A Qihoo concern

[cruelsister]

There have been numerous threads asking how Qihoo can supply a security product for free. By now (hopefully) all know that Qihoo uses their security applications as "loss leaders". By that is meant products which do not contribute to corporate profitability directly, but indirectly in that they increase the company's popularity and will lead people to the areas in which the company does derive revenue (Search, gaming, advertising, etc).

That being said, it is obvious that one can determine the success of this model by looking at earnings. Corporate profit (and Qihoo is a publicly traded company- QIHU on the New York Stock Exchange) should be directly proportional to the popularity (and quality) of the Loss Leader. A corollary to this would be the more money put to work in improving the product should lead to greater earnings.

And now to my concern- due to more reasons that can (and should) be discussed in this forum, Qihoo has had a hard time of it lately financially. Although still massively profitable (and sitting on almost 2 billion USD in cash), the rate of earnings acceleration has slowed, and this has impacted the stock price severely as can be seen here:

On March 5th Qihoo will release Corporate earnings for the fiscal quarter. If continued earnings erosion is seen I wonder how long it will be until less funds are allocated to the continued development and improvement of their Flagship products for the desktop (Qihoo TS and IS), shifting funds instead into the Andoid-based security in which Wall Street is more concerned.

Guess we'll soon see...

 

[Tony Cole]

Why don't they start a subscription based policy, even if they charged £10 per year loads of people around the world would pay?

 

[akuigla]

Sitting on a two billion cash is a big thing.
As long as Qihoo continue to provide a good service to me,I will keep it.
I don't change what is good to me.
I had Avast for 4 years.
Until their last update crashed my pc 7 times??
The most important thing about Qihoo is that they don't ask for registration.This is the way to collect emails,and sell it.
But,not Qihoo.

 

[kiric96]

Why don't they start a subscription based policy, even if they charged £10 per year loads of people around the world would pay?

i dont think that a "smart person" will buy something from them, their products are far from quality ... me for example i wouldnt pay for a product that has a lot of bugs, problems and etc, if you want some one to buy a product based on a free one you have to offer some kind of quality.. as for example avast, avg, avira... they offer some good product that motives the user from buying them

 

[kiric96]

Sitting on a two billion cash is a big thing.
As long as Qihoo continue to provide a good service to me,I will keep it.
I don't change what is good to me.
I had Avast for 4 years.
Until their last update crashed my pc 7 times??
The most important thing about Qihoo is that they don't ask for registration.This is the way to collect emails,and sell it.
But,not Qihoo.

believe men they have more ways to spy on you... just a simple thing.. how they can detect malware if they dont have a local engine? if everything relies on the cloud... something has to feed it no? also qihoo had some issues about privacy times ago...

 

[viktik]

How much does it cost to make and maintain such antivirus . Max $20 million yearly cost.

 

[Sr. Normal]

i dont think that a "smart person" will buy something from them, their products are far from quality ... me for example i wouldnt pay for a product that has a lot of bugs, problems and etc, if you want some one to buy a product based on a free one you have to offer some kind of quality.. as for example avast, avg, avira... they offer some good product that motives the user from buying them

Avast, Avira, etc also have errors, there is no perfect program, either antivirus, graphic design ... and Avast has been spying on us, remember not long ago when it was discovered that its extension for browsers did just the opposite of than expected.

Could I pay for using Qihoo ?, Probably, but I have very clear that if I use it is because it is free. I do not think they spy more than Microsoft or Google.
I think what happens to Qihoo (almost all Chinese companies) is that they have grown so much and so quickly that not inspire confidence, but I think it's a great product. I prefer it to any other free antivirus and many payment.

 

[xinjing545853507]

I am not worried, because I do not use anti-virus software Qihoo now! There are no friends to know Qihoo will join a firewall?

 

[kiric96]

Avast, Avira, etc also have errors, there is no perfect program, either antivirus, graphic design ... and Avast has been spying on us, remember not long ago when it was discovered that its extension for browsers did just the opposite of than expected.

