[forward1]

The only difference between malware and security software is the intent of its author. Functionally they are equivalent however.

[atoav]

Well antivirus is also software that has to:

- be in a priviledged position on the system

- open up all kind of files for analysis without the user's interaction

Now if you want a way to create a juicy target for malware authors and increase the attack surface of your system, this is one way to do it.

[marcodiego]

I partially agree with you after seen behaviors of some "security" software that really put the "intent of its author" in question.

[omgtehlion]

Well, the intent is usually the same: extract money from user, either outright stealing, or scare them and get paid for "protection"