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Same two authors wrote an article from 2015 with the same intent.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news...

and a great retort from that 2015 article https://www.grahamcluley.com/k...

I would like to see an actual evidence based reason before I put Kaspersky on my shit list (Russia is already on it). Working with a government to track down DDoS attackers is not a low point for a security company.

Intelligent people removed avg years ago, when they turned to the dark side.

So when did this happen?

When someone could not fathom the difference between crapware-enhanced installation bundles from CNET/DOWNLOAD.com and direct download from AVG.com? When someone got the (socialist) idea that default installs of any free product should include full functionality with a promise to collect and use no information?
Clueless (socialist) whiners.

When antivirus vendors started offering, and 'free' users started demanding, per-DNS-lookup and per-click protection that is based on continuous queries to a blacklist database maintained by the company, and uses significant Internet resources --- as opposed to the occasional virus signature updates?
Clueless (socialist) whiners.

I'll even wager that the latest AVG Free privacy faux-scandal consists of... the company making (sanitized, anonymized) use of data already being transmitted by its Web TuneUp browser plugin which YOU, the furiously clicking web user, have volunteered to install because YOU like the idea of constantly hitting up your free antivirus company with your searches and browsing traffic. You INSIST that it is THEIR JOB to load up their cloud constantly to return to you answers to the question, "Is this URL safe? Is that URL safe?"
Clueless (socialist) whiners.

I have purchased their product in the past, but currently use just the 'free' with basic Computer protection in part as a canary for the individual users' computers I've installed it on. AVG Free (and the company) has not let me down. I graciously accept their virus signature updates. As a freeloader I do not believe it is right for me to slam them with browser click traffic because it is simply not necessary to do so, would waste my own resources and theirs when common sense whitelisting and blocking delivers acceptable security.

https://www.grahamcluley.com/2...

The video is somewhat anti-climactic, but there ya go.

I have a feeling Google tacitly allows Android's design to be pwnable, so that the Play store vetting is the only thing stopping your device from getting malware

If only that were true. But unfortunately, you have only a slightly better chance of actually getting a "clean", well-behaved App from the Play Store than you do from some random .ru site.

well if you are going that route then it should also be pointed out that this android malware also only comes from non-approved channels

Bzzt! WRONG!!! Thanks for Playing!

What "route" is that? You mean the "FACTS" route? Then yes, I will go that route every single time. Unlike you, apparently...To wit(less) :

Malware has been found on the Google Play store MANY times. Where the FUCK have YOU been?!?

BTW, that took exactly ONE SECOND of Google-ing.

Research, THEN Post. Otherwise prepare to be outed as the idiot you are.

Seems that Forbes is blocking people who use ad-blockers (funny - I don't block ads, just scripts and tracking). Wonderful given that at least twice this year they have served up malware. Anyone have any specifics about how they are detecting ad-blockers and how to fix the check so that it doesn't see me as having an ad blocker.

Good, I wish nothing but hard times for them.

https://grahamcluley.com/2014/...

So; it was a move to HTTPS...

http://grahamcluley.com/2015/0...

Did they bother to fix heartbleed and POODLE while they were in there, or are they using an old stack, and it's still perfectly posible to implement the attack with a single additional step? In other words is this a "We must take some action!" fix, or is it a "We must take effective action!" fix?

Ummm... why? You think it's preposterous that software exploits are bought and sold?

"It is common for individuals or companies who discover zero-day attacks to sell them to government agencies for use in cyberwarfare." - Zero-day attack

References:
- Zero-day exploit in Apple’s iOS operating system 'sold for $500,000'
- Nations Buying as Hackers Sell Flaws in Computer Code
- How Spies, Hackers, and the Government Bolster a Booming Software Exploit Market
- Cyberwar’s Gray Market

Some artists who charted in the 60's and 70's said, "I haven't had a royalty check in 15 years even though I hear my stuff on radio every now and then."

Let me guess: "Some artists" didn't write their own songs.

Whereas their other distribution channels are much cloudier

The cloud is someone else's computer. iTunes Radio is streamed from someone else's computer. Pandora is streamed from someone else's computer. Spotify is streamed from someone else's computer. All are thus equally cloudy.

Sophos has Graham Cluley, and that's all that matters. For those who don't know, Graham Cluley has been a long-time antivirus researcher, and was often teased in viruses written by the female virus/worm author Gigabyte, who was arrested last week.

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