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Once the millions hear that they can get $50 back from Microsoft by refusing the EULA click-through, AND they can get an OS that doesn't need an anti-virus program, AND that most of their existing software, including games, will still work, they'll switch.

Saving $50 when a computer cost $5,000 didn't make sense. Saving $50 and getting rid of the virus problem (and its' associated costs) when a computer costs $250 makes a LOT of sense.

conflicker/downadup, antivirus2009.exe, coolwebsearch, etc., will keep on giving people incentives to switch.

Update: Apparently it's now called Sunbelt Personal Firewall or something like that.

yeah we all know about Ask.com's privacy initatives

http://www.benedelman.org/spyware/ask-toolbars/
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Spyware/?p=858
http://www.benedelman.org/news/050205-1.html
http://vil.nai.com/vil/content/v_131461.htm
http://research.sunbelt-software.com/threatdisplay.aspx?threatid=14137
http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/ask.com

and their seedy domains that target children

cursormania.com
funbuddyicons.com
funwebproducts.com
historyswatter.com
myfuncards.com
mymailnotifier.com
mymailstationery.com
mymailsignature.com
mymailstamp.com
mywebsearch.com
popswatter.com
popularscreensavers.com
smileycentral.com
zwinky.com

ask.com are nothing but lying, deceptive scumbags, they deserve every lawsuit and fine they get

Hmmm, it's been about seven years since my browser looked like this. What does that blog say about it?

Clicking on these links will expose the user to exploits which will infect a vulnerable system (in other words, a system that is not fully up-to-date with the latest patches).

Those are all Microsoft Windows problems but neither of those words shows up anywhere in the articles. Instead, Google and the user are blamed. Nice.

The less Windoze there is, the better off everyone is. Malware links are an annoyance to everyone and they directly threaten Google's business model. Google is taking care of their search listings, not making the internet safe for crappy software. We would all be better off without the crappy software that powers criminal botnets powerful enough to manipulate Google but the internet will never be a safe place for Windows.

I've not used vista that much, but I have had the misfortune to try to install hardware under vista. I have to say that "Tinyfirewall" does a better job alterting you that program a is accessing program b. It doesn't make the distinction between something that requires administrator privilages, nor was it decent for average users that don't know what "cryptic-filename" is or does, or if it should access the net, but it was a good stop gap piece of software which took into account the fact that windows wasn't geared for security served as a useful watchdog, esp for windows it self and software which phones home and auto updates.

You are on DSL or Cable and do NOT have a firewall? Spend a few bucks and get one!

Spend money on one?! Dear oh dear..

Zonealarm (requires annoying popups asking you to buy),
Agnitum (requires reg),
Kerio (reverts to free features after 30 days),
Comodo (totally free as it's an advert for Comodo other products)

As an employee of a company that makes AV/anti-spyware software, I get to see trends most people are never aware of. In fact, malware companies ARE selling "protection" in the form of various pieces of software which end up on you Windows based PC via drive by, some My_Spays (intentional misspell) page, or in many cases, trying to download copyrighted music or cracked software via P2P. There is a whole page/site dedicated to listing these rogue programs. So, next time you get that security warning from Windows about registry errors and how you need to download this registry cleaner; or get a warning (again, it often uses very convincing fake windows messages) that you are infected, and need an antispyware tool. Check twice! Make sure you know what you are installing, and get out of the habit of clicking "Yes" or "OK" as a matter of course. That is,if you have to use Windows.

I second this idea. Although I know it as Kerio Firewall (and it's nowhere to be found at kerio.kom, only at Sunbelt Software, what gives?), here's the download page.

I once helped a girl who suffered the same problem. A pop-up comes up every so often. I didn't see anything wrong at first, but then I noticed wscript.exe was running. It was running a VBS-script in a loop, and every few random minutes it would launch an Internet Explorer window with an ad, which would just as quickly disappear. I search the disks for all VBS files, found the suspect file, and searched the registry for any mention of that filename.

