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If this is purely used for trading, IMO no. Don't go to web sites you don't trust, don't download files from sources you don't trust, and keep the internet activity generally for trading.
In a perfect world, you're correct. But in this world, not going to websites you "don't trust" is not enough. Research port scanning. Research what can happen when trusted websites get hacked.
I have windows firewall and defender but I also run AVG Virus Protection and AVG Internet Security. On my trading PC I only go to F.IO to download and use my laptop for other internet browsing.
On my linux machine I run fail2ban, which detects port scans and allows me to ban an IP which attempts to log into ssh after a failed password attempt. To use your phrasing, "research it." However, I only have port 22 open, nothing else, and on my trading (windows) machine, I have no open ports. If you do have some ports open to the world, then it's a good idea to supplement with some service like this.
But on a trading machine, I see no reason to have anything open to the public. Turn the OS firewall on. Don't download stuff. If you do, verify checksums. Keep your browser up to date. In general, be smart. But, you do not need virus scanners which contribute little and add overhead. Use them if you like, but they are not necessary.
In your case, a virus scanner would just be added security...insurance. Properly configured, it won't need many resources; so why not. Are you making millisecond trades? No. Not from home.
@josh , I was wondering if you've ever tried to trade from a Windows virtual machine running on a Linux machine. Have you?
I was thinking with a high thread count processor (eg, 3950X) and about 64GB of ram, there would be enough hardware to support running a trading machine as a virtual machine on a Linux box. Or do you think the overhead of the virtual environment would outweigh any potential benefits?
Do you even see any benefits to doing this, even if it could be done?