Recently, an Ex-Mozilla developer recommended all Windows users to ditch all Antivirus solutions except the Microsoft’s Windows Defender.
Ex-Mozilla Dev: Ditch All Antivirus Except Microsoft’s Defender
Nowadays many users question the need to have an antivirus installed on the PC. With so many threats, the truth is that it is still essential to have system protection mechanisms, especially antivirus, anti-malware and of course a firewall.
But, what if anyone as that only Windows Defender is good? A former Mozilla engineer says yes!
Robert O’Callahan, a former employee of Mozilla, recently wrote an article which states that users must disable all antivirus solutions except Windows Defender.
For O’Callahan, antivirus brands are “terrible,” so users should not buy any solutions and even remove the solutions they have installed on their systems.
So, what are the reasons?
For the former Mozilla employee, the criticisms are based on his Mozilla experience, where many times anti-virus blocked browser (important) updates.
Several times AV software blocked Firefox updates, making it impossible for users to receive important security fixes. Major amounts of developer are soaked up dealing with AV-induced breakage, time that could be spent making current improvements in security.
Never understood why. AV is part of infosec. If you want to be infosec expert, you HAVE to know enough AV.
— Vess (@VessOnSecurity) November 26, 2016
But there are other complaints like for example:-
The AV marks do not follow the good practices of the safety standards. O’Callahan says you should read the bugs that are listed in Google Project Zero, especially the activity of the
# Google investigator Tavis Ormandy that in recent years has found many vulnerabilities in antivirus solutions.
# AV products “poison” the software ecosystem because they are highly invasive.
# It is difficult for software companies, in general, to talk about any problems, they need to cooperate with suppliers of AVs.
For O’Callahan, in this segment of Antivirus, Microsoft is “generally competent” and hence does not exclude the company’s security products.
Do you agree with the opinion of the former Mozilla engineer? Simply share your views and thoughts in the comment section below.