Another way malware might hide is when they install themselves as a service.

Thank you - that pointed out that it's a Yankee/SunBelt survey.

SunBelt Software has always been dependant on Microsoft (through value adds to MS products) for revenue, so thier sponsorship of this survey casts it into a questionable light. I call this a fairly well disguised attempt at spreading marketing instead of a scientifically done survey.

Soko

http://www.sunbelt-software.com/ihs/alex/sonysettl eme23423423434nt.pdf

Read page 17.

Only 1,000 people have to opt-out to preserve individual consumer rights for legal redress.

We can only hope that 1,000 people did so.

Sunbelt Software's program called iHateSpam works very well on Exchange servers. It has an fairly easy administrative interface, and is very easy for users to understand. Also generates good look reports which are great for showing to execs and users how much spam is getting caught and who the worst offenders are. Demo version too. They have some other products for anti-virus and spyware and such, but I have only used the spam one.

We use a product called CounterSpy with a trial available here - http://www.sunbelt-software.com/CounterSpy.cfm

We use this at a universtiy on lab computers that are available to the public, as well as desktop machines , laptops, etc. So far, I'll say that we've not encountered anything we know about it hasn't handled.

2 cents,

Queen B

Its been about a year since I last used it, but ZA was a pain in the ass. It blocks things that I've told it not to block, and doesn't block things I've told it to block. It also doesn't work transparently - that is, when you say 'disable firewall' ZA doesn't disable itself, but still firewalls things. It doesn't seem to be related to my lack of being able to come up with the correct settings, but rather that ZA is just stupid sometimes. IIRC, it also dumps all of your open connections when enabling/disabling the firewall.

I've been much happier with Kerio (now Sunbelt) Personal Firewall. It installs easily, can run in auto or advanced/learn mode, and doesn't get in my way. One of my personal favorite features of Kerio is the ability to stop applications from launching other applications - ie, realplayer wants to launch realsched - mark the box 'create a rule' and say 'no'. KPF also adds some signature and hueristics checking to the packets, if you want it to.

Kerio was providing a 30-day trial (+30 some features disabled) without any hassle. Looks like Sunbelt wants your email address first, however.

I work in a computer store and service center as a technician, and it hurts me every time I have to tell a customer that Norton is their best option. McAfee, Norton's only real competitor, makes Norton look positively well-designed and bug-free. When Comcast started giving out McAfee SecurityCenter for free with service we saw a steady flood of computers coming in that had experienced extreme registry damage to the point of requiring a wipe and reload just from the McAfee install. Norton merely breaks Internet connectivity. I also haven't seen a system with both a working, updated install of Norton and Antispyware protection of some kind coming in with preventable spyware infections, so the job at least does get done.

I do have to admit that it's horrible that you need more than 256MB of RAM just to Run Norton and Windows XP at the same time and still have free RAM left. Also, why on Earth would they block all HTTPS traffic by default in Norton Internet Security?! It makes no sense! I'm also pretty pissed off about the fact that renewing your Norton subscription online, while it costs the same as buying a new copy retail, doesn't get you updates to the software, just more virus definitions. Despite these problems, there still aren't any good options for customers other than the one-two punch of Norton AV 2006 and Counter-Spy.

Well, then you'll be happy to know Microsoft wasn't the only one who got Giant code. Sunbelt produces CounterSpy, also based off of Giant, and they seem to have a tougher stance on spyware than MS does.

"Stu Sjouwerman (FSM, $5000 donation to the IAS, WISE 2001 directory) is also known as Warm Regards Stu was vice-president of PSS, Inc (now defunct) and is Chief Operating Officer of Sunbelt Software Distribution (view corporate information), a Clearwater-based software distributor listed in the WISE 1999 list with Stu as contact. Stu also has the Clearwater-based company 3A Data and is the author of the book Make Money On The Internet. Watch him searching for witnesses for Scientology without mentioning it."

