Hello. I resent the implication that any person which doesn't use "AV" software is a part of the problem in botnet scenarios. Matter of fact is, scanning for viruses and other malware starts in your head. I.E. if some site pops up a prompt to have you install some addon to be able to view content of the said site correctly and you click "OK, yes please, infect me" not even a higher end "AV" software can guarantee protection. I have seen loads of malware pass by ESET or Norton. I won't even mention what AVG or Avast can let through. As you may or may not now, most (all) "AV" programs of today are just scanners looking for special sequences of bytes. They don't protect much, but they do get quite often in the way. Not to mention occurrences where any given "AV" software can go rogue (as they quite often do) and you get a VERY hard time trying to stop/disable/uninstall it. During these attempts you usually lose control of the system, one that said software was supposed to protect. I'm not saying "AV" software is completely useless, but blaming the average Joe to be the part of the problem simply because they aren't buying into the hype is simply unfair. I have been free of such programs for 6 years now on two of my machines and got infected two times during that period. Once I was curious about some file, even though I just knew what was going to happen. The other time, I got stuck with that goddamn sality infector because I plugged in an unknown harddrive into my system without taking a closer look at it firstly. Both scenarios ended in a fresh OS installs, just for a good measure. Mental note, backup your files. All in all, a good read here and there and some common sense will help a LOT against your common malware. If you get prompted to install something you haven't asked for, ALT+F4 can do a lot for you. If strange people send you files titled "my_hot_sis.jpg.exe" over one of the gazillion social engineering sites you are NOT required to download said files and you're even less required to execute them. When in doubt, you can always use virustotal.com or sandboxie, those can do wonders for your security. Also, a scan on monthly basis with MBAM will help keeping some fishy files at bay. Other than that, I agree with pretty much everything else, these "guys" running botnets are pathetic, targeting sites just as these. I hope it makes them feel really good about themselves because everyone else has a very poor opinion about them.
