The recent root kit bust of Symnatec has raised a serious question, and as always, its between technology and ethics. Norton installed the rootkit and hid it fron Win API because they thought that it would be the best way to avoid detection by viruses and no one likes an anti virus getting effected (much like the idea of a doctor getting sick is hard to digest). This certainly raises a few ethical issues.
Yes, it was a root kit they installed, so what !!
Rootkit has become a sort of over rated buzzword... non tech people, majority of those who are protesting, take it in the same league as murder, and robbery. I am not an anarchist or against democracy and free world, but i do feel that we should rely on someone with greater knowledge when it comes to technology, just like you trust your president/ prime minister to do something good for your country. Trust an antivirus company to do good for your computer.
For one thing Symnatec was not trying to smuggle documents out of your PC. Secondly most desktop users who use the antivirus are not concerned if their grocery list is smuggled out of their computer. Banishing norton for the rootkit is like taking an antibiotic which kills antibiotics which kills bacterias in your stomach, just because you think all bacterias are pathogenic. The "smart guy" who exposed this root kit is perhaps "not so smart" as he gave the virus guys norton's weak spot to attack.
When will mankind know the difference between the "good thing" and the "right thing" ??
read more | digg story
No comments:
Post a Comment