The Myths of Security

Chapter 6. Why Microsoft’s Free AV Won’t Matter

Microsoft recently announced that it’s going to stop selling its consumer security product OneCare; instead, it’s going to give the product away.

I’ve had several people ask me questions including, “Why would Microsoft do that?” and, “Do you think McAfee and Symantec are scared?” I recently read an article (http://news.cnet.com/8301-10789_3-10102154-57.html) that said:

With traditional antivirus protection perhaps becoming obsolete, maybe it’s time that Symantec and McAfee start offering free versions of their own antivirus products—something that I’ve said for years.

That’s absurd.

AV vendors certainly were worried stiff when Microsoft first entered the AV market. They assumed that Microsoft would do the same thing it does in every other market—dominate it and drive everyone else out.

The big vendors started focusing on how they could make up for the revenue loss that they considered inevitable. They felt that while Microsoft could trounce their consumer business, they would not be in a good position to meet enterprise needs any time soon (and there is some truth to that).

Starting with the Veritas acquisition, Symantec began acquiring its way into adjacent markets to diversify its revenue and beef up its enterprise business. While McAfee already had a strong enterprise offering, it focused on protecting its consumer market share by striking big OEM preinstall deals with major PC manufacturers like Dell. McAfee paid a lot of money up front ...