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Spy Sweeper, the Next Netscape?
GenieGenieGenie writes "AP is running a story about Webroot's Spy Sweeper, specifically about the competition it's facing from Vista's bundled anti-spyware. Webroot's CEO David Moll maintains that 'The taking of a second-best product in this space [i.e. Vista's Defender, f.k.a. AntiSpyware] is akin to locking half the doors in your house,' but others seem to think that if Moll doesn't want his company to become a second Netscape, it would 'ultimately [...] need to offer more than just an anti-spyware package.' The interesting issue here is whether this need for broadening the offer would be the case also for other leading companies subject to similar 'bundled-with' competition."
At the time of the IE/Netscape war, Navigator wasn't the only product that Netscape made. They also had a variety of server software, which from what I've heard wasn't all that bad, especially compared to the competition at the time. So saying Webroot should make other products in order to avoid the same fate as Netscape may not be particularly good advice. Depends on what other areas they branch into, I guess.
This guy's the limit!
I often see it the other way around...
If I'm looking for a good anti-spyware program, and it comes bundled with something that I'm _not_ looking for, then I might instead use something that's not necessarily quite as good but isn't loaded down with other software.
If their software is that much better than Microsoft's, then I'm sure they'll have no problem competing. Honestly most people install spyware without looking at what they're agreeing to, and the people who care about this will be willing to spend the time it takes to install a third party app.
Exactly!
An anti-spyware company suing MS for getting their act together would be the same as a spyware company suing MS.
..wake up with fleas. If you develop for, around, close to, in addition to, anything that micrsoft makes, and THEY aren't making the cash from it..good luck, you are sleeping with the dogs and taking a big chance, and I would include such offerings as FF for windows, a thoroughly misguided and ill advised effort, albeit some of them are well meaning. They are still naieve from the long haul view of things and will one day seriously regret what they are doing to make MS "better". All you are doing is giving MS breathing room as they further consolidate and corrupt things, and they WILL screw you over in the long run somehow.
I've been in the spyware removal (windows consulting) business basically since there was spyware to remove (restart computer into safe mode and clean out startups) and I've NEVER had a client who used spysweeper come back and tell me how great it was. Usually they'd say the program didn't do anything to prevent or remove their britney spears doggie porn popups/virus/adware melange. I'd install spybot S+D, spyware blaster, and have them run spybot weekly after I'd removed crap. The spybot/spyware blaster machines ALWAYS came back cleaner. Now I just make them get a copy of Symantec Antivirus 10.0.2 and after installing the innoculations from spybot and spyware blaster, setting the default actions for adware/trojans to delete, and making sure it updates everyday, I get machines from complete porn addicts who refuse to switch to firefox that only have 20 or so (very very minor) issues after 3-6 months as opposed to 20,000(literally) in one month. And for the record I normally HATE symantec products, but their pro (non norton) antivirus is the best I've used.
Considering that Alexa is installed with IE 6 by default and it was known spyware even when IE6 came out, why trust Microsoft's anti-spyware? I'm really not trying to just troll here, but if they bundled IE with links to a known spyware provider in the first place, one has to wonder if a certain amount of spyware isn't deliberately overlooked by their program for business reasons.
I dream of a better world... one in which chickens can cross roads without their motives being questioned.
You are talking out of your ass. I am not a Windows user, but I would be capable of burying a trojan in your system such that you wouldn't likely find it by that method. Certainly not without spending *much* more time than reimaging, which is the standard practice after a box as been compromised in any professional enviroment, which you quite obviously are not familiar with.
/var...), nor would you be able to do so with intentionally changed files. (ie, config files, which often point to binaries to be executed) By your method, you'd have to go through every config file by hand, because if you're not keeping backup images, you're probably not keeping logs of what you've changed.
Your method will work most of the time cleaning up after some peon such as yourself who's just fucked things up, but is is not a wise course of action against a determined, experienced intruder.
You clearly do not understand how package managers work. While you would be able to track the base files installed, you wouldn't be able to do so with files generated files (take a look through