Kaspersky on Microsoft

[Concerned User]

http://www.zdnet.com.au/microsoft-br...-339315645.htm

Quite an amusing guy this Kaspersky

"I don't want to say that Microsoft antivirus is a bad product, it's a good enough product ... but it's not enough to be visible in the market. You need to have the right position, the right impression. You have to have the brand which is recognised as a security brand," Kaspersky said.

Not visible in the market? I think that MSE is quite famous by now. I am running without any AV and Windows update actually prompted me to download it...Not to mention the positive press it got (and is getting).

Without Microsoft, Kaspersky and its products might not even exist. Why bite the hand that feeds you?..What would happen if Windows no longer requires commercial AV software and in-built AV software (like MSE) becomes the order of the day? What would be his reaction then?

[Ritho]

What would happen if Windows no longer requires commercial AV software and in-built AV software (like MSE) becomes the order of the day? What would be his reaction then?

I suppose someone would make the case that an antivirus is not really a true part of an OS so there would be an antitrust lawsuit and then Microsoft would have have a AV choice selection menu or something.

[Concerned User]

Originally Posted by Ritho

I suppose someone would make the case that an antivirus is not really a true part of an OS so there would be an antitrust lawsuit and then Microsoft would have have a AV choice selection menu or something.

@ Ritho: Unfortunately, yes, but things have changed a lot, haven't they?

Windows Vista and 7 have improved a lot compared to Windows XP and 2000 in terms of Security.

Antivirus vendors will always try to spread fud to sell their products.

Then you have the age old problem: you can cure a stupid user regardless of the os

[MidnightCowboy]

Originally Posted by Ritho

I suppose someone would make the case that an antivirus is not really a true part of an OS so there would be an antitrust lawsuit and then Microsoft would have have a AV choice selection menu or something.

Tricky this one, especially from a legal perspective. Microsoft after all include a firewall as standard which can be switched on or off and some third party alternatives will work with it, but others won't. I appreciate an AV installation is more involved and not able to be just switched off and another installed in its place. That said, I think Microsoft could offer this choice during the OS install process with two boxes as in "yes, please install MSE and update it when I connect" or "no thank you I wish to install a different antivirus program".

[Ritho]

Originally Posted by MidnightCowboy

Tricky this one, especially from a legal perspective. Microsoft after all include a firewall as standard which can be switched on or off and some third-party alternatives will work with it, but others won't. I appreciate an AV installation is more involved and not able to be just switched off and another installed in its place. That said, I think Microsoft could offer this choice during the OS install process with two boxes as in "yes, please install MSE and update it when I connect" or "no thank you I wish to install a different antivirus program".

Yes I thought about the firewall for a minute, but I think it could possibly be argued that a firewall is a more essential part of a default setup than a AV. As soon as any computer is connected to the outside world is immediately vulnerable to outside attack within minutes according to some tests. The same is not necessarily true of a computer without realtime malware protection. More or less as an experiment, I have been running my Windows XP machine without a realtime AV of any type for about a year now. I still use an on-demand scanner from time to time. I am doing this to test the theory that safe internet browsing & download practices are the first and perhaps most effective layer of defense. So far I have had zero infections. (No Sandboxed browser either BTW)

Anyway I am beginning to think having AV in Windows by default would be a good thing for most users.

[Concerned User]

Question: What would happen if a company like Apple included "built in antivirus/antimalware" (do they already have it? I don't know) something like Microsoft Security essentials.

Guessing it would not be a problem since Apple's market share is lesser when compared to Windows?

Or would the AV vendors keep whining about how unfair this is?

[J_L]

Microsoft Security Essentials isn't built-in. You have to download and install it. Windows Defender is built-in though.

[Concerned User]

@ JL: I know that MSE is not built in...

My question was whether macs have built in malware/antivirus/whatever protection.

[J_L]

Nope, they're too arrogant for that.

[eyeb]

mac has been getting some bad press lately from the mac viruses because of that...

I don't see why MS wouldn't include MSE in windows... I mean they include firewall and windows defender already :S MSE isn't that much of a stretch.

I don't see MS having anti-trust issues unless it makes it impossible to remove the MS stuff. Sometimes I wish I could remove IE and windows defender instead of just disabling it. But I'm still glad to know that they come with windows. I just hate how it is incorporated into it. Its almost like telling me I can't switch out my radio in my car and that I can only turn it on/off.