Yes, AV is in a position where a) it needs regular full priv access to your files and unencrypted web traffic, b) is in a highly competitive, low-margin field where the players are literally attacking each other on your machine [1] to stay even, and c) have enormous motivation to seek other funding sources based on their desktop position [2-5].
I didn't say they created malware, no, but they certainly wave that flag when someone finds some. And it's certainly in their interest to pursue all of these alternatives, or even have a bad third party violate THEM to do so. The money is on the table. Do they take it? They'd be foolish not to.
I didn't say they created malware, no, but they certainly wave that flag when someone finds some. And it's certainly in their interest to pursue all of these alternatives, or even have a bad third party violate THEM to do so. The money is on the table. Do they take it? They'd be foolish not to.
1. http://www.techradar.com/us/news/software/security-software/...
2. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13079569
3. https://www.wsj.com/articles/russian-hackers-scanned-network...
4. https://wiki.mozilla.org/CA:Symantec_Issues
5. https://www.howtogeek.com/199829/avast-antivirus-was-spying-...
etc...