Re: Ethics & hiring

[Bennett Todd <bet () rahul net>]

2004-11-17T18:38:29 Gwendolynn ferch Elydyr:
> [...] antivirus company [...] called a halt to its partnership
> with SecurePoint because of that firm's decision to hire the young
> man who allegedly created Sasser.

Without taking up an opinion on the broader questions here, I think
this particular news item might be a weak one from which to draw
broad conclusions.

Anti-virus companies are in a very, very awkward position. Their
business is profitable solely because of the widespread problems
with viruses; if it weren't for all the malware authors, they'd be
out of business. They make their money on viruses. Furthermore, one
important factor in gaining market share is the most prompt possible
signature updates; customers like to receive the sigs for a new
virus before they get hit by the virus.

This is a precarious position to be in; a quick glance suggests the
way to be a really great A/V vendor is to write viruses, update your
sigs, then distribute the viruses.

Conflict-of-interest issues arise when talking about anti-virus
companies -vs- virus authors that are completely separate from any
moral qualms people may have about hiring such malware perps.

-Bennett

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