McAfee Exaggerated Cost of Hacking, Perhaps For Profit

coolnumbr12 writes "A 2009 study (PDF) by the McAfee estimated that hacking costs the global economy $1 trillion. It turns out that number was a massive exaggeration by McAfee, a software security branch of Intel that works closely with the U.S. government at the local, state and federal level. A new estimate by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (and underwritten by McAfee) suggests the number is closer to closer to $300 billion (PDF), but even that much is uncertain. One of McAfee's clients, the Department of Defense, has used the $1 trillion estimate to argue for an expansion of cybersecurity, including 13 new teams dedicated to cyberwarfare. Despite the new data, Reuters said McAfee is still trying to exaggerate the numbers." The $1 trillion study has seen other criticism as well, so the new data is a step in the right direction.

Comments

Re:News at 11?

[hairyfeet]

Well I got to say most of us little shop guys certainly profit from McCrappy, we get paid to remove that shit because its fricking worse than the malware! You want to see a laptop grind to a fricking halt use McCrappy or Norton and just watch the cycles get wasted.

So TFA really doesn't surprise me that they are pulling shady shit as their products are frankly more of a PITA than a lot of the infections I've seen of late. You want to know which AVs to avoid? Norton, McCrappy, and I'll get hate for saying this but I'd add MSE to that list. what I've found is that MSE is really more of a placebo, you give it to those that already follow best practices and it'll make them feel more comfortable but it really doesn't do much and usually scores at the bottom of most tests. Honestly that shouldn't be a surprise to anybody as it was originally called Giant AntiSpy and was made to keep spyware and toolbars off, NOT worms and rootkits and viruses.

If you want a good AV that doesn't cost a dime? Here in the shop I've both tested the AVs myself as well as seen how well they work based on my customers and I'd say Comodo Internet Security and Avast Free are both REALLY good. Comodo is for your geeks as it has really REALLY fine grained controls and you can customize the hell out of it, although frankly you don't have to as for the past few years the defaults have been sane and well thought out. For your non geeks, your average Joes and Janes? Avast Free works really well, it holds their hand with info bubbles in English instead of geek speak, has a built in software updater that will warn you when your third party stuff is out of date, and its UI is REALLY simple and straightforward.

So do us all a favor and don't reward bad behavior by buying McCrappy, not only are they pulling numbers out their behinds but their AV ties a boat anchor on the system.