Qualcomm and Kaspersky sign a deal, device makers to get ‘special terms’ for bundling antivirus software

BY Stefan Constantinescu

Published 14 May 2013

Kaspersky Lab, makers of antivirus software for the PC and Mac, has just announced that they’ved signed a deal with Qualcomm whereby any hardware maker building an Android device using a Qualcomm chip will receive “special terms” for bundling Kaspersky’s software.

There are two things wrong with this.

One, this press release tells people that Android isn’t secure, when in all honesty it is if you follow the rules. What are the rules? Don’t side-load Android applications. Get all your Android apps from the Google Play Store. If you’re stupid enough to pirate a $0.99 game from a shady looking website, you deserve everything that’s coming to you.

And two, device makers will now be tempted to bundle antivirus software simply to add another checkmark to their spec sheet. Similar to how Samsung stuffed the GS4 with features most people will never use, but they sure look pretty when they’re demoed to you in the store, the same thing might happen with companies bundling Kaspersky’s software and marketing the fact that their phone has it while others do not.

Of course iOS users are probably laughing right now since they don’t even have this issue.