It is interesting to think about.
It's kind of like Mob protection eh?
"You buys my software, and yous won't gets any virus"
Actually, a lot of people do create viruses, not for an evil laugh, but as creative programming experiments to see if they can pull it off - I don't
think you can stereotype a virus creator - others do it for recognition from their community, or just boasting rights. In fact, if I'm not mistaken,
the first computer virus was created by someone for a PhD thesis. You can also find virus creation kits that help you if you have no programming
experience. AV companies could also very well be creating other viruses as well.
The majority of viruses don't do much harm to your Windows system, if at all, but everyone is scared of a virus... the truth is that the majority of
viruses don't do any damage at all to your Windows system.
I say Windows because there are only about 40 viruses for Linux and more or less for Macs, compared to around 32,000 for Windows.
The real story is that Microsoft and AV companies have arrangements where MS leaves security vulnerabilities in Windows/IE for a certain amount of
time before patching it up via automatic update. They have to appear as if they are "fixing" something, to give the user assurance.
This allows the AV companies increase profits from prospective infections, while they pay royalties to Microsoft under the table for leaving the
backdoor open. Both Microsoft and the AV companies can make money that would otherwise not be made, from the habits of "malicious programmers"
A big piece of evidence to support this is the fact that there is no virus utilities included with Windows, while the days before the internet,
Microsoft DID include a program called Microsoft Anti Virus in DOS and Win 3.x ...
MSAV. Curiously, the
company that supplied it to MS was Central Point Software. CPS was acquired by Symantec, and became the basis for Norton AV ("The World's best
selling Anti-Virus Software"), which Microsoft still has very strong ties to.
The monopoly issue is/was a red herring to cover up the more devious tactics utilized by MS. Now that the public has been informed about the MS and
Monopoly issue, why would they question why there is no AV software with Windows, eh? They'll come to the simple conclusion that, "Oh, they can't
do that because of that whole monopoly thing, duh." Of course, that is the cover up that has been created. Psychological manipulation of your end
user/client through the media.
As for the "Free versions," these companies receive the bulk of their profit from large corporate and government contracts - not the end user. The
free versions are just smoke screen.
Business as usual.