Tech question: do you have an anti-virus on all your devices?

[SteveinMN]

Yes. Although I wish they hadn't changed iOS last fall. Before, it showed the number of apps that needed updating right on your homescreen on the App Store icon. Now you have to click on it to see how many apps need updating.

jp1, that must be a Settings change. Through iOS 12, 13, and now 14, my App Store icon has always displayed updates (except for OS updates, which are displayed on Settings/General). You might want to go into Settings/Notifications and scroll down to App Store. Are Allow Notifications and Badges set to on?

As for computer security, I do have the free version of Avast running on my Mac and I occasionally run MalwareBytes to check on malware. I also do not run Adobe Acrobat or most Microsoft products, which eliminates a few common vectors for havoc. I run nothing on my iPhone and DW does not run any anti-virus software on her iPhone or iPad. She does run Windows Defender on her Windows laptop. And we do try to stay current on OS updates, though we are never on the bleeding edge of applying them on the day of release.

[Yppej]

Yes, and I do not install anything (such as a smart thermostat) that cannot run anti-virus software. The one exception might be the GPS plug-in device in my car. I have not heard of it being hacked to steer someone to a dead end where they could be robbed so worst case scenario I get lost.

[Tradd]

I have an iPhone and a MacBook. I don’t run anything extra for anti virus/malware. I am very suspicious of weird looking emails and don’t click on weird looking stuff.

[jp1]

jp1, that must be a Settings change. Through iOS 12, 13, and now 14, my App Store icon has always displayed updates (except for OS updates, which are displayed on Settings/General). You might want to go into Settings/Notifications and scroll down to App Store. Are Allow Notifications and Badges set to on?

Thank you! I think I lost that when I upgraded to iOS 13 and I just assumed it was just the way it would be. But apparently it's that my notification settings got changed. Or perhaps they made app store notifications optional at that point and just started everyone out with it off.

[Alan]

Being a bit of a nerdy household we run several Windows machines (2 laptops and 2 desktops), 1 Linux machine, 1 Chromebook, 3 iPads, 1 Android tablet and currently 2 iPhones and a backup supply of 3 older iPhones and 1 Android phone. The only anti-viral or malware protection we run is Windows Defender on the Windows machines. We learned a long time ago the best security defense is to keep away from sketchy sites and to not click willy-nilly on unknown links.

[ToomuchStuff]

Now have a couple Windows systems, work stuff, and my primary systems are Linux based. Also now have an Android tablet and phone; the phone is only for phone and text/work picture stuff, while the tablet is for VLC/Music and one specific app. Windows all have Defender on them, to the best of my knowledge (anyone remember MSAV). First line of defense is of course is not doing sketchy things/links, etc., second line, would be to use a bootable distro for anything questionable or security stuff like online banking. Otherwise, I would probably use a dedicated machine with OpenBSD on it.
Never even seen antivirus for Android.

[ewomack]

The most important thing anyone can do is not click on anything suspicious. Anti-virus software is good to have (good free versions that are "good enough" exist), but the real threat comes from clicking on something with an embedded hostile file, such as an email attachment or a malicious website. Be very wary of anything that looks "off" and you'll probably be good 99% of the time.