All right, this has to be said. The AV companies are in the self-serving business of making sure AV products are not *too* good--or no one would buy updates.
It's my own personal opinion that Microsoft is the only half-way principled AV dealer because they offer MSE (a quite competant product) for *FREE*, including monthly updates.
I say "half-way" because they do offer a paid product and the MSE license has enough gray area to land a 747 in. Still, malware attacks the OS and the software the OS runs, so it's reasonable that the OS vendor should offer protection *as a base part of the OS*.
As for Kasperskey and other AV dealers (yes, I'm looking at you Symantec) they routinely up the scare factor so they can sell their stuff.
Businesses based on fear (insurance, AV, law, politics, etc) are inherently suspect because they're self-serving
"Great computer you got there. Be a shame if a nasty virus infected it..."
Call me cynical if you like, but the AV companies have over the years made users mistrust them. I guess the chickens are coming home to roost.
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