Should ISPs provide antivirus protection? (Rant)

[Joe 1320]

My laptop crashed the other day becasue my anti virus protection had expired. In this age of technology, you would think that the Internet service Provider should do a better job of providing a clean service. What do you think? It seems crazy to pay up the wazoo for internet service only to have to buy firewalls and antivirus software and keep paying for upgrades. The ISPs should be able to have all that within their service, providing a safe connection. Personally, I think there needs to be regulations regarding this issue. We pay for good service, not the crap that we are current forced into using. I can see the capitalism at work. All these anti virus software companies would lose money. How do we know that they aren't the cause of the whole mess and now profit by it.

[FroSSty]

Here in Michigan, we have essentially two cable companies to choose from if we wand broadband. I have Charter Cable and high speed. They DO have a security suite that is actually a company called F-Secure... With my service, I get 3 computers to protect...It seems to work well.

[Steel2686]

I here ya', Joe.

I have Comcast Cable. They give you a free subscription to McAfee Software. You can download it right on their site. The kicker? I didn't know about it until my cousin told me. Comcast never made mention of it when I signed on with them a couple years ago.

With the prices we pay (at least for any kind of broadband), virus protection should be a standard with ALL companies.

[Wild Willy]

In a perfect world, maybe... You can't trust others to do what you should be doing for yourself. It would be nice to have an added layer of security, but what about that CD of tunes your friend burned for you, or the floppy of Holiday photos? You need to have your own security on your computer, and keep it up to date- there are just too many a$$holes out there, script kiddies, paid hackers that are trying to take over whatever they can-
You can be totally secure, just disconnect from the internet. Sorry if this surprises you, but there are bad people in the world.

[Steel2686]

In a perfect world, maybe... You can't trust others to do what you should be doing for yourself. It would be nice to have an added layer of security, but what about that CD of tunes your friend burned for you, or the floppy of Holiday photos? You need to have your own security on your computer, and keep it up to date- there are just too many a$$holes out there, script kiddies, paid hackers that are trying to take over whatever they can-
You can be totally secure, just disconnect from the internet. Sorry if this surprises you, but there are bad people in the world.

I think he was referring more along the lines of giving you free protection that is kept up to date. Obviously, it can't stop everything, but they should provide protection at no cost. As I stated earlier, Comcast does (as do some others). If you still get a virus, so be it. At least it wasn't from surfing with no anti-virus software.

[sneitzel]

To me it's the same as changing oil or checking tire pressure. There are certain maintenance items that need to be taken care of on a computer. If they're not problems occur.

I personally don't want my ISP to do anything but give me a connection. I'll handle the rest. Every "security suite" I've ever had to mess with is crap and Norton is one of the worst out there. They install so much unnecesary junk under the guise of safety it will cripple even the fastest new machines out there. More than once I've had to tell someone I needed to reinstall windows because their Norton Suite had become corrupt leaving the machine un-useable. Plus, the "security features" Norton and others install (like deleted file recovery) make it almost impossible to connect the HD to a working machine and copy important files.

My suggestion it to find a basic virus scanner (McAfee makes a good one) and a basic spyware scanner (Lavasoft) that you can run once a week but doesn't always run in the background. Also, and I can't believe I'm saying this but listen to Microsoft, turn on auto update. If you don't want to do that then once a week check for security updates from MS and install them. I'd also recommend using Firefox as your primary brower. It has so many un-intrusive security features I can't say enough about it. From there BE CAREFUL and BE SMART. Back up important files/pictures etc. to CD/DVD etc. You've heard all that stuff before...


Or...
You could leave the dark side and come over to the light.
I've owned 4 different Macs over the past 15 years and have yet to have a virus problem.

Scott

[Black97]

I do buy the antivirus and firewall programs and updates for all my PC's and so far I have been lucky as far as viruses go.

Recently our cable provider Rogers started promoting that we could get free Norton Internet Security software. i downloaded it to my notebook since the current program expired.

Took me three attempts to install it all and while I'm protected now, the LiveUpdate feature doesn't work. It's says it's not installed and when trying to install it it says it's already installed???!!! Calling the cable provider for help they say it's Norton and Norton says it's being issued by the cable company and therefore they need to help. At this point I have to go online and do it manually. Hey it's better than nothing but even though it is free they should make it fool proof and work otherwise it's no good.

A lot of free services out there these days over virus protection. Broadband providers should do that as well.

