When the cure is worse than the disease

McAfee went nuts. All kinds of PCs locked up -- actually, went into an endless loop of reboots -- when an update went haywire. The thing is, my MacBook wasn't impacted. Oh, yeah. Right.

Truth be told, I do run anti-virus protection on my MacBook: Intego.

"Why," you ask?

No, really; go ahead and ask.

Okay, then, since you asked. Because, despite what many people think, Macs are susceptible to viruses. There's a current threat to Macs called HellRTS.D (an update to the 2004 HellRTS), though isn't actually in the wild, as PC World reports:

The malicious software can now open a "backdoor" to your Mac by setting up its own server on a private port, complete with a password. The software duplicates and changes its name, identifying itself as other genuine Mac software (like "iPhoto"), making it even harder to spot. The new HellRTS variant can contact remote servers, and then, Intego says, "provide direct access to [the] infected Mac."

... The HellRTS.D variant isn't out in the wild; you can only be infected if you install the rogue software.

Since I don't do the illegal download thing, I'm not likely to be infected. But, one day, a Mac virus will be actually "in the wild," and a lot of people will be infected. I won't be one of those.

I also run Microsoft Security Essentials on my Mac. No, Microsoft doesn't make anti-virus software for OS X. But, I have dual-boot capability on my Mac. So, if I choose to boot my Mac to Windows XP, I'm running Microsoft Security Essentials.

I'm trying it out, and, so far, I'm liking it. It does okay. And, it's free.

For a paid security suite, though, I prefer the Norton security suite, although I also like the Kaspersky suite.

I loathe McAfee. In 2006, I had an installation that came on a computer, and I tried to remove it. It didn't want to be removed. And McAfee was no help. I still haven't forgiven them.

Now, the McAfee program that caused all the problems this week wasn't the one you use as a consumer. It was the business version. Which is harder to repair.

Think about it: you get to work and turn your computer on.

It stars booting, then reboots. And reboots. And reboots. Over and over and over.

How do you stop that?

Well, let's look at how it started. In a corporate environment, the network folks probably sent an update over the network. That messed-up McAfee update.

And, when the computers rebooted, they got into an endless loop of reboots.

And, the network people can't send the fix down the network. Because the computer never fully connects to the network, because when it tries to boot, it encounters the error and reboots. And, since it never connects to the network, the company can't send the fix to the computer on the network.

Which means a technician will have to come by to each affected computer.

They have to fix each one, individually, by hand.

McAfee is costing a lot of companies a lot of bucks.

And that's just another example of why I won't waste my money on McAfee.

Virus protection

Most computer users are running computers with a Microsoft Windows operating system. That, all by itself, makes a computer susceptible to a virus or other dangerous or malicious software ("malware").

I'm not trashing Microsoft; I'm stating a fact. Microsoft Windows is so prevalent that it's a target for those that create viruses or other malicious software.

It's common for many computer users to get a virus. The most common reason is a lack of proper protection. That involves not having good, up-to-date security software. It also involves careful computer habits.