Symantec Bullshit

What two things do the capital cities of Buenos Aires and San Juan have in common?

Kudos to you if you came up with two that aren't "The primary language is Spanish." And kudos to statehooders who know (or look up) that Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina. All six of you deserve a medal.

But I bet none of you guessed that "dangerous Internet" links both cities. According to a report by Sperling's BestPlaces and Symantec, Buenos Aires and San Juan are the two cities with the highest risk during Internet access, primarily from WiFi networks and cell phone use.

Do tell. Who benefits from this news? Going back to the report's authors, We have BestPlaces, who wants you to go "there"...and Symantec, a cyber-security company.

Do tell.

Now the article cited goes on to say that the report is based on a projected risk, in other words, it amounts to someone's opinion that these 2 cities are dangerous for Web users. And even though the report cites the "high number of reported cyber-crimes" in Buenos Aires, they also note this is in direct relation to the high usage rate of social media, computers and broadband access that the Argentina capital has.

Tack this on: Symantec admits that the "highest risk" cities are not necessarily those "with the highest rates or instances of viruses or cyber-attacks." Oookay...


In other words, Symantec is saying: We made this shit up to scare you.

Do tell.

Are We surprised at this tactic? No. It happens all-too-frequently and for nebulous goals more atrocious than trying to sell security software and hardware. What frosts My perineum in this case is that Symantec chooses to use My Island's capital city in its bullshit report.

I've lived and worked very happily never having spent a second's notice on Symantec, and will go back to that state of bliss after this post, but for now, I call "Bullshit!" on these cyber-pests and wish that they choke to a horrible death on their idiocy in the coming tech cycle.

As for BestPlaces, I strongly suggest that in the future they avoid being drunk before getting into bed with someone. Especially one as stupid as Symantec.



The Jenius Has Spoken.