Can the malware industry be trusted?

Good point, but as long as people will be "forced" to use their soft, nothing will change.
Firewall si the only real security software worth of buying, AntiMalware is, in fact, useless.

 

I am MUCH more comfortable with "players like McAfee, Symantec, and dozens of other firms" working to secure MS Windows OS and applications via their proprietary software than I am MS. It is a HUGE conflict-of-interest for MS to market and make $$$ on their own OS and apps as well as their own proprietary software and services to help keep their OS and apps secure.

As MS Windows OS users, we can choose not to purchase and/or use MS applications, both security- and non-security-related. A boycott on MS security-related applications and services would be entirely appropriate.

 

I don't trust M$ with anything security related. All their security apps and OS "enhancements" are weakened versions of what was already available, often for free. Shall we start with what used to be Giant Antispyware? First thing M$ did was make sure it didn't work on 98/ME. How about what they pass off as a firewall in XP? The only thing M$ cares to secure is their industry dominance.
As for 3rd party security-ware, the big names aren't much better. Bloated, invasive suites that do nothing well and cost way more than they're worth. Good security apps come from small companies and dedicated individuals who care about their work more than the profit margin. Open Source software is an excellent example.

Where do I sign up?
Rick

 

I agree with every single word you said.

 

Me too.

 

These companies and individuals are among the "dozens of other firms" referenced in the original article. And they create the products (both free and $$$) that are discussed at WSF on a daily basis, many of which are good to excellent.

Below are some links to open source security products compatible with MS Windows OS. For these products, there can be no doubt that the profit margin is not a significant driver. Sadly, open source security software for Windows OS is not as strong as for Linux and BSD.

WIPFW MS Windows operable version of IPFW1 for FreeBSD OS here:

http://wipfw.sourceforge.net/

CORE FORCE community oriented security solution here:

http://force.coresecurity.com/index.php?module=base&page=about

Winpooch, an opensource watch-dog for Windows here:

http://winpooch.free.fr/home/

ClamWin Free Antivirus here:

http://www.clamwin.com/

ClamAV For Windows here:

http://www.sosdg.org/clamav-win32/

Nixory Anti Spyware program for Mozilla Firefox here:

http://nixory.sourceforge.net/

Privoxy web proxy here:

http://www.privoxy.org/

Process Trace for process history here:

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/janstetka/

Eraser here:

http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/

Abakt backup tool here:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~edienske/abakt/

Unison file syncronizer here:

http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/

Partition Logic for hard disk partitioning and data management here:

http://partitionlogic.org.uk/

PartImage for partition imaging (NTFS filesystem is "experimental) here:

http://www.partimage.org/Main_Page

md5summer here:

http://www.md5summer.org/

TrueCrypt disk encryption here:

http://www.truecrypt.org/

AxCrypt file encryption here:

http://axcrypt.axantum.com/

Please note that this listing is just a sampling and, thus, is not exhaustive.

There really are a lot of choices beyond MS. I hope it stays this way.

How many people here at Wilders would trust their Windows OS security to open source software exclusively as with Linux and BSD? Note that open source = free, but free is not necessarily open source.

bktII