The Computer Corner
By Charles Miller

The Ministry of Truth and

Virus Protection Pro 

George Orwell’s dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four has been translated into 62 languages and has left an imprint upon many of them. The terms “1984” and “Big Brother” are now universally recognized as referring to the kind of totalitarian society depicted in the novel.

This was the theme of the television commercial that launched the Apple Macintosh personal computer two decades ago. The commercial became a cultural icon and is still floating around on the internet to this day. If you have not seen it, it is, well…weird.

It first aired during the Super Bowl on January 22, 1984. The ad showed an unnamed heroine running from the “thought police” and throwing a sledgehammer at a TV image of “Big Brother.”

The accompanying narration said “On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like 1984.”

The obvious symbolism was that “Big Brother” on the television screen was IBM. Going into the eighties, Apple Computer had been the market leader, but had been eclipsed by IBM whose market share had grown from 8 percent to 26 percent in one year. Apple hoped that their new Macintosh computer would stem the popularity of the IBM-compatible PC, but this was not to be. By the end of the decade, the market share of IBM-compatible personal computers was over 95 percent, even though International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) was getting out of the business, leaving it to Compaq, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and others.

In George Orwell’s novel, the protagonist Winston Smith worked for the “Ministry of Truth,” which did the opposite of what its name implies.

This fictional government agency was actually responsible for the falsification of historical records. Their headquarters building was emblazoned with the party slogans “War is Peace,” “Freedom is Slavery” and “Ignorance is Strength.” This propaganda kept the population in a perpetual state of confusion just as many people’s computers keep them in a state of confusion today.

Lately, this perplexity is propagated by some unscrupulous marketing using Orwellian themes that play on the ignorance or inexperience of the computer user.

One of these I recently encountered was named “Virus Protection Pro” which in reality is nothing but a scam. This program appears to install itself surreptitiously using a Trojan horse and once it has infected your computer it is all but impossible to remove. As long as it functions, the program will pop up annoying warnings which say your computer is infected. If you click on the warning, you will be prompted for your credit card number because, after all, the purpose of this scam is to separate you from your money.

Another one is named “VirusRescue.” This rogue program purports to scan and detect malware, but actually only attempts to dupe the users into giving up their credit card information. The program badgers users with intrusive, deceptive warnings which for the most part are utterly false.

A growing list of deceptively named junk programs is available on the internet. Before clicking on any warning messages, I urge users to verify the legitimacy of the message they receive. If in doubt, look up the error message using Google or consult a professional. Many of these deceptive programs are impossible to remove once they have infected your system.

Charles Miller is a freelance computer consultant, a frequent visitor to San Miguel since 1981 and now practically a full-time resident. He may be contacted at 044-415-101-8528 or email FAQ8 (at) SMAguru.com.