Gone are the days when you needed to shell out a huge amount of money to buy security for your laptop or personal computer. Today, most of the anti-virus developers provide anti-viruses and anti-spyware for free. The revenue generation model for these companies have undergone radical changes and transactional viewpoints have become a talk of the past.
Today most antivirus developers like Panda, AVG, Kaspersky, Avira, Avast, Bit Defender and many more provide a free home edition for usage on personal computers. These free antivirus are geared up pretty much to solve all normal security challenges one may face. Of course, they also have an advanced feature option ( for complete protection ) for which an user is expected to pay.
So how do you get it for FREE now when previously it used to pinch your pocket quite a lot to buy these software?
The current market is often ruled by the laws of freeconomics. More often than not, these antivirus packages come with toolbars and adwares. While the user is mistakenly taken into a ride that he is enjoying a premium product for free, he becomes part of the many towards whom advertisement campaigns are directed. While the user gets a product, the usage of which results in lowering of perceived threats from viruses, spyware, rootkits and trojans, the companies get to advertise through their products to the customers directly.
So whats the other part of the story? Do companies take a sneak peek into your activities online so that they may direct more targeted campaigns towards you, which would be more tailored to suit your needs?
Lack of anti-virus gives you a head ache. Now does a free one do the same for you?