Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/03/28/office-depot-officemax-fined.html
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Maybe somebody could send them some real malware. That way, they not only duck the fraud charge, but they get to demonstrate their computer prowess!
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I remember at the height of the PC malware insanity… (maybe around 2005?) my dad had a windows based PC and I swear that all the virus scan software he had installed was worse than the viruses they were supposed to protect him from. Like his computer would take 10 minutes to start up and those things were constantly running slowing down his computer. Felt like a huge scam to me.
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Sadly, that problem lingers. My employer just mandated Trend Micro on all our computers. Now it takes 3.5 minutes for Excel to load. Not load a spreadsheet, just start up. It’s a nightmare. This is on an older machine, but it’s still an i3 processor, and Excel was getting started in a few seconds before this antivirus.
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This is a big part of why I insist upon a Mac, so that I can flout company rules, strip out the worthless antivirus bloat and any spyware that might come preloaded.
The IT guys never called my out for it yet in any of the companies where I was allowed to use Macs. Either they were on my side, or they refused to touch Macs.
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TREND MICRO?!?
Like, lord almighty, of all the shit software, they went with Trend Micro?
MalwareBytes for Business is cheaper per head, more effective, and doesn’t slow down* PCs even with real-time scanning enabled.
* Unless you’re gaming
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I think my institution’s policy is to find the absolute worst solution/vendor in every case. After all, we also use PeopleSoft…
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It’s likely that anyone reading this knows that handing over your computers to teenagers at big box stores is the exact opposite of computer security and the temptation to victim-blame will be overwhelming.
I just saw it as a corporation that knew it already had poorly informed suckers on the hook and was therefore squeezing them for every last dime. They’re little better than the tech-support phone scammers who bilk elderly people.
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The companies involved know they will face little to no actual consequences for fraud and shady actions. What else are end users going to do - go to Best Buy and get the same treatment?
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