I think ConterSpy should be CounterSpy.

If anyone wants to conter this post, feel free.

Check out http://www.sunbelt-software.com/CounterSpyEnterpri se.cfm

"Microsoft shares their spyware definitions with Sunbelt, but SunBelt uses the threat information differently."

That would mean SunBelt haven't violated any EULA's and that the lawsuit should be aimed at Microsoft...

Read all about it here

Sybari's award-winning and innovative products coupled with its strong industry partnerships and deep integration with such products as Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 will deliver immediate value to Microsoft customers.

BTW, the "award-winning" that they are referring to is for tech support, not for exchange server management.

the "survey" is here: http://www.sunbelt-software.com/surveys/040213_Lin ux.htm

looks more like market research than a TCO study to me. questions are ostensibly answered by w2k readers : http://www.w2knews.com/index.cfm?id=463

i agree though, reporters need a few classes on statistical methods and sampling methods, far too often they seem to be impressed enough by someone who can calculate a standard deviation so that theyll believe anything he/she says.

http://www.sunbelt-software.com/surveys/040213_Lin ux.htm

oh, and btw - it was sent out to readers of the w2k news magazine:
http://www.w2knews.com/index.cfm?id=463

So, the sample of survey respondents was about as controlled as a george bush or saddam hussein political ralley.

More at: http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=200403240 85956154

Funny how as Giant software it received top honors in recent spyscanner shootoffs, but now labeled as Microsoft it just can't get a top spot. I would be interested in seeing how the old Giant freeware compares to the new Microsoft Antispyware to see if people are just being blinded by their Microsoft bias in both directions.

One reader pointed out that the older article meant the software was tops, but in truth Spybot and Ad-aware, while they are great together for spyware removal, are not sufficient on their own and just not enterprise-ready. Webroot Spysweeper however, has a version of their software that serves the corporate market and is the right tool to compare against Microsoft's which is bound to get woven into Active Directory for centralized management. Webroot is being heavily marketed compared to Spybot and Ad-aware, so I no longer have faith that they will be the top scanners in a year's time. I've seen Webroot everywhere from a Dell configuration page to a WalMart shelf.

Another tool I would like to see it compared against is Sunbelt Counterspy because it was licensed from Giant and is still functionally identical in the GUI to what I'm seeing in the new Microsoft Antispyware. A test like this against identically infected systems would give an indication of whether Microsoft had altered the internal workings of the scan engine. If I recall, Counterspy did scan for tracking cookies, so it is possible that we are witnessing Microsoft's disassembly and reassembly of the product to better fit into the OS. Keep in mind that Microsoft Antispyware is still in beta, so any comparisons should be taken with a grain of salt until we have true apples to apples for comparison.

HOWEVER, if this product is made available to plug holes in their operating system, why is it that the information known about these holes (known holes!!!) cannot be used to either fix them permanently, or apply patches to the OS that effectively provide the same monitor agent functionality? I would also prefer that in the case of browser hijackings the browser just gets reset to "about: blank". Frankly, on alternate browser hijackings, I would prefer Microsoft to police their own turf and leave other products to manage their own security issues. While I love Mozilla products, I recognize that the Mozilla folks tend to live off the "we have no bugs" marketing, so if they have a problem with their browser getting homepage hijacked, they should fix the issue and not rely on Microsoft.

Does anyone else notice how incredibly similar this program looks compared to "Counterspy"?? Maybe they have some sort of license or something but still caught me off guard.

Screenshots of counterspy (you have to click the links to see the shots).

A Florida-based computer security vendor, Sunbelt Software, said yesterday that it had been part owner of anti-spyware technology developed by Giant Company Software Inc., the company that Microsoft had acquired a day before. Microsoft knew about the relationship between the companies but didn't contact Sunbelt about the Giant deal before announcing it earlier this week...At the same time, Eckelberry declined to comment on reports that Sunbelt continues to hold some related rights to the Giant anti-spyware technology, including exclusive rights to offer software development kits related to the technology.

