So what do you figure, do computer security companies have full-time PR people whose entire job is to spew alarmist sound bites at the press and lend a little extra color to lurid tales of imminent viral doom? It would certainly make sense from a money perspective; after all, if you make a sizable chunk of your cash from sales of firewalls, virus scanners, etc., then hiring a Minister of FUD to collaborate with the press into scaring the pants off the computer-using public is just good business. That would certainly explain the recent hubbub with Symantec saying, "hey, Mac OS X users, you're going to face an onslaught of viruses and hacker attacks any day now (despite pretty much all evidence to the contrary) and oh, by the way, Norton Antivirus 9.0 for Macintosh is available right now for the low, low price of just $69.95!"

Okay, fine, maybe we're being a little more paranoid than is strictly necessary about this, but here it is just a couple of days later, and Symantec's right back in the news, this time casting aspersions at the iTunes Music Store. Faithful viewer David McConnell tipped us off to a Washington Post article in which a Symantec product manager is quoted as saying, "the bad guys are putting evil agents into music files and even videos that we are downloading. Music files especially. And you don't know it's there."

Dunt-dunt-dunt-DUNNNNNNNNN!!

The thing is, though, in this case, everything Symantec says may be a little melodramatic, but it's also 100 percent true; anything you download from a dodgy peer-to-peer service is a possible mule carrying viruses, adware, and spyware (although right now pretty much none of it will affect a Mac in the slightest). The problem is that Symantec's comments are used in context to imply that songs downloaded from Apple's iTMS are loaded up with Invisible Evil Stuff™ ready to violate your privacy. The Post article first states that "some music services... sneak in adware or, worse, viruses and spyware," and while the author is careful to point out that the riskiest services are the P2P networks hosting illegal song downloads, he does mention that "even reputable online music stores sometimes install adware" that tracks what web sites you visit and reports it back to Big Brother. Then, in the very next paragraph, while still on the topic of adware, he mentions that "music fans have downloaded more than 200 million songs from [Apple's] iTunes Music Store since its launch in 2003." What conclusion is Joe Reader expected to draw?

So we're not saying this is part of some nefarious new plot at Symantec to darken the public's perception of Apple's products and services. Heck, the company's comments aren't even new; the Arizona Republic had a slow news day and finally just got around to reprinting the Post article, which originally ran last December. And in this case, Symantec only provided a general statement, and it was entirely the Post that hints at adware hiding in Apple's song downloads. So we're left to wonder: was the article just sloppy writing, or was the implication that the iTMS is riddled with hidden adware intentional?

We've got just seven words for you: International Security-and-Media Apple Defamation Conspiracy. Was there ever any doubt?

Hey, wait-- what's this invisible file in our iTunes Music folder named ".SecretHiddenAdWare"? Must be some sort of preference file or something...