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Microsoft AntiSpyware thinks Firefox is Spyware
brightertimes writes "It seems that microsoft's new AntiSpyware
(beta) is now advising users to remove Firefox on
their computers.. A Zeropaid.com
thread
shows the offending screenshot
in action. Once your scanning has been done, if Firefox is found
on your computer it provides the user with a "high"
threat level and advising removal due to of lack of security
updates." CT Several users have noted that the screenshot is likely fake.
Two months ago.
I just ran a "Deep Scan" with MS Anti-Spyware on a machine with Firefox 1.0 installed. I got 0 results for spyware.
-Photoshop
_JS
I have Mozilla and Microsoft Antispyware BETA running on my system. This is simply NOT true.
Later on in the thread they admit it's a fake.
Way to go Editor.
You wanna make that scan result accurate?
Replace the word "Mozilla" with "Internet Explorer" and the warning will be pretty damn accurate.
"rupert, did you know gullible isn't in the dictionary?"
"what? it really isn't? Oh Touche old chap!"
Aside from the fact anyone with a sane mind would be able to work out it was a fake, here are a few details that might help you:
1) "FireFox is an alternative browser" - you'd never, ever, find Microsoft saying that now. They'd say "FireFox is an internet browser".
2) "May perform operations differently from the default browser" - similarly, you could have Firefox as the default browser. Microsoft would never say these on anything they produce, because it would be seen as insinuating Internet Explorer was the only "official" net browser for Windows.
But hey, when did anything like logical reasoning ever stop Slashdot editors?
It's a joke. Read the forum in linked to in the summary. Why is this on Slashdot w/out the foot icon?
Thankfully, it automatically uninstalled it and downloaded a copy of FrontPage. Thanks for securing my system MS.
This is clearly a fake, and they even state as much in the forum.
WAY TO GO, TACO!
Hmm..seems kind of fishy to me.
So I fired up VMWare where I have a legit install of XP Pro. I downloaded the latest copy of Microsoft's Anti-Spyware program and updated to the latest signatures.
Here are my results.
I'll admit it, I don't like Microsoft. I've even been modded down into the basement for my anti-Microsoft comments in the past. But even I think this sort of stuff does not belong on Slashdot.
Beat 'em with the truth, not lies.
Ruby on Rails Screencast
PWNED!!11!11!!! LOL!!
What made you think the screenshot was photoshopped (bar the fact you didn't get the same results?)
In the linked forum, the person who posted the image said so?
...and I predict the next Slashdot story will be: "Gullible not in dictionary" "Posted by Cmdr Taco"
Slashdot has just jumped the shark with this pathetic, sad posting.
...but what about VNC? Doesn't Microsoft have VNC-server-like functionality built in to XP? Where is that in their list?
FUD
DarkMantle I been bored, so I started a blog.
to get the original post updated?
Any takers?
Proud member of the American Non Sequitur Society. We might not make much sense, but boy do we love pizza!
"CT Several users have noted that the screenshot is likely fake."
should read
"CT The article notes that the screenshot is fake."
I had to really brace myself before clicking a link to a .jpg file hosted on the .cx TLD
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. - Mark Twain
First, there needs to be a media firestorm about this. Then, just as in Rathergate, Slashdot should fire a few low-level scapegoats now, claiming shoddy journalistic standards. Then Commander Taco should be be allowed to resign "for personal reasons" in a few months.
"CT: Several users have noted that the screenshot is likely fake." Likely? I'd love to see what evidence is needed before it's conclusively determined it's fake.
According to today's Slashdot News, MS Anti-Spyware reports Gimp as a security threat and recommends Photoshop or MS Paint instead for safer hoax fabrication.
If you look at the screen shot, MS AntiSpyware marks the browser as a high level risk and the software advises the user to remove the browser immediately but the 'Recommended Action' is to ignore it. I know all of us who have both the browser and antispyware installed performed a scan just to verify for themselves that the alleged screenshot was true.
Did anyone ever consider that MS AntiSpyware detected a pre-1.0 release of Firefox and alerting the user that their running an outdated copy of the browser (which seems highly unlikely but just a thought)?
My calendar must be off...Is it April 1st already?
...how hard I try, I just can't get Microsoft AntiSpyware installed. It's frustrating! I'd like to know if I have any spyware installed (definitely have Firefox, using it right now).
I guess I'll go "unprotected" for a while, using my dangerous browser. Someone please let me know when this AntiSpyware thing works in Linux?
FLR
So an article about a fake screenshot makes it to the front page? And with such a misleading title?
This is getting irritating, anything Anti-MS gets front page, just for the sake of it.
The following statement is true
The preceding statement is false
This is the kind of thing that makes me wish we had mod points to mod articles down to "-1 Troll".
Maybe if we can mod articles, we won't see dups and things like this anymore.
I just took that screenshot from the article, and changed it in Photoshop: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/CypherXero3 /mozillaadwarefake.jpg
It's fake, you idiots!
