Government to Provide AV for Free.

[steve.milner]

Actually, they aren't, but should they be....

Read on for a little food for thought.

Virii cleanup/recovery cost establishments and businesses millions (? Billions - I've no idea) of dollars each year.

The establishments and business that do not have huge virii cleanup costs, tend to have purchased expensive corporate AV products to mitigate that risk - So the protection of establishments and business costs millions of dollars every year.

Most virii propagation occurs through unprotected personal and business computers.

There must be a cost/benefit argument to increase the cost of establishment/business internet connectivity and to have that connectivity protected from virii by the ISP.

Also every personal connection could be protected free of charge as well.

It could be done with a product similar to this : http://www.antionline.com/showthread...hreadid=248327

Using biological analogies, once a certain percentage of the population has an immunity to a virus (~85% if memory serves, but depends on virulence) then the whole population becomes effectively immune.

Overall this has to be a winner, since the spend required needs only to be at a similar level to AV revenues now, but since more organisations will be paying, unit prices will be cheaper, and the cost of cleanup should drop dramatically.

Perhaps the levy paid should include some insurance for the cleanup of any new virii that slip through the net before they are detected - paid by the AV provider that failed. This will act as an incentive for them to be up to date.

There may even be a case for government to provide the AV tool, on a cost of development (& update) vs cost to the economy of virri cleanup.

So, should Government provide AV free of charge?

Steve

[Info Tech Geek]

If the government provided antivirus software for free it would work as good as any other freeware software out there. It would not be some super great software, it would be plain and simple, with no support, updated on occasion and pretty much borderline useless.

They do not have the budget to hire programmers to run this program and further more the government likes plain and simple. They will be making no income off this project, so there is no need for technical support. The actual usage of this program will not have a high demand and signature files will be released on akward times and probably through manual download and install.

[groovicus]

Why? there are plenty of other places to get free antivirus. I guess in my twisted little world, I see any application provided by the government becoming a "political hacking" target... I think it would render any AV worthless..

But on the same note, I think ISP's should make corporate and business clients prove they have some kind of protection in place before they even allow them an account, whether it be firewalls and antivirus, or a tough terms of use policy. I can see the day coming where ISP's will have to, because whoever provides them with service (i.e att worldnet) will eventually require the same of them.

(pardon me if I am rambling and incoherent..still waiting for the coffee to brew

[phishphreek]

I don't like the idea of me installing software that came from our .gov...

We already have big brother around every other corner... Who is to say that one of their "AV updates" was really an update, and not some monitoring tool?

Also, not to discriminate?, they'd have to provide a piece of software and updates for every platform out there...

[Cope57]

Originally posted here by Info Tech Geek
If the government provided antivirus software for free it would work as good as any other freeware software out there. It would not be some super great software, it would be plain and simple, with no support, updated on occasion and pretty much borderline useless.

They do not have the budget to hire programmers to run this program and further more the government likes plain and simple. They will be making no income off this project, so there is no need for technical support. The actual usage of this program will not have a high demand and signature files will be released on akward times and probably through manual download and install.

Actually the U.S. government, the Department Of Defense does provide FREE anti-virus software. BUT, it is NOT available to all. It is only available to the military service members or retired personnel that have a AKO account. Another thing is that if you are in the military service, you can ONLY download the software from a .mil network and be able to take it home to use. Here is the link for those that qualify for the FREE software or just curious to know more about it.
http://www.cert.mil/antivirus/antivirus_index.htm

Since I am in the military I could get it for free, but I am happy with the AV software that I currently use.

[ric-o]

Hmm...I guess the first thing that comes to my mind is the government interferring with the free market/enterprise system. Yes yes I realize that do in other arenas but would we really want them in this market?

Further, to Phish's point, my conspiracist (sp?) subconscience kicked up warning flags as well.

If they were, there would definitely have a requirement to dedicate resources (re.; money, people, policy, priority) to it in order to ensure it's maintained.

So while I'm not black and white on this...I dont feel it would be a good idea because I have more negative thoughts than positive.

[steve.milner]

The idea was that the government provided the software to the ISPs, not individuals so that the AV protection would be transparent to any user, and also non OS specific.

This idea may be a little 'far fetched' but it surely is not beyond the wit of man to invent something that watches the wire and after detecting a virus signature do something to affect the data stream - Even if this was only to terminate a connection after the virus/worm had been sent, in this way it would be possible to prevent further copies from leaving an infected machine and getting into the wild.

The whole point of this scheme is to get the 'herd' immunity high enough so that writing virii is a waste of time.

As for the point about lack of resources, suppose that the tax revenue lost due to business income loss due to virii could cover the R&D and continuing development of the AV product, shouldn't they invest the money, since it would be cash positive?

Especially when it seems that the (US) government already develop AV solutions.

Would this be an interference with your freedom, it's possible, but isn't lots of IP traffic monitored anyway?

How would sitting AV at the ISP be any worse than that?

[Chuck56]

There would be screaming from the various antivirus, and other, software developers if Uncle ever did tried to give away free antivirus. If they developed their own, it would more than likely involve ten thousand workers, five thousand managers, and run into the billions of dollars. We're talking about an organization that pays $150 for a $10 hammer, after all.

Other than the intrusion into free enterprise, they could work with the various antivirus companies in the USA and purchase software in bulk from them at reduced cost, and then dole it out to those too lazy to look for free antivirus programs. The problem then would be to explain to the user that it had to be kept up to date. There are people in this world who shouldn't have a computer. There are also people who, if they can manage a computer, shouldn't be online without attending a class concerning Internet useage and the dangers involved.

[steve.milner]

Remember this solution is at the ISP not the individual PC.

The Govt could contract out the service to various AV companies - and keep them happy without cripling themselves with the administration costs.

Steve

[Chuck56]

I caught the ISP part when I read it again. Sorry. That would take care of the update problem. Either by contract or bid would be the logical way to handle the situation. I'm not sure about bidding because that would , I think, unfairly hinder a smaller enterprise that can't afford to lower their price to match either Norton or McAfee, the two big guns in this country. Licensing, involving all the players, is the logical way to work it in my mind.