12.10.12
Microsoft is Back to FUD Wars Against Linux, Forgetting to Hide Behind Proxies
Summary: Microsoft jumps head first into the FUD feast, only to find itself becoming the subject of intense criticism — the very opposite of what it intended
The typical old Microsoft is at it again. That which we came to know as one notable company where executives got rich (rather than jail sentences they deserved) is clearly very worried about Android’s domination which accompanies Linux. Microsoft’s disgusting PR is digging for FUD openly and blatantly (not via proxies like Juniper) only to face blowback: “Microsoft might be looking for a new Windows Phone Twitter account manager today after an attempt to crowd-source attacks on Android-based phones backfired and instead prompted a barrage of attack tweets against Windows Phone, Windows security and Microsoft.
“The original tweet from the Windows Phone Twitter account asked users of Android devices to post horror stories about malware on the devices. In return, they would win an unspecified prize.”
Here is more:
Microsoft’s Windows Phone team reignited its #droidrage Twitter stunt this week, a campaign that offers free Windows Phones to Android malware victims. After originally creating it almost a year ago, Microsoft has remained relatively quiet in its anti-Android quest. Earlier this week, the official Windows Phone Twitter account kicked off #droidrage again in a series of Tweets including “wait for your Android phone to get infected with malware” and “buy a Windows Phone and connect with people you care about instead of some hacker plotting in a dank basement.”
The account has been sharing stories from other Twitter users who appear to have encountered Android malware. Google removed 27 malware-infected apps from its Play Store last year, a move that prompted Microsoft to start its campaign, but despite an upward trend in Android malware, there’s no evidence to suggest it’s as bad as Microsoft makes out. Google is also making changes to Android 4.2 to include a malware scanner that analyzes “sideloaded” apps for malware threats. With no recent high profile Android malware stories, Microsoft kicked off #droidrage again, seemingly out of the blue, and it has backfired.
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols writes:
Microsoft’s DroidRage Twitter campaign goes painfully wrong
Someone in Microsoft public relations seem to think that encouraging Android FUD on Twitter would be a great way to win friends and influence others. Wrong!
There has been so much blowback that Microsoft must consider firing someone. As one Microsoft-friendly site put it:
What was Microsoft thinking? The software giant initiated a campaign on Twitter, dubbed #DroidRage, inviting Android users to share their “malware horror stories”, only to have it backfire spectacularly shortly afterwards. A huge number of anti-Microsoft posts with the #WindowsRage hashtag appeared on Twitter and Google+, almost immediately.
Here is the irony of it all:
Microsoft is looking exhausted and desperate with such move, they should better improve their products than attacking the competitors. And, advice about malware from the maker of the world’s most insecure software just doesn’t make any sense.
Microsoft is still a FUD company, much like Protecode, which seems to have found a new host in IBM. Companies which use fear as a business model clearly have nothing to sell. █
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