In a PC Advisor UK story that also has been published on the InfoWorld website, we learn that Microsoft is preparing to make available free anti-virus software online.
This move has been a long time coming, but it’s still significant. If Microsoft does a good job with the software, code-named Morro, anti-virus software vendors such as Symantec, McAfee, and Trend Micro, among others, could suffer losses in market share and revenue relating to their not-free products and services.
In making the case that it must offer free anti-virus software, Microsoft cites increasing PC adoption in developing markets such as China, India, and Brazil, where fewer PCs are protected by anti-malware software and therefore are more exposed to online security threats.
Incredibly (at least to this observer), Microsoft says that a large percentage of PCs users do not have anti-virus software running on their systems. To wit:
The company said at the time that Morro would help encourage more people to take anti-virus seriously, claiming nearly 50 percent of Windows users don’t have an anti-virus tool installed on their PC.
That’s a shockingly high percentage of unprotected Windows users. I realize AV isn’t the cure to the world’s online ills, but it’s a modest security precaution that all PC users should be willing to make.
I’m all for free anti-virus software. I think Microsoft should have protected its users from abuse right from the outset of the networked-PC era.
As the vendor of a hugely popular operating system, Microsoft has an ethical obligation to protect its customers from abuses that exploit inherent vulnerabilities and weaknesses of its product.
Twilight in the Valley of the Nerds 