My name is David Perry and I explain things for a living. There are people who say I am pretty good at it, and (lucky for me!) some of these people employ me to do just that. I currently work for F-secure (the world’s top-rated antivirus and security firm) from Helsinki, Finland. I have worked for lots of other firms, but I am proud and happy to represent these fine folks. You can find out more about F-secure, about our products and services and many other things, from THIS LINK.
I am on the radio every week (on the PERSONAL COMPUTER SHOW) The world’s longest running technology talk show on WBAI New York (99.5 FM) I co host this show for the last nine years. You can find out more or tune into the show on the website, which is HERE.
I appear at conferences all over the world, and have been doing so for more than twenty years. Should you want to contact me about speaking someplace, or about reprinting one of my blogs, please contact me at david@perry.com, or at work at david.perry@f-secure.com
You may post comments and suggestions directly to the blog. I usually reply to questions very rapidly. Thank you for your kind attention.
David Perry
Threat Strategist, F-secure Inc.
David Perry's Blog 
okay, this is the first blog entry—-now to bring in the pros
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I listened to your tribute to Pete Seeger on WBAI. Thanks for the short bio and your singing! I also have a toe in music. Years ago, I heard Pete sing for the first time at a folk festival at U.C. Berkeley. He was giving his by now well-known demonstration on how to make a banjo in 10 easy steps. It was so exciting. Had no idea that his father was once chairman of the music dept there. He is part of a vanishing breed, and unique in his own right. It’s true though, music is powerful!
H.
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Hello Dave
A Fan from Toronto , Canada
I have a question I want to ask a veteran in the Business.
You can point me in the right way.
There is no yes or no answer / black and white.
I do not want to put in a spot.
What program can you use to check if you are infected or not.
At what point should you wipe and do clean install.
Can an infected system ever be cleaned and be called safe to use.
I hear different stories or tech options.
In your view what is the best way.
To Scan and clean or Do a Clean install it is time consuming
Thanking you in advance.
Jack Kim
June 25 2013 Tue.
6:08pm EST
jkimyyz@gmail.com
Wishing you well in your new venture.
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This is a whole stack of questions! Right now I am using ESET Smart Security on this machine, but I am also running machines with Kaspersky, Norton, McAfee, Comodo Internet Security Pro, Trend Micro Titanium, and AhnLabs V3Click. I would suggest that you try one of these solutions, and check the latest Virus Comparative tests (from Andreas Marx and/or Andreas Clementi) before making up your mind. Also I would suggest burning a bootable rescue disk (from Kaspersky or Malwarebytes) and learning how to use that. Then, finally, you should be willing to resort to reflashing your system a couple of times per year. This means know how to do it, have the proper media on hand, and keep all your data backed up.
Scanning is no longer a 100% removal guarantee. Learn to live with varying levels of cleanup. I will blog on this very topic coming up next…
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Greetings, David!
This is not a virus question. I just listened to the Nov. 20 Personal Computer Show on WBAI in New York.
On this particular show you mentioned that you have a lot of geek stuff in your house. Question: You wouldn’t happen to have an old Iomega Zip drive sitting around, would ya? If you or anyone you know has an Iomega Zip drive, please let me know. (If Hank or Stevie has one, I’ll hobble over to WBAI to pick it up!)
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No, I don’t have one of those. (might have some QIC tapes, though) and I do live about three thousand miles from WBAI. Thanks for asking and thank you for listening…
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Fascinating! As a software professional who started in the 1’s and 0’s business before there were 0’s (we had to use lowercase o’s) and as a self-proclaimed “above average” amateur musician, comedian, philosopher and critical thinker I’ll be back often and early.
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