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Microsoft Acquires Spyware Removal Company

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the keeping-things-clean dept.

ack154 writes "Checking for updates on my new favorite spyware removal company, I found that Microsoft has acquired Giant AntiSpyware as of 12/16. I must say that it is very refreshing to see Microsoft finally start to take some serious action to help combat this rampant problem. According to the Giant site, a beta version is expected within one month for Microsoft customers (running Windows 2000 and later, of course)."

12 of 442 comments (clear)

  1. IE? by AmigaAvenger · · Score: 5, Funny

    So i'm going to assume the first logical step is that the software uninstalls/disables IE?

    1. Re:IE? by yummy1991 · · Score: 5, Funny

      I thought windows already was disabled.

  2. SpyBot still better by astebbin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Even so, I still prefer my (free) SpyBot S&D which runs on Windows and Linux.

    1. Re:SpyBot still better by Chairboy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I ran Giant anti-spyware a few weeks ago on a system I had just used Ad-Aware and Spybot on, and it found more stuff. Real stuff too, not just cookies from doubleclick. The system was really deeply infested, and Giant got lots of stuff the others didn't.

      Have you tried it? Or was your generalization based on assumption?

  3. Stop using IE! by CypherXero · · Score: 5, Funny

    Firefox. That's how you stop spyware from getting on your machine. Good god, Microsoft just spent a shit load of money, when they could have just downloaded Firefox. Tsk tsk.

    1. Re:Stop using IE! by freitasm · · Score: 5, Informative

      Spyware and adware infections will not stop by simply using Firefox... How many users are still going to download the cute p2p program full of dialers, spyware and adware, regardless of using Firefox, Mozilla, Internet Explorer or even Mosaic?

      A lot of people still download and install programs manually...

    2. Re:Stop using IE! by sploo22 · · Score: 5, Funny
      A lot of people still download and install programs manually...

      *gasp* Those poor people! They really ought to switch to Linux and find out how much simpler everything is!
      $ apt-get install bonzi-buddy gator smileycentral
      --
      Karma: Segmentation fault (tried to dereference a null post)
  4. forward thinkers by fearanddread · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's good they are looking ahead before this kind of stuff really becomes a problem!

  5. Bad track record by confusion · · Score: 5, Interesting
    At first, I thought this was going to spell the end of a lot of anti-spyware companies, but then I realized that MS has bought a lot of companies and done next to nothing with them (what was the name of the A/V company they bought again?)

    On the upside, if they are serious about it, I think this is going to be a huge boon for corporate IT. Spyware has become one of the biggest headaches for IT these days. I believe about 50% of our support tickets are related to spyware.

    Jerry
    http://www.syslog.org/

  6. Irony by theycallmerenda · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The first post after the spoofing vulnerabilitiy in IE is MSFT buying their way out of their own self-created problems...

  7. Whoa, misread that... by powerlinekid · · Score: 5, Funny

    I thought that said "Microsoft acquires spyware company" at which point my coworker responded "Makes sense, they try to integrate everything else".

    --

    can't sleep slashdot will eat me
  8. False dichotomy alert! by khasim · · Score: 5, Interesting
    As far as I'm concerned, Microsoft makes good products.
    I'm sure that's true. For suitably broad definitions of "good".
    Sure there are security holes, but you hypocrites fail to remember (when its convenient) that no large scale software application is 100% bug free.
    #1. Learn what "hypocrites" actually means.

    #2. There are far more options than
    a. "riddled with spyware"
    and
    b. "100% bug free"

    Linux is not "100% bug free" but its security model is far better than Microsoft's and, as a result, it is far less likely to be infected.
    Knowledgeable users know this and make use of hardware and software firewalls, antivirus apps and spyware detection apps.
    I'm sure they do, for a suitable definition of "Knowledgeable".

    Or, to put it another way, there are lots and Lots and LOTS of infected Windows machines out there so maybe the requirements to be considered "Knowledgeable" are a little too extreme?
    Security will always be a problem.
    But there is a continuum there, not a binary state.

    Sure, security might be a "problem", right below hard drive crashes and CPU fan failures.

    The idea is to remove/reduce the potential threats so that your system is not cracked within 10 minutes of going online.
    There is no single magic bullet solution and Microsoft realizes this.
    That is correct. But there are LOTS of bullets available that Microsoft is ignoring.

    The biggest is to change IE from an "allow everything except what is specifically denied" security model to one such as Firefox's "deny everything except what is specifically allowed".

    Sure, a "knowledgeable user" could configure both systems to have the same, effective security, but as I've stated before, there doesn't seem to be a lot of those "knowledgeable" users around.

    The second biggest thing is to TURN OFF UN-NECESSARY SERVICES. Look at a stock Win2000 or WinXP machine and see all the services that are on by default.
    With so many millions of people running Windows there are always going to be alot of targets for the unscupulous to prey upon. -Mike
    Yep. But the least Microsoft can do is to make their system as secure as possible.

    Cracking is all about access.

    If the bad guys cannot get access to your system (no ports open), then they lose an entire avenue of attack.