Don’t Buy Anti-Virus Software

Posted by Mike Smith :: December 21, 2007 @ 6:38 am

With all of the threats to personal computers from viruses, worms, spam, spyware, adware and the like, you’d be crazy to leave your computer unprotected. That doesn’t mean that you have to pay for the software to protect yourself. More specifically, you may have already paid for it indirectly.

As the need for antivirus software has become increasingly clear, a number of outlets for obtaining the software have cropped up. In many cases, we can benefit by leveraging existing relationships to receive a benefit that would otherwise cost us money. In a similar way, social network affiliations on Lending Club let members leverage existing relationships to achieve favorable P2P loan terms.

First, many Internet service providers offer their customers comprehensive Internet security software free of charge. It’s in the ISP’s best interest to have customers who are able to use their services without viruses or other negative consequences. In addition to keeping their customers happy, cleaner computers also result in less bandwidth tied up by malicious software. If you are already paying for Internet access, then you likely are entitled to free antivirus software as well.

Similarly, I’ve also noticed that some online institutions are also offering complimentary protection software to their customers for the same reasons. Anyone with a Scottrade brokerage account, for example, is entitled to download and activate a one-year subscription to a popular antivirus/firewall/anti-spyware application.

Lastly, your employer may offer software to its employees. If you use a computer at home for work purposes, particularly if you connect into the work network, you may be able to use employer provided software to protect your home computer. This too is in the company’s best interest, since it is better to have protected computers connecting into the company’s network than infected ones. Check with your company’s IT department to see if there is a licensing agreement in place with a software provider allowing employee use on their home computers.

The widespread availability of anti-virus software reminds us to take full advantage of the benefits of being an employee or customer. Once we commit our time or money to an organization, we should get as much value for that contribution as possible. When these relationships allow us to save a little extra money, this is a good thing!