14 DAY TRIAL // Word on the Internet is that security vendor Trend Micro has just launched an application for Sony's Playstation 3, which is said to block anything malicious coming the console's way over the web. Sex, drugs and violence is what the software is aimed at, according to a piece up on Yahoo News.
This is the first time we hear of security software intended for use with consoles and the company behind it even claims it is the first of its kind. According to the report, the respective software was released earlier this month as part of one of the updates the PS3 receives on a monthly basis. The security program will be free until April. After that, those who feel that protecting their PS3 from malicious websites is indeed necessary will have to purchase it.
Industry experts however question the consumers' positive attitude towards the technology, as consoles face less such danger than PCs do. More than that, the same expert voices doubt the very necessity of protecting video game consoles:
"I think the jury's still out," said Daniel Ives, an analyst at Friedman Billings Ramsey. "Over the coming years, as the console becomes more common in terms of Web browsing, that's when you can really try to gauge what type of opportunity it is for the antivirus vendors."
Sure enough, this prognosis is fairly good but isn't it better to be safe than sorry? Given that home entertainment systems such as Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 are just beginning to expand the possibilities of Internet use on consoles, surely there's one hacker out there thinking of ways to penetrate other gamers' domains. And that's when Trend Micro's software comes in handy.
Think of it this way: how would you feel to just wake up one morning and find that the gamerscore section doesn't display the 20.000 MS Points you've earned by playing for a whole year, thinking to just go wild one day on Xbox Live Marketplace?
On the good side though, consoles aren't exposed to viruses and hackers as much as PCs are nowadays, so luckily, this is not an issue for the time being. As a conclusion, PS3 owners can opt for Trend Micro's blocking software anytime, should they feel threatened by anything or anyone. The only thing is that it doesn't sound like much of a priority these days, as games and consoles are expensive enough already. Having to pay for protection software too adds too much to the cost of computer entertainment.