Could I pay for using Qihoo ?, Probably, but I have very clear that if I use it is because it is free. I do not think they spy more than Microsoft or Google.
I think what happens to Qihoo (almost all Chinese companies) is that they have grown so much and so quickly that not inspire confidence, but I think it's a great product. I prefer it to any other free antivirus and many payment.

they do but they do have a reputation.... you are right no program is perfect but at least those mentioned are more than ok compared with qihoo.. avast, avira and etc has some quality and they are much better even comodo is much better than qihoo.... the main reason of an AV is to protect you from theft... if we disccuss about privacy qihoo have been acussed to be a partner of the government..

 

[jackuars]

they do but they do have a reputation.... you are right no program is perfect but at least those mentioned are more than ok compared with qihoo.. avast, avira and etc has some quality and they are much better even comodo is much better than qihoo.... the main reason of an AV is to protect you from theft... if we disccuss about privacy qihoo have been acussed to be a partner of the government..

i dont think that a "smart person" will buy something from them, their products are far from quality ... me for example i wouldnt pay for a product that has a lot of bugs, problems and etc, if you want some one to buy a product based on a free one you have to offer some kind of quality.. as for example avast, avg, avira... they offer some good product that motives the user from buying them

If you're talking about quality just head to some Independent AV-testing site results or our own MalwareTips reviewed products, and you can see Qihoo tops nearly everywhere among the freeware products, and even one of the best when compared with commercial too. Bugs etc are common among any software product with a very fast development cycle, and personally I haven't been affected by the so-called bugs during the last 1 year of using Qihoo.

About privacy and stuff, even reputed companies like Avast fell short here from the reports lately, and it's safe to assume that whatever product you use has some data collection policies that affects. There's nothing to be worried about here, you are not going to be sent to jail or lose cash of any kind.

 

[kiric96]

If you're talking about quality just head to some Independent AV-testing site results or our own MalwareTips reviewed products, and you can see Qihoo tops nearly everywhere among the freeware products, and even one of the best when compared with commercial too. Bugs etc are common among any software product with a very fast development cycle, and personally I haven't been affected by the so-called bugs during the last 1 year of using Qihoo.

About privacy and stuff, even reputed companies like Avast fell short here from the reports lately, and it's safe to assume that whatever product you use has some data collection policies that affects. There's nothing to be worried about here, you are not going to be sent to jail or lose cash of any kind.

you didnt get my point at all... am talking about the whole product itself... like some time ago tiranium was an excellent AV which detected almost 100% of the files but it was accused of some weird bussiness.. the same applies to qihoo if it is true that qihoo has excellent detection rates... it is just the fact tha we dont know what is going on under the hood, in most of the cases cloud based products need a source from where to find malware... i dont image qihoo stuff here or in other forums hunting malware... what they do? dont know... but it is known that most of your files will be in qihoo´s servers... also am talking about QUALITY which is not only limited to detection rates but for other features included bugs and some other stuff.

i do agree that products collects info from their users specially freeware... and some times they sell it for revenue (actually the user itself is a revenue) however i would prefer that my files will be scanned by an AV rather than end on the government hands... but of course i will avoid any software of such... I listed avast, avg and others as an EXAMPLE

 

[Sr. Normal]

they do but they do have a reputation.... you are right no program is perfect but at least those mentioned are more than ok compared with qihoo.. avast, avira and etc has some quality and they are much better even comodo is much better than qihoo.... the main reason of an AV is to protect you from theft... if we disccuss about privacy qihoo have been acussed to be a partner of the government..

I disagree with your personal opinion.
You say Avast, Avira, Comodo are better, the truth is that I do not know what, I tested these antivirus and do not look better. Nor does it seem to AV-Test, for instance, and if what you say were true of his espionage data would argue, but the truth is that there are none. It's not like Avast, Microsoft, Google yes there are, but inthe antivirus Qihoo I like to see that objective information.

i do agree that products collects info from their users specially freeware... and some times they sell it for revenue (actually the user itself is a revenue) however i would prefer that my files will be scanned by an AV rather than end on the government hands... but of course i will avoid any software of such... I listed avast, avg and others as an EXAMPLE

Could you provide some information of that lack of privacy that unlike other products, if a product in the hands of a government ...?