[Steel2686]

Norton is awful. Back in the days of Windows 3.1 and Windows 95, they were the best. Now they just chug systems to a grinding halt, all while lacking in the security department.

Regular maintenance should be done to a computer. However, ISP's should provide an option to obtain software for free. If you have a specific one you prefer, that's one thing. I am very happy with McAfee. It has done it's job, and I pay nothing extra for it.

[Joe 1320]

In a perfect world, maybe... You can't trust others to do what you should be doing for yourself. You can be totally secure, just disconnect from the internet. Sorry if this surprises you, but there are bad people in the world.

Gee.... I can't see your logic. When you eat out, you expect to get clean food without any traces of bacteria. When you have a car painted at a reputable shop, you expect the paint to free from contamination like dust, dirst and chemical staining. When you buy a bottle of spring water, you don't expect it to contain arsenic. If you buy a bottle of motor oil, you don't expect it to contain water. I suppose if I was getting something free, I would expect to get what I paid for. Since the internet is a pay service (and not cheap either) , I would expect good service, not go online and your computer crashes from 60 viruses that are floating around. It almost seems like they collect money and you are supposed to take your chances. If this were to happen with many other types of consumer products, the government would have a fit.

Of course there are bad people in the world. My point is that if antivirus software is sold via millions, why cant a provider do that first and send you a clean hookup. It doesn't make sense.

[sneitzel]

I do see your point Joe. As an added value ISP should offer free software for those that want to use it. But I don't think they should (or can for that matter) filter content, virus or not, before it reaches your computer. I think you're asking them to do something they never promised to do.

Along the lines of your examples...
If I purchase a set of tires I expect them to be quality rubber free of defects etc. etc. etc. The tires are what I expected and what I paid for but what happens if I run over a nail? It's not the tire store's fault or responsibility. If I purchased extra protection (road hazzard) then I'm covered. If not it's my responsibility. Would it be nice of the tire store checked every paved surface to make sure there are no sharp objects for me to run over? Sure but that's not realistic. They never promised to do that. Do some tire shops offer "free" road hazzard? Yes, but just like with ISPs providing extra software nothing is truely free.

Scott

[DeWynter]

After reading the posts I see alot of good points on both sides. Here in Alberta ther are at least 20 different providers of high speed Internet service. Most offer somekind of Anti-virus system that is either extra money per month or free. My Problem with filterd Internet is that It adds at the VERY least one more Hop in the routing of information, probably alot more like 4-5. This takes away from the speed of your service plus it means that they are looking at every peice of data I am sending and reciving. While some will say its ok, I prefer to have what I am doing at least somewhat confidential. If a person really wants to be free of the evil viruses one can move to a x64 Operating System to really reduce the amount of viruses that can even do anything to your computer. At present people aren't building viruses for 64 bit systems for a few reasons:
1) Lack of user base.
2) complxity of 64 bit malissous code.
3) due to the low amount of viruses microsoft can fix security issues faster and better to prevent viruses from actually doing damage.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

Nothing is free. If a provider has to pay for something that he then turns and gives it to his customer he will eventually raise his rates to compensate in order to keep his profit margin. No one is going to do anything without making a profit. So with that in mind do you want your provider to pick what you are going to use or yourself. Is there one answer that is best for everybody? Should we all drive a black model T?

[Joe 1320]

I can agree that nothing is free. I would expect though for the ISP to not allow a virus to be transmitted though their system. That just blows my mind that the billions that are spent on computers and the internet that an ISP cannot provide a safe connection. They obviously have more resources, the consumers in general are just bending over and taking it....... that shouldn't be the case. I wouldn't mind paying more for the service, especially if I get quality. I'm a little pissed that my Trend Micro anti virus had expired and before I could renew it, I got zapped. We shouldn't have to do that in the first place.

You would think that people who are talented enough to create these worms and viruses could do far better by creating things that are constructive rather than destructive.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

Maybe the death penalty should be the punishment for making a virus. Do you think that might make these scumbags think twice about making one?

[Joe 1320]

Maybe the death penalty should be the punishment for making a virus. Do you think that might make these scumbags think twice about making one?

Death is too quick and painless. Drag them behind a typical Pro Stock car during a full weekend of racing. The one who drags the scumbag across the finish line first gets extra points for the championship. Of couse if they become detached during the run, it's an automatic DQ.