Tech article 3/4/16

Antivirus tools are the aircraft flotation devices of PCs: They give you a false sense of security.

Despite efforts by security companies to thwart cyber attacks, hackers keep finding new ways into unsuspecting people's computers and systems.

That's why Microsoft is adding a new feature to its Windows Defender line of anti-hacking tools: When hackers do get in, Microsoft will help customers identify the attacks and stop them before they spread.

Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection isn't admitting defeat, per se. But it's taking an important step towards coping with reality: Your system is going to get hacked, and you'd better be prepared when it does.

Microsoft says the new tool analyzes information from more than 1 billion Windows devices, 2.5 trillion websites and 1 million suspicious files. When it senses an attack happening to one of its customers, Microsoft will send a notification.