Sunbelt Software Distribution, Inc (Scientologists in the management: Stu Sjouwerman, Alexander Eckelberry, Sam Licciardi (married to Denise Licciardi, the sister of Scientology boss David Miscavige!), Greg Kras). It is unknown if the parent company Sunbelt International Group is run by Scientologists - I have no information that J.M. is a Scientologist.Corporate Information.

Microsoft does have a news server which I use occassionally, both on the Web and through NNTP. There's alot of granularity in the groups, which is nice when I'm, say, working on a scripting problem, I can hit the .NET Scripting group and get good responses. There's also multiple languages available, perhaps useful for non-English speakers. But, unless if you're looking for more general discussions like Slashdot has, I don't think you'll find it there.

For general sysadmin and related discussion, problem solving, tips, etc., I've found mailing lists are much more manageable and informative. A real good provider is Sunbelt Software. The NTSysAdmin and Exchange lists are the most popular and general (and the only ones I'm a member of), but there's also ones dedicated to Windows security, Active Directory, etc. Be aware, though, that there's a LOT of traffic on some of these lists. Mine go into a Public Folder, but you can also get the digest if you prefer. One other one that I have used and recommend is the WinNT-List. I'm not on it currently, but mainly because of time restraints. Then again...I hardly check the Sunbelt lists anymore either....

And, of course, I've yet to find a similar forum to replace Slashdot's unique blend of tech, news, and politics...that's why I'm still here.

I have been waiting for a chance to post this like I found several years ago. Ever wonder what happens when you drop 50 lbs of silly putty (from Dow chemical) off a 6th(?) floor parking garage? Well you too can find out at Silly Putty Physics Experiment. Complete with medium and large video (actually the video is about all there is to the thing). Just like McDonalds and Starbucks, there is no "small".

I think this was on /. before, but couldn't find the past story.

Silly Putty Physics Experiment

http://www.sunbelt-software.com/stu/putty/index.cf m

Dude, that's not a link. This is a link.

Who cares what unwanted bloat and pandering to Hollywood's RIAA/MPAA goons Microsoft plans for their next revenue-extraction cycle? Irrelevant, that's all. Microsoft built it's empire on "good enough" software, but now most people have hardware and software that's "good enough" for what they want to do with it, so they have no need to pay OEMs or Microsoft again. They who have lived by "good enough" are about to die by it. And good riddance to bad software. I'm buying LEAP Puts on Microsoft stock.

A study that documents the corporate backlash against Microsoft's overweening greed is here.

In this analysis: "We've designated this the .ida "Code Red" worm, because part of the worm is designed to deface web pages with the text "Hacked by Chinese" and also because code red mountain dew was the only thing that kept us awake all last night to be able to disassemble this exploit even further."

And of course there is This!

The article seem to make a lot of assumptions about how hard NT-admins would find it to run Linux.

A poll conducted by Sunbelt (that I think claims to be the largest online community for NT-users) suggest that this is not the case.

http://www.sunbelt-software.com/0399_ 2000.htm

In this poll something like 67% of the NT-admins was already running linux!

And in the next 12 months they were one average planning to add more linux than NT-servers!

And this poll was not /.'ed.

This make it seem unlikely that most NT-admins will have any major problems learning linux.

My own experience is also that this is the case. Most of the NT-admins were I work have already tried linux and if they were put the same amount of work they put into learning NT, into learning linux they would hardly have any problems.

This poll also suggest that /. readers should be a lot more careful about bashing NT-admins as there is about a 67% chance that this NT-admin also run Linux!

For the actual results page, click here.

Actually, if you go here:

http://www.sunbelt-software.com/0399_ 2000.htm

You can see that when they noticed that the statistics were getting skewed towards Linux, they stopped using those statistics. Only the first 2000 responses were used. These responses were made before word of the survey got out to the Linux crowd.

There's no ballot stuffing here.