360 sparks a major collision between free and paid antivirus software - Age1983

The collision process between free and paid antivirus software summarized from various sources is an original article from www.en83.com. If reproduced, please indicate the source. Be honest!

Since mid-July when Zhou Hongyi launched the free 360 Security Guard antivirus service (for more details, click here: Qihoo officially launches permanent free 360 Antivirus), it has caused a strong reaction from major antivirus software companies like Kaspersky and Rising, as well as public criticism from BitDefender, a 360 partner.

Chairman of Qihoo 360, Zhou Hongyi, publicly stated that antivirus services, like email, search engines, and instant messaging, are all part of basic internet services and should therefore be free for users. However, relevant parties believe that the launch of 360 Antivirus will significantly impact the fee-based model of the antivirus industry. Qihoo believes that with tens of millions of downloads of the 360 Security Guard on desktop clients, it will change the traditional model where antivirus software charges are passed on to users.

Rising reacted most strongly. On July 22nd, Ma Gang, the market director of Rising, told reporters that Qihoo's free antivirus service might just be a scam.

Ma Gang believed that recently Qihoo had made moves to enter the antivirus market. But "Qihoo has not truly entered the antivirus field." According to Ma Gang, Qihoo mainly cooperates with a security lab in Harbin and BitDefender to launch antivirus services rather than developing them themselves. Moreover, Rising found out that the so-called free activation codes distributed by Qihoo 360 were actually BitDefender's free one-year activation codes. Therefore, "Qihoo's free antivirus might be a scam."

Subsequently, on July 24th, Rising announced that the "Rising Antivirus Software 2008 Edition" and "Rising Personal Firewall 2008 Edition" would be available for free download for a year. In response, Qihoo expressed that they very much welcome Rising's move to follow up with free antivirus services and praised Rising as always being a good student and a role model for learning.

Qihoo also mentioned that Rising heavily pops up advertisements in their six-month free version of antivirus software, making it less like a security software and more like a malicious software.

Then, Qihoo raised objections to Rising's "Kaka 6.0 Cloud Security" concept, stating that Rising's "Cloud Security" merely involves uploading samples without any breakthroughs. Qihoo further claimed: Rising's "Cloud" security uses Kaka 6.0 users to upload samples, which has no significance for users and clearly indicates Rising's inferiority complex, unable to collect sufficient virus samples, thus relying on so-called "Cloud Security" to supplement its virus database. For users, this has little meaning; it's always about getting infected first and then eliminating the threat. Additionally, it poses a serious threat to user privacy.

Whether it's mudslinging or each side sticking to their own reasons, ultimately, the "battle" has begun.

On July 29th, Rising issued a statement regarding the misidentification of Rising Personal Firewall by 360 Antivirus Software. When installing Rising Personal Firewall, it was flagged as malware and blocked by 360 Antivirus, preventing the installation process from completing. The core files of Rising Firewall used normally would also be mistakenly identified and killed by 360 Antivirus, leaving users in a factual state of "naked running" and facing significant security risks.

On July 30th, Rising disclosed a serious incident where 360 Antivirus Software intercepted and deleted Rising Personal Firewall. According to technical verification by Rising, 360 Antivirus Software would not only block Rising Firewall during installation but also delete already installed core files of Rising Firewall, causing Rising Personal Firewall to fail and exposing user computers to great security risks.

In August, Rising stopped placing advertisements on 360 Security Guard. Rising indicated that the advertising contract with 360 Security Guard had expired and would not be renewed. Rising revealed that the advertising cooperation with 360 Security Guard was signed half a year ago, including text links in the "Official Log" on the homepage of 360 Security Guard and "Must-Have Software" recommendations in the "360 Software Management". Rising did not disclose the reason for stopping the cooperation, but previously both sides had accused each other over 360 Antivirus Software mistakenly identifying Rising Firewall as malware.

On August 2nd, Kaspersky, which collaborated with Qihoo in 2006, stopped offering free antivirus services through Qihoo 360.

Zhang Lishen, Managing Director of Kaspersky Lab Asia-Pacific, stated that the previous cooperation of gifting antivirus services via 360 Security Guard would cease. He explained that the reason for ending the cooperation was "things that come together must eventually split," but he was satisfied with their 1 year and 8 months of cooperation, calling it a triple-win situation. It is understood that the cessation only applies to the gifting aspect; users can still purchase Kaspersky's antivirus services through 360 Security Guard. Zhang Lishen emphasized that they would continue to promote the concept of "full functionality equals safety" and would not adopt a free route.

At the grand new product launch of Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 in Beijing Jiuhua Resort, Zhang Lishen, Managing Director of Kaspersky Lab Asia-Pacific, said, "Free is hype; Kaspersky 'can't afford' to offer free services."

Additionally, Liu Jianhua, CEO of Beijing Baihui Digital Star Technology Co., Ltd., stated that security software has "four major hidden dangers," with "offering so-called security software under the guise of being free" being the second major hidden danger. "Such behavior is extremely irresponsible. Just because software is free doesn't mean it's safe. Be honest!"

My view: I support 360 offering free antivirus services. People's eyes are sharp. What is practical and what is useful will naturally be evaluated. 360's functions are indeed good, and many friends have benefited from it. As for commercialization and profit-making, those are things Zhou Hongyi needs to consider. Let me quote a sentence from Jack Ma: if a Taobao merchant earns 3000 yuan, would they care about paying 10 yuan to Taobao? Similarly, 360 has brought benefits to many people, and when it determines its profit model, there will definitely be a large number of loyal users and customers willing to pay a little bit.

Paid antivirus software has long dominated the market, yet there are still plenty of domestic and international free antivirus software options available, such as Avira, avast, etc. Even if you don't use free versions, pirated or cracked versions of Kaspersky, Kingsoft, and Rising still exist in reality.

Practice shows that free is the way to go...