Google Claims Chrome OS Will End Malware Forever, Half of Latvia Scoffs

One of the worst ways to protect yourself from hackers and malware mongers is to taunt them, which is exactly what Google just did. Linus Upson, Google’s Engineering Director, told New Scientist that Google chrome OS would bring “the end of malware.”
Linus, what have you done?!

You don’t tell someone in public that something is malware-proof! As soon as you say that, laughing is heard the internet-wide as thousands of voices say “Oh yeah? We’ll see about that.” I don’t care how secure Google Chrome OS is (and I’m sure Google has worked hard at making it secure), but you’ve just sent an open invitation for people to crack your code, and I don’t think you want that kind of scrutiny.

And, as TechRadar also pointed out, it seems a little ironic to make such broad claims when Google Chrome, purported to be an uber-secure browser, just barely fell victim to two security flaws. It’s great that Google is trying to make a secure operating system, and of course we all want to be free of malware, but it seems like extreme hyperbole to claim you will end malware forever when there are people all over the world making big bucks off of malware and working ever harder to crack OSes.

Of course, this will make for great entertainment when the Chrome OS comes out. Either the OS will be completely secure (by some miracle) and we’ll all dance in the streets, or someone will have cracked it by lunchtime and we’ll all enjoy a hearty laugh and a little schadenfreude as Linus Upson blushes.

Either way, I can’t wait.

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