BitDefender sells an Internet security suite that offers “proactive protection from viruses, spyware, hackers, and other e-Threats.” Well, their website got hacked. Now in all fairness, their product lines might not protect web servers … but you still gotta love irony.

Normally we’d just shrug at this irony and go about our day. This one, though, deserves attention over the company’s (mis)handling of the affair. Quoting from an updated story in The Register:

“It was only after this article first appeared that the anti-virus company even owned up to the breach, and yes, it potentially exposed Portuguese customers’ names, email addresses and possibly their physical addresses as well… Amazingly, BitDefender offered customers no details about the extent of the damage for more than a day and went so far as to suggest the breach at a site bearing its corporate name isn’t its fault.”

Reporter Dan Goodin goes on to say “we saw a similar reluctance from Kaspersky to share what it knew during the first 36 hours after its security lapse was exposed.” Situations like this constitute a lie by omission. I quote myself from an ancient column when I say “the very experts we pay to protect our PCs will all too often lie, even if they know it will harm their clients’ best interests.”

“Amazingly, BitDefender offered customers no details about the extent of the damage for more than a day…”

Goodin then mutters “this is unacceptable for companies entrusted to keep their customers safe.” {sigh} Only here do I differ with him — because after watching this industry for twenty years, I’ve come to realize the court of public opinion never prosecutes virus experts for their lies. Society gets some sort of taboo satisfaction from lying virus experts. These people get rewarded, not punished.

I insist virus experts ultimately lie to us because society wants them to do it. Why? Four words: “addicts need their pushers.” A double standard exists because people can’t give up their addiction to antivirus updates. Society lets its pushers get away with things they’d never let Microsoft get away with…