Do you think data breaches are being manufactured by companies that sell personal protection, just like I think a lot of these computer viruses are developed by companies that make anti-virus programs? These companies use the scare tactic for all these problems, but let's face it, if the government and major companies are getting hacked with the best protection out there, what can the programs they use for personal protection really do?
Funny you should mention this. I just got reading through reading a book called "@War" by Shane Harris. The main thrust of his book is how the Internet is basically turning into a virtual battlefield. After reading this book, I'd say your assertion that companies might be manufacturing viruses to sell anti-virus programs is pretty much way off base.
The money a company makes off of anti-virus software for Joe Sixpack pales in comparison to what they make selling security to the government and major companies. The crap they make for regular users cost $50-100 usually. They make hundreds of thousands or even millions from security for a big company or a government.
As far as the viruses themselves, they mostly come from foreign governments (like China), organized crime, or rogue hackers. Obviously these entities want to steal information or money. However, there is also a big, big business for viruses that are essentially weapons. Individual groups of hackers (and some companies) will invent a weaponized virus and sell it to the highest bidder, either a government or a business. In some cases, a specific virus that shows up really isn't there to actually do anything. All it's there to do is probe the network and find any vulnerabilities, so the perpetrator can create a weaponized virus to attack that network at its weak point.
Going back to your original point, the big security firms make millions/billions by either creating defenses against these weapons, just sharing information about these weapons, or even creating counter-weapons, which they sell to governments or private companies.
In other words, the money they make off ant-virus software for your iPad is chump change compared to this big-time stuff. It wouldn't be worth their time to go to that effort, especially considering all the viruses already out there in the first place.
