Anti Anti-Virus
11/25/2002
Everyone talks about how Microsoft should be broken up, but I have my own theory about a different and much more damaging type of monopoly. You would be hard pressed to find a computer in today’s day and age that does not have some type of virus protection program installed. Everyone seems to accept that this is just a required expense that comes with the ownership of a computer.
At risk of being labeled a conspiracy theorist, I believe that although there are different brands of anti-virus software, the manufacturers of these programs have an unjust monopoly on all computer users. I really began to think about this when I was inadvertently emailed a virus from a family member. The email was sent through Hotmail, which supposedly uses McAfee software to scan all attachments for viruses before you download anything. I received the email, downloaded the attachment that Hotmail did not detect as a virus, and attempted to open the file. Immediately after opening the attachment my Norton anti-virus software alerted me that it detected a new virus. Had McAfee detected the virus before I downloaded it I could have saved myself hours of reinstalling everything after I needed to reformat my hard drive.
I propose that anti-virus manufacturers are the ones developing these damaging viruses to create a larger demand for their product. If a manufacturer secretly generates a very damaging virus and gets the word out to the public that they have the technology to protect against it, they will look better than their competitor that does not have the same protection yet. It seems to be a competition amongst anti-virus manufacturers who can who can protect the public from the most viruses. The obvious way to protect against more that your competitor is to create more viruses yourself!
We have all gotten those emails warning about the newest virus and what file names to watch out for, who creates these emails? Do you actually think it is a concerned friend warning others? Again, I believe it is the manufactures trying to create hysteria, which will in turn stimulate their revenue.
I know there are programmers out there who develop viruses for no other reason than to vandalize remote computers, but I would definitely not be surprised if some lone programmers are on the payroll to create such malicious programs. I realize that this is not a widely accepted theory, and there is very little evidence to support it, but I hope it at least causes you to think about it.
Anti-virus manufacturers have created a multi-million dollar business out of a small industry. These manufactured viruses and the hype about them forces the public to reach into their pockets to protect themselves against this embellished industry. It’s this how the mafia works? You pay us to protect you or we are going to beat you up!
Why? Just Because!