I would like to register my outrage and indignation at this travesty of misinformation. It Slashdot keeps linking to fictitious news, I may just lose my trust in the Internet. Just think of the implications. I may no longer believe in the existence of UFOs, ghosts, leprechauns, fairies, and weapons of mass destruction.
Check out this story from way back when. In the words of one of slashdot's own editors, "Without proper verification, this story would not have run. Period." Hard to believe, isn't it? This place has evolved over time.
Time and again I find myself reading Slashdot posts from the open-source community which are c0nstantly trying to find ways to bash M$ in order to "show people the light"... The fact of the matter is, BS like this only hurts the community's credibility. If you ever hope to counter M$ arguments against open-source's TCO then you have to stop with this shit and actually devel a better product. Right now, the sad truth is, M$ is simply unrivaled even by *nix in the workstation and corporate/business markets. The software for *nix systems simply isn't there or hasn't evolved enough to make it a financially wise decision for many to make the switch. Sure, open-source has made huge inroads in the server market, and with the Mozilla Foundation - but your baseless bashing serves no purpose other than to discredit the community as a whole.
I work in a rural tech shop where 80% of the work we do is removing spyware and viruses because these farmers don't understand how to prevent it even though we explain it time and time again. Been using Spybot, Ad-Aware, and MSAS. I have found that Ad-Aware still finds things that MSAS doesn't. Spybot will find things that neither app finds. It's like rock-scissors-paper. Sometimes you have to use all 3 and even resort to other tools, such as Hijack-This. We have noticed that the spyware war is heating up and some of the new spyware out are behaving more like viri than simple spyware. More than usual that is. Since I work on this crap all day, I don't want to work on it at home... SUSE Linux 9.2 Pro. No problems.
MadOgre.com
Microsoft has made so many bad choices in the past, that something like this can have the ring of truth on the outside only because of Microsoft's "we own everything" monopolistic track record.
Still... it was good enough to fool the Taco.
It brought a chuckle to this old Llamakiller.
LK4
"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts", Earl Weaver - Legendary Coach of the Baltimore Orioles
It will only, truly be a shark jumping when Michael dups the post within 24 hours and puts the posting death penalty on a few responders for noticing.
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
/. has turned into a rumor site lately.
What gives?
*** For a better tommorow, change your life today ***
I find a lot of silliness here too, but I realize, I have to option to look for Britney Spears images on google, if I wish.
It's not like this is a government service mandated by the Constitution(tm).
"Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
I just tried it and guess what, I got a different result! Astounding! :P
Any technology distinguishable from magic, is insufficiently advanced.
You posted this on /. without a clear release stating this was a joke.
Next up, The Onion will pick up your story and it will make headlines in China.
And because it would be so much easier to just detect the browser string and return a 'broken' CSS for all Microsoft's websites (hotmail, msnbc, etc..).
:)
I'm surprised they haven't thought of doing that already
455fe10422ca29c4933f95052b792ab2
My god, I don't think I've ever seen so many nasty vitriolic comments on Slashdot before. Not even directed against traditional flamewar enemies like Real, RIAA or MS itself.
It's called a "mistake", and they happen to everyone. Lucky for us readers, ours don't happen in front of 4 quadrillion page-views per day.
So okay, all you me-too'ers, chill with the anti-CmdrTaco rants and cheap shots about how it'll be dupe-posted tomorrow. Har har. You're fucking hilarious. Whoo. I'm all tired out from laughing at your cleverness.
Meanwhile, not a single criticism of whatever dumbass with too much time on his or her hands it was that Photoshopped this up in the first place! Allow me to be the first. "Dumbass!"
To whoever said this proved that Slashdot jumped the shark, I'm worried it may be true - only not of the editors; of the readers and commenters.
Cool funny t-shirts for geeks, gamers and everyone else
I lasted about a day, and then I thought "oh hell, I've been reading Slashdot for years, I can't stop so I'll just read it once a day or something."
Now this story makes me realize that Slashdot has simply evolved and I've taken too long to catch up. This isn't a new site anymore, it's a comedy site. It's pure comedy to watch the bumbling idiots who run this site post same-day dupes, fake stories, last year's news today, etc. etc.
So while I used to read slashdot as a news site and get exasperated at it's terrible execution as such, now I read it as a comedy show and laugh my ass off. It's like reading the class clown's blog.
Nick
I have used the Microsoft Anti-Spyware program with Firefox installed and it doesnt do that to me. Clearly a clever fake
I've been using Firefox and AntiSpyware on 3 boxes for some time and nothing like that happened.
I did have a problem on my laptop when using it. I ran the Anti-Spyware, and then after it gave a "tcp/ip error" and would not connect to the internet via firefox (or internet explorer). i found a winsock registry cleaner and that cleaned it up just fine. so while it doesn't think firefox is spyware, it did cause more problems than it was worth.