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MS Windows Defender and DeCSS

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121–130 of 211 posts

Re: MS Windows Defender and DeCSS

#121

Post by Flow »

Fiahil wrote: post #52

I'm so happy to see a thread on Windows Defender, because my org recently switched antivirus software and I can't wait to tell you how bad it is ! There's a hidden feature in Defender, that will delight any user : it can turn your 15" MacBook Pro into a full breakfast machine. Want pancakes ? Start a zoom call. While you wait for your favorite video conference app to start, don't hope to finish your docker pull/save/…

Our company just switched from Symantec to Windows Defender and so far I'm very pleased. On my Windows laptop the fans were running more or less all the time when we had Symantec. With Defender the computer is nearly dead silent.

When looking in Task Manager before, it seemed that Symantec used more CPU than even Visual Studio and related processes.

Re: MS Windows Defender and DeCSS

#122

Post by mszcz »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #114
nix23 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh man....a mac with antivirus software...is your IT's mindset from the 90s?

People apparently disagree, but I'm with you. The idea that antivirus software is actually a worthwhile mitigation tool is a relic from the 90s. Malware defeats antivirus all the time, and sometimes even exploits it directly. Meanwhile, aggressive antivirus software is eating a percentage of every single task you do on your computer, actively impeding your work every second of your day. The tradeoff is not worth it,…

While I wholeheartedly agree with you, I think that putting the horrible piece of shit antivirus software on enterprise boxes is a cover-your-ass tactic. It's required from IT depts to be able to say they followed industry standard practices and did their due diligence to prevent threats, regardless of whether those have any useful, practical effects at all.

My wife has a brand new corp issued Carbon X1 and I can hear it routinely spin fans 100% because of Norton FuckYourCPUandIO (tm) software doing nothing of use besides inducing anger.

Re: MS Windows Defender and DeCSS

#123

Post by astura »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #114
nix23 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh man....a mac with antivirus software...is your IT's mindset from the 90s?

People apparently disagree, but I'm with you. The idea that antivirus software is actually a worthwhile mitigation tool is a relic from the 90s. Malware defeats antivirus all the time, and sometimes even exploits it directly. Meanwhile, aggressive antivirus software is eating a percentage of every single task you do on your computer, actively impeding your work every second of your day. The tradeoff is not worth it,…

Most companies have to have Antivirus anyway, for compliance reasons.

Re: MS Windows Defender and DeCSS

#124

Post by trishmapow2 »

npteljes wrote: post #93
skeletron wrote: post #91

What I really don't like about Defender and other antivirus products is they'll silently send your files to the mothership to be analyzed, without even letting you know that's happened, or any straightforward way to find out. I understand that's a large source of new malware samples for them, but it's an awful antiprivacy behavior.

Another dark pattern here is that there's an option to turn this off, and I turned it off, only to be nagged weekly to turn it back on! Fuckers don't take no for an answer, until I'm nagged into clicking yes. And the UI acts like this is some security warning, with a yellow exclamation mark and everything.

In Windows Security click settings on the bottom left and then you can manage notifications.

Re: MS Windows Defender and DeCSS

#125

Post by rovr138 »

mszcz wrote: post #120
formerly_proven wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well that and the shitty dev tools on Windows in general ;)

Care to elaborate? I'm using Windows as a primary dev machine for years and I've encountered no problems aside from the infuriating update-related restarts. What am I missing? This is an actual, emotionless, genuine question? Always looking to find new ways to procrastinate by trying out new tools ;)

Ultimately it depends on what you need and what you develop for.

If you’re developing for the Linux kernel, I bet you’re missing out on some stuff.

If you’re building web, it doesn’t matter. If you’re building docker images, you can do it on Windows/Mac, but there’s just better performance on Linux if you’re ever debugging speed.

Java? Doesn’t matter either.

Re: MS Windows Defender and DeCSS

#126

Post by munchbunny »

marcodiego wrote: post #119
Fiahil wrote: post #52

I'm so happy to see a thread on Windows Defender, because my org recently switched antivirus software and I can't wait to tell you how bad it is ! There's a hidden feature in Defender, that will delight any user : it can turn your 15" MacBook Pro into a full breakfast machine. Want pancakes ? Start a zoom call. While you wait for your favorite video conference app to start, don't hope to finish your docker pull/save/…

I remember a few students using windows that took a very very long time to compile anything; even smallish single-file examples. Is is possible that this slowness is caused by windows checking the binaries that were just compiled?

Not just the binaries. The source code too.

A common practice is to exclude both the whole repo and the compiler from Defender.

Re: MS Windows Defender and DeCSS

#127

Post by DrBazza »

It's things like this that are making me less and less likely to continue using Windows at home.

I've been running Linux KDE dual booting for a year or so, and I've have touched Windows in (uptime...) - 22 days or so.

With Windows 11 coming bundled with Teams, and other "stuff" from Windows 10 including it becoming an 'internet first OS (x)' I'm getting stuff I don't want or need.

(x) although it's documented on the interwebs how to circumvent the dark pattern UI dialogs to turn stuff off.

Re: MS Windows Defender and DeCSS

#128

Post by _fat_santa »

nix23 wrote: post #68
Fiahil wrote: post #52

I'm so happy to see a thread on Windows Defender, because my org recently switched antivirus software and I can't wait to tell you how bad it is ! There's a hidden feature in Defender, that will delight any user : it can turn your 15" MacBook Pro into a full breakfast machine. Want pancakes ? Start a zoom call. While you wait for your favorite video conference app to start, don't hope to finish your docker pull/save/…

Oh man....a mac with antivirus software...is your IT's mindset from the 90s?

My company recently signed a deal with a healthcare company to do some work on their systems. I got a laptop from this company, MBP 16" so not bad. But lord oh lord are there so many things on this laptop.

Two worst offenders are:

- Antivirus: Just hogs memory, the scan runs "throughout the day" and I've had to resort to using scripts to shut the thing down just so my code will compile.

- Other annoying features: Lets make you stare at a dayglow green wallpaper and give you no way to change it to something that doesn't offend your eyes, lets place a bunch of icons on your dock and desktop that you can't get rid of, just bookmarks to common apps. Lets also make a popup show up on your laptop every day to remind you that you need to upgrade to OneDrive but forget to give me the permission to actually upgrade so this message repeats itself and fails every time..

endrant.

Re: MS Windows Defender and DeCSS

#129

Post by grishka »

marcodiego wrote: post #118

I fear anti-virus and firewall software may in the near future be used to guarantee DRM features. I fear the day when I try to play media I legally own from another region and can't play it because of region blocking and can't circumvent it because my "defense" software prevents me. Another thing that scares me: services requiring said kinds of software. The mobile world is somewhat like this already and it is basica…

As long as the hardware allows booting arbitrary code, this kind of DRM remains technically impossible.

There's nothing to stop you from booting into another OS and deleting the files implementing the harmful functionality. If there are checks for the presence of these files in other parts of the OS, you can remove them.

IMO it's a very dangerous attitude when people consider software immutable. You can achieve a lot by modifying software made by other people.

Re: MS Windows Defender and DeCSS

#130

Post by causi »

tallanvor wrote: post #82
nix23 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait...your are local Admin on your machine?

Outside of highly regulated environments, technical staff usually have local admin rights. Is it a risk? Yes, although one that can be minimized. Letting people do what they need to do with minimal interference is an important part of keeping employees happy.

Even if they're not supposed to, most people do, or at least they know an admin login. All it takes is one frustrated person who knows someone higher up and the login is on a sticky note in a drawer. Technical security measures are not and will never be a substitute for proper training.
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