their porn / films / music  / software etc from the likes of torrent sites

[#5]

TORPC    well said , i totally agree
i would also add that IE is the main Browser most virus,s will attack as its the most widely used , hence why i dont use it .
over the years i have tried most of the AV,s available they all have good side / bad sides , i used to love Tiny firewall  and used the belt and braces approach  to stop any infections .
but at the end of the day it come down to Responsible browsing habbits , if you frequent know infection sites you will eventually get caught  , common sence says Stay away .
the past 3-4 years i have only used MSE , malwarebytes , Ccleaner  & windows firewall , been good as i have never been infected 

[#6]

Quote from: rongtw

the past 3-4 years i have only used MSE , malwarebytes , Ccleaner  & windows firewall , been good as i have never been infected

I will add to that Spy Bot S&D with the same result.

[#7]

The reality is
That the AV is not dead as some reports suggest
It is however, as I have been saying for several years
A much greater need for multi-layer security
& as suggested DO NOT use Internet Explorer of any version
[quote= http://www.securitypronews.com/malware-attacks-on-internet-explorer-increasing-2014-05]Everyone has a favorite Internet browser. If yours happens to be Internet Explorer, you may want to switch to a different one.
Internet Explorer has numerous problems, but one of the worst is the current weakness in its security.
Hackers are taking advantage of this weakness and are creating new attacks that can put malware and viruses on your computer with just one accidental click of your mouse.
The hackers create websites that install the malware on your computer automatically. If you are using Internet Explorer and accidentally click on a wrong link that takes you to one of these websites, your computer could be infected in a matter of seconds.
[quote= http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/news/2240221143/Microsoft-fails-to-address-IE-zero-day-before-public-disclosure?utm_campaign=ssec_security&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=1400704903]An Internet Explorer zero-day vulnerability that was originally discovered in October 2013 was made public today after Microsoft failed to address the issue in what researchers say was a reasonable amount of time.
& M$ refuses to patch the security weakness in the Outlook app for Android
[quote= http://thehackernews.com/2014/05/microsoft-outlook-app-for-android.html]If you have an account with Microsoft's popular free email service Outlook.com, and using Outlook app for Android, then there is a bad news for you.
Microsoft's Android app for Outlook.com, provides users to access their Outlook emails on their Android devices, fails to provide security and encryption.
question is can M$ be trusted to keep our data safe ?

[#8]

I completely uninstall any trace of IE from my PC , best thing people can do !

[#9]

I use the mcafee security center on w7 and use the site advisor browser plugin, that generally helps one to stay safe (it doesn't let you just randomly browse to infection sites)
the only problem I had was when one of the kids disabled there av and something got into the network, now I put them on a different subnet so no more problems from them

[#10]

By far the most common attack vector is, and always has been, simple user spoofing. For the attacker, this requires no computer vulns, and no special software skills beyond the ability to write a basic executable.  It relies on the fact that computers constantly nag users to update software. Simulate an update nag on a webpage, and deliver your malicious executable, masquerading as the 'update.'
This kind of attack is largely immune to the additional security measures in Windows 7, since if the user thinks the 'update' is genuine, they will OK the UAE prompt.  Hence, it matters not if XP, 7, or 8 is in use.
On one site I provided advice to, malware was a constant problem. I suggested disabling all automatic updates, as far as possible suppressing any software update nags, and warning staff that any prompts telling them to update software were bogus and should be rejected. This was implemented, and malware incidents dropped to negligible levels.
We implemented an official patch-delivery system which required users to OK patch installation at shutdown time. In fact, it later transpired that some users thought they were supposed to reject this as well, consequentially their computers hadn't been patched for many months. Guess what? the unpatched computers were virus free. Which is not a reason to leave computers unpatched, but it is food for thought that these update-nag popups are the problem, and that they are responsible for malware infections.