Interesting History of BOClean from Kevin himself

This one might be long, but I'll go for it before sleeping given we had to do another "intraday" as the result of a new SDBOT/PHATBOT hybrid that's about to storm the corporate realm after being released around 6AM after we'd updated. I was about to fade to sleep when the klaxon went off, "get yer butt BACK in here - check this out!" Agggh. :(

I don't know what it is with "zealots" (including some of our OWN) but I've seen it before and perhaps some background on the "antitrojan industry" (heh) might be in order. It DOES seem as though antimalware and what we do is like some stupid sporting event or the latest episode of "survival television." And I just don't get it either. Then again, I *do* ...

Back when we started Privacy Software Corp, the "internet" was just catching on with the general public and Netscape was the rage. Some folks became concerned about "tracking cookies" and how operations like "doubleclick" (I have a DVD of a few of our early interviews on teevee) were "violating people's privacy" and as the "gold rush of the internet" (heh) began in earnest and banks were throwing money at worthless "dotgone schemes" we were selling a thing called "NSClean" which made all of those privacy issues vanish in Netscape. A year later, IE came along and IEClean was made for that.

Back when we did NSClean and IEClean, I was *nearly* wealthy! I earned a little over US$110,000 one year! But as others saw that there was "gold in them thar hills" junk like "WindowWasher" and other competitors popped up. Suddenly, that windfall diminished with "too many mouths to feed and only so many interested in BUYING it."

In late 1999 as the media spread hysteria over the "end of the world" that was to come with Y2K, a *LOT* of people decided to buy new machines, and out of concern for the potential disaster of "Y2K" a LOT of people bought new snazzy "Y2K ready" machines. At the same time, there was a swell of people who got "the internet" and collected necessary tools based on various computer magazines' recommendations of "needed tools." And NSClean, IEClean and by then, BOCLEAN were "must have."

And we prospered in that "gold rush" ... sorta. But with so MANY different vendors doing "cookies" the shine was already off NSClean and IEClean and the market "diluted." However, because the AV's STILL didn't do squat about trojans (and OUR definition of "trojans" was ANYTHING unwanted - it's QUITE a susprise that after nearly ten years now we're not considered "antispyware" or "antiBOT" or "antihijack" whatever but I digress. So BOClean had already moved to the foreground of our attention by 1999 as NSClean and IEClean became "secondary functions" in a crowded "market."

BOClean came into being in 1997 when we were approached (I can say it now that the company and the contract ended a long time ago) by HUGHES and some "men in black" from "federal spook agencies" about the freebie we put out in response to a PC World article back in 1997 about "back doors" and how antiviruses failed to detect them. A contract was given to us to "develop" BOClean into a "backup for Norton" since too many things had gotten past their AV, their IDS', and their "perimeter security." From THAT contract, BOClean was created as it's known today. The ORIGINAL "BOClean" was a freebie given to our existing NSClean and IEClean customers because of their concerns about what they'd read.

Back in those days, there was US, Wayne of TDS and the Otis Vigil brothers of "The Cleaner." That was it. WE had military and government contracts whereas the other two felt the "consumer market" could use this. BOClean was *NEVER* intended for "consumers" and its odd design lives on as testimony to that. Hell ... you already HAVE an AV. If THEY missed it, what makes you possibly think that if WE do the "same old, same old" we'd have a different result? :)

But from beginning to today, BOClean was NEVER intended for "home users" or "retail" ... it was designed for a SPECIFIC purpose and that alone - to be compact, never noticed, and most IMPORTANTLY - to bypass "users." Only reason why the damned thing is visible at ALL is because of the demands of "retail customers." In our normal corporate environment, nobody knows BOClean is there in the first place. :(

So after the BIG Y2K panic, and as about as many folks who were leaping on the "internet" were going to in large numbers, all of those former collosal sales began a rather steady erosion. I mean ... HOW many "new computers" is the average person going to buy? Y2K presented a "I'd BETTER buy new" for most folks. That was all over. And yet "wall street" kept throwing money at "the internet" after the market bulge (and justification for it) was over ... heh.

So, there were THREE of us in the "business" at that time. And while NONE of us were getting rich, at least we didn't starve. (grin) Folks NEVER took "trojans" seriously, fully convinced that McAfee would save them. And then God invented HJT logs!

Gold rush was OVER! But yet, the "verve" of Y2K convinced "ontapanoors" that there was a gold mine in "anti-trojan" and "antivirus" and "anti-spyware" and so many NEW mouths to feed moved into this "killer business to get RICH!" Hahahahahaha! Morons.

So here we are today ... HOW many different antiviruses? HOW many antispywares? HOW many antitrojans? Heh. Gotta love it. NOBODY is making money at this and never HAS! And to add to it, someone buys a copy and uses it forever. On more than ONE machine at a time (at least with US anyway) ... meanwhile, it's not two new trojans a month, it's twenty a DAY! Expenses through the roof, no income ... why? Well, because some "newcomers" thought they had a "marketing advantage" because they weren't deep in debt yet with all the added responsibilities, falling sales and the need to hire more people they couldn't afford owing to the workload required as this nonsense just keeps getting MORE intense and more numerous daily.

And the MASTER of "we'll never charge a subscription but BOCLEAN WILL" is now embarking on a "subscription." LOVE it! :)

I tell ya - I wish we'd NEVER sold a retail copy of BOClean. Ordinary folks don't buy BOClean - they want to see a flashy scanner and kick back with a cocoa and watch the screen flash, build progress bars, flash "tracking cookie detected!" and so much other bullsquirt and then complain when BOClean doesn't write up a lengthy report on "nothing found that matters." :(

When we sell to a corporate environment, an appointed admin gets to ask ME any question their heart desires, and when a problem is encountered, my one answer solves 50,000 potential end users with a single "do this and it's solved" solution.

For "retail customers" each and every one wants to critique how we don't behave like ZoneAlarm with warnings, diversions to "google map of your perp" and a whole bunch of other "expectations" ... meanwhile, our CORPORATE and GOVERNMENT customers who KNOW what they need and that's why they bought BOClean in the first place. THEY want to know things like "this happened, 200 fireoffs, is it contained or do we need to do anything else?" Retail customers want to know if we can make the top of the screen red because that's their favorite color. Heh.

But there's the reality - there's too MANY "antitrojan vendors" these days, too many NEW shinies and NOBODY is making any money. So what you have here is a bunch of 20-year-olds playing "scorched earth" in hopes that if they can just destroy the credibility of others, then that "fabulous wealth" those other guys have will be mine! Heh.

WCB! was RIGHT! The commonplace mentality is that McAfee or Norton or ZoneAlarm is all you need - with all those alerts popping up with indecipherable questions about things completely over their head, they dutifully click on the "Picard option" ... "YES! I *WANT* to do that, MAKE IT SO!"

That's why admins buy BOClean and why so many of our "retail" customers who only paid once over the past ten years make me cringe. While we're happy to provide what we provide to admins to the general public (and MOST of our referrals sell friends BOClean as the alternative to "you're too STUPID to own a computer, put it BACK in the box and ship it back" ... they convince people to get a copy of BOClean and leave THEM alone. Becomes MY problem. So don't mind me if I sit here with a blog saying "GEEZ!" while our "competitors" attempt to "gain market share by negative tactics" ... I often would RATHER they bought something else and just leave ME alone. =)