Cyberspace is a murky ground; it is rife with frauds and phishing agents who try to dupe you in disguise. But it gets even worse when the companies that proclaim to defend you again the evils of viruses, malwares, and spywares use you as pawns to make financial gains.

Here, the case in point is Netherlands-based AVG Technologies, a company that primarily offers security solutions against viruses. A few weeks ago, AVG updated the’Terms & Conditions’ section (effective from 15th October, 2015) of their website to imply that they will be trading user data with third-party advertisers for profit. Industry experts say this is hardly a news because AVG had been selling “non-personal” consumer data previously under their ‘Collect Search Data’ policy. In its defence, the company has stated that the users can opt to keep their information private. Cybersecurity experts are not buying the excuse, calling it an unethical way to reap benefits by selling user information. Critics are wary that by choosing to sell customer information, AVG will be focusing less in providing virus protection and more inclined to mine user data to pass on to other companies. In fact, AVG is blurring the lines between viruses – that siphon off user data to unknown websites – and antivirus companies – whose job is to stop such things from happening. AVG is the world’s third largest antivirus manufacturer with nearly 8.6% market share – according to a survey carried out by San Francisco-based OPSWAT software company. The company was able to claim such a huge stake in the global cybersecurity industry primarily because it has been pushing its antivirus software to the consumers for free.