Published by Steve Litchfield at 11:06 UTC, December 29th 2005
Darla's spotted yet another outbreak of buck-chasing virus paranoia, this time from AhnLab. Read on for some priceless marketing quotes. And if you're worried about the threat of mobile malware then don't be. Read on...
From AhnLab's press release: "Mobile virus is not just a marketing buzz now because threats from mobile viruses, hackers and spam keep growing and such threats could cripple mobile device users in the near future". The 'virus' threat is a non-starter, as these things can't spread at all as long as users aren't incredibly gullible. Hackers? Symbian OS is VERY secure - have you ever tried probing an online Symbian smartphone? I have, and it showed no open ports at all. Spam? Well, that's hardly a security issue, is it? And network operators will clamp down on spam traffic if it ever got too much. Most of the spam I get on my smartphone is from my network, on the other hand....
The press release continues: "The development of the anti-virus for mobile phones powered by Symbian OS which takes a major part in the global market, gave us a chance to enter into a global mobile security market." Aha! So, in summary, they smelt some big bucks feeding off peoples' paranoia and decide they wanted a slice of the action.
To all the players in the market: YOU'RE HARMING THE SYMBIAN OS INDUSTRY with all your hype. Symbian OS is very secure. Sure, a little education about not installing cracked applications and trojans is in order, but we really, really don't need unnecessary utilities slowing down our smartphones. DON'T FRIGHTEN USERS WITH HYPE. Please.
Steve Litchfield
See also: 'Virus' challenge, 'Virus' clean-up
Categories: Software, Industry, Editorial Thoughts
Platforms: Series 60