Failure in Tech Journalism: Getting the Truth about Antivirus Software
The author is really kind of all over the place in this piece which for me really serves to reduce its impact. Clearly they had a strong need to vent, somewhat warranted, but they are casting a very wide net of aspersions.<p>There are a lot of issues with the industry around antivirus&#x2F;security vendors. It is a very gross industry for a lot of different reasons, but the trying to tie that into how Google is evil and  <i>also</i> tech journalism is corrupt and unfit makes the author come across so much weaker.<p>I’m also a little confused as to why the author, already unhappy with the free version of the product, decided to pony up for the paid version in the first place.<p>Semi-related: AV software plays a huge role in the security ecosystem and it’s value is unmistakable in that context but it is worth considering how we get there. The way AV software is sold and marketed is generally some of the slimiest, especially the non-big name stuff. We all benefit from the very wide net they cast in a collective sense but from the end-user perspective, especially as a technically savvy user, the cost seems outweighed by the benefit. Personally I’m of the mind that if anything is questionable I’ll run it through virustotal on-demand and make a judgement from their but also if I’m wondering that deeply enough I’m just as inclined not to touch something potentially volatile. This doesn’t work for a layperson but the stuff built in to windows is honestly more than enough for a casual user. If things have progressed beyond that, they need professional help anyways.