I think there are not, or there is nothing special as well said @jackuars , I do not think so

 

[kiric96]

Nor does it seem to AV-Test

as i said before detections rates are not all you can test or evaluate from an AV, you have to consider other features to give a score of a given product

Could you provide some information

• Qihoo 360 Fakes A Microsoft Security Patch

• Privacy Issues With China's Qihoo 360 Technology
• Online security firm accused of stealing user info
• The 1 Company You Need to Avoid in 2013
• Qihoo's "Backdoor" Suspicions Erupt In User Backlash
  
  there you go

 

[akuigla]

Reputation?

http://www.howtogeek.com/199829/avast-antivirus-was-spying-on-you-with-adware-until-this-week/

http://betanews.com/2014/05/27/avast-hacked-400000-user-details-stolen/ -how good is Avast when it can't protect self???

http://www.zdnet.com/article/avira-antivirus-update-cripples-millions-of-windows-pcs/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/02/24/comodo_ssl_privdog/

 

[Sr. Normal]

@gricardo21 They look much more data than the detection and yes. it is true that mobile phones did something wrong , but again , you and me use Microsoft , you and me have used or use Google services . Do you think now Qihoo , Avast , Iobit , etc currently use our data ?.

For example, I use LastPass and must be given an email account for my backup copies too, for almost everything nowadays have to register and curiously Qihoo you do not register , I'm also sure they are monitored
after what happened with mobile phones.

I do not understand the current criticism of Qihoo , and others are doing or have done likewise not received it, I believe in second chances . By the way , I look ( I do not say it does not exist ) and can not find any penalty Qihoo by the issue of Backdoor

 

[Ramona]

http://www.kernelmode.info/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=3226#p22583
http://securitywatch.pcmag.com/vulnerabilities/284133-tests-show-problems-with-av-detections
http://www.av-comparatives.org/data-transmission-internet-security-products/

@OpenSecLabs wrote in here, it is not something that I found.

Trancent PC Manager and AVG are good products (detection, removal, fp).

 

[jamescv7]

I've watched a business news before and there was a guessing game on which company does have an all high stock market range and its surprisingly from Qihoo Technology Corp.

Simply those happen likely came from their advertisement caused security products being freemium may not contribute for increasing stock market, well they have reason for everything why considered no charge instead of having a paid version for small amount to help for their development needs.

Bugs are everywhere, its no more a label of its a free or paid version caused existence is a high chance to encounter by any user considering the conflicts too.

 

[kiric96]

@gricardo21 They look much more data than the detection and yes. it is true that mobile phones did something wrong , but again , you and me use Microsoft , you and me have used or use Google services . Do you think now Qihoo , Avast , Iobit , etc currently use our data ?.

For example, I use LastPass and must be given an email account for my backup copies too, for almost everything nowadays have to register and curiously Qihoo you do not register , I'm also sure they are monitored
after what happened with mobile phones.

I do not understand the current criticism of Qihoo , and others are doing or have done likewise not received it, I believe in second chances . By the way , I look ( I do not say it does not exist ) and can not find any penalty Qihoo by the issue of Backdoor


View attachment 47934

again men detection rates are not all you can test an expect from an AV if you say so you are wrong.. since a long time ago AVs evolved to fit in an area where we have next gen of malware, because signatures and detections rates are not all... and about privacy google doesnt have an AV microsoft does but it is like it wouldnt...as i said before you use AVs to protect from theft... you have to think a little in order to find the inconsistencies

 

[cruelsister]

Can we PLEASE put that backdoor thing to rest? This allegation was made at the end of 2012 (made public in early 2013) regarding an old version of a Qihoo browser by an anonymous "WhiteHat Hacker". This allegation was NEVER verified by anyone else, including Qihoo's arch enemy, Baidu (which can certainly afford reverse engineers to confirm this).

Fun Facts:

1). There is a difference between Libel and Truth.
2). What you read on the Internet isn't always true.
3). It's a great deal easier on the Net to Cut and Paste then to actually use critical thinking and CONFIRM.

 

[Jaspion]

TL;DR, that's why I use Baidu now.