Pro tip: my coworker told me to skip antivirus and I got hit with ransomware within a week

So I work remote for a small marketing firm in Austin. Last month my coworker Dave who's been in IT for like 20 years told me Windows Defender was all I needed and anything else was just bloatware eating up resources. I uninstalled my paid antivirus cause I trusted him. Next thing I know I clicked a link in an email that looked legit from a client and my whole system locked up with a message demanding $500 in Bitcoin. Had to wipe everything and lost 3 days of work on a campaign. Did I just get unlucky or should I stick with a paid antivirus moving forward?

3 comments

3 Comments

william_harris1mo ago

Wait Dave said to ditch a paid one for Defender and you lost everything?

the_jana1mo ago

Stick with paid antivirus. Dave's advice cost you a week of work.

lewis.terry1mo ago

Paid antivirus is basically paying for a security blanket that also nags you to renew every year. @the_jana sounds like Dave’s free advice came with a hidden "restore your system" fee. Hope your files weren't too important, Jana.