This is in response to Thursday’s column, “How to take the scare out of spyware.”

I think the immediate problem I have with this column is simply its title. The “scare?” Why the hell should anyone be scared of spyware, or viruses, for that matter?

The vast, vast majority of spyware and viruses that your computer hosts were placed there by you, the user, plain and simple. Clicking ads constantly, downloading questionable e-mail attachments, using Limewire (when will people listen to me? Stop using it!) – all incredibly common ways to quickly pick up a virus or piece of spyware.

And even with the most “advanced” antivirus and anti-spyware software, you’re still going to get them. That’s right. You’re so incredibly stupid that you’ll continue to intentionally allow viruses and spyware onto your system, even with supposed “protection.”

I use quotes around these terms because no matter how up-to-date your software is, it will never be ahead of the curve of viruses or spyware.

Quarantining processes can only be written based on viruses that already exist. (There are, of course, certain exceptions.)

And you think viruses or spyware slow down your computer? Try uninstalling all the garbage NIU makes you put on your system and see how fast your computer moves.

I moved from Windows to Linux after discovering the massive portion of my system resources Clean Access Agent and NIU’s antivirus software were eating up, and I’ve never been happier. For those of you not “in the know,” Linux users don’t have to use Clean Access Agent or any antivirus software in order to use NIU’s Internet. (I could be wrong, but I believe Mac users are in the same boat as myself, and no software is required to get online.)

All I’m saying is, do a little research. You’re the cause of almost all your computing woes, whether you admit to it or not.

Stop impulsively clicking every flashing window that pops up telling you you’ve just won a free iPod. You don’t, and will never, need a new browser, two spyware programs, antivirus software and a firewall program to keep you “safe.”

If you weren’t safe before, you never really will be. And even the most computer-savvy of us get infected occasionally. The only real way to alleviate this (or almost alleviate it, anyway) is to avoid Windows altogether.

Josh Marsh

Junior, music

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