Here is a (very slightly) simplified description:
- Virus writers write viruses that infect millions of PCs and turn them into a huge network of remotely-controlled email servers. They do this because spammers pay them for the use of their network (botnet) to send billions of spams.
- Users respond to the spams and send the spammers money for the items/services, or in the case of “Pump and Dump” stock scams, buy the stock, artificially raising it’s price.
- While the anti-virus companies try to keep the infection rate down, they actually have a financial incentive to not produce a permanent solution, since their business model is based on continuing “subscription updates”. A permanent solution would put them out of business.
- Microsoft also attempts to keep the infection rate down, but again, has a financial incentive to not be too effective, since infected PCs typically perform poorly, and many PC owners will simply replace a slow PC, which generates more computer sales, which generates more licensing fees.
One alternative is to switch to an Operating System that can not be easily compromised, like Linux. It requires no anti-virus or anti-spyware software because it’s simply not easily susceptible to infection. As a bonus, everything runs faster because it’s not busy scanning for viruses or sending out spam.
While nothing is 100% bulletproof, Linux is close . And it’s faster. And it’s free.
If you’re interested in becoming less of a target for viruses and less of a profit-center for spammers and big software companies, just let us know.