In response to the recent article on viruses and after a long time spent fighting the various beasties as they have popped up over the course of the past decade or so, I have come up with a few ideas which I believe might help battle the problem and should be implemented and regulated nationally, if not globally. I call it the “Universal Virus Database” but really, it should include more than just viruses. The idea should cover all forms of malware, including spyware, adware, trojans and rootkit hacks.

For too long we have entrusted the security of our property and in a very real sense our lives, to various software companies like Symantic, McAfee and others who may or may not have our best interests at heart. We can never know for sure that these companies are not actually creating their own demand by releasing the very viruses that they remove. I’m not saying that they are or aren’t but haven’t you ever wondered if the blasted garbage that gets on your computer was put there by the same people who claim to be able to remove it? In a sense it would be like one Thinkcomputers reader put it, “Sort of like the oil companies creating an oil shortage to drive the prices up.” But oil companies don’t do that, do they? You be the judge of that.

Meanwhile our government, in attempts to protect us from ourselves has gotten into bed with such noble groups as the RIAA and other control freaks. Recently Sony Corp. wound up in hot water because it installed rootkits with its audio CD’s on the machines of unsuspecting users which were then in turn exploited by hackers. Sony had to recall all of those disks but did they fix the damage they caused by installing that spyware on those individual’s computers? Hardly, they aren’t in the business of cleaning up the mess they make so they don’t consider themselves responsible for the damage they have done.

What I would like to see is the government finally step in and do something for the people they were put in office to work for in the first place. In this case, the establishment of a network that is designed to catalog and distribute information about all known malware which all software that claims to remove must share its information with.

No longer would a person need to purchase 15 different programs to remove all the malicious content from their computer but rather, they would be free to choose the software based on its features and interface and how it works for them while being equally protected via the central database.

Of course this would not eliminate all malware but it would make it much less dangerous and difficult for it to propagate in the first place. Ask yourself, how often have you been hit with some form of malware and then had to go through a dozen or more programs to find one that would remove it? This idea would make that whole search and destroy method of malware removal unnecessary.

The software publishers will of course argue that this cuts into their ability to make money but, to that I have only the following to say. Malware is (or should be considered) a crime of several layers, including invasion of privacy, theft, vandalism, identity theft, etc. We do not make our local police forces work with only the tools they can develop on their own so why are we forced to fight these crimes with only the tools of one company? If this idea forces a few software publishers out of business, so be it, that’s a very small price to pay for security. The issues of individual privacy and security should never be sacrificed for the profits of major corporations, this is a terrible road we have been going down for some time now.

Unfortunately the Universal Virus Database is a pipe dream; we will never see it because our government is not in the business of working for the citizens. Quite literally our government is in the business of helping corporations. Recent laws and actions have done nothing if not prove that we are on our own against the big companies who are only concerned with the bottom line. Our security takes a backseat to the whims of the Microsofts and Symantics of the world, let alone the mighty RIAA.

But in a world where logic was applied to things, the Universal Virus Database would be a no-brainer. We must content ourselves with the pitiful attempts of Microsoft to create its database of malware which we, the end user create for them and they exploit to remove competition from all computers that it is installed on.

But is there anything you can do to help make this a reality? Possibly there is, take this article and send copies of it to your local congressperson along with your views and recommend that they give it proper consideration. Demand your right to be secure and protected by your government from the nefarious individuals and companies that it has been trying to protect, tell our government that you are sick and tired of sacrificing your security for the profit of big corporations.