antivirus

Though perfectly accurate and in line with the million identical studies -- making itself completely extraneous -- Microsoft's new security study spends a lot of effort establishing that few malware infections are its fault. Thanks. You still have to fix what's broke.

Malware carrying malicious payloads promising to fix problems with UPS or FedEx deliveries caused malware-bearing attachments to leap from 800M to 15 billion in a week.

Need to explain the risk of serious malware attacks for non-geeks without boring them? Try this explanation of Stuxnet from Australian TV news mag Hungry Beast.

Microsoft Security Essentials gets most of the angst from ISVs, but free or low-cost cloud services are just as much a threat to both traditional ISVs and IT proven-provider lists.

In addition to taxing and quarantining botnet-infected customers (as well as being distant and offputting as usual), Microsoft offers a malware site with unusually cogent anti-bot advice.

Enforcing antivirus within the network and at the endpoints is better than isolating plague victims until they're all dead.

If you're moving from XP to Windows 7, you'll have to get and install a new one. In theory, you can move from Vista to Windows 7 without installing a new program. Don't! Anti-virus software tends to be cranky about change at the best of times so plan on installing a new anti-viral program right after you finish upgrading.