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Microsoft Apologizes for Serving Malware
dark_15 writes "Microsoft has apologized for serving malware via its websites and Windows Live Messenger software. APC reader Jackie Murphy reported the problem: 'With Microsoft launching Vista along with their Defender software to protect users from viruses and spyware, it seems therefore to be an oxymoron that they have started to putting paid changing banner advertisements for malware, on the popular MSN groups servers.'"
To get users to buy Vista to get Windows Defender.
Started to putting?
Does anyone proofread anything anymore?
What fool would be taken in by this?
Personally, I'm downloading SystemDoctor 2007.
Intron: the portion of DNA which expresses nothing useful.
... on the FA comments section. Microsoft is going to kill Google someday. Some stooge at Microsoft knew this was a malware company, and they took the money and ran the advert anyway. Would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for those meddling kids.
ISR, Microsoft serves malware to ... uh... you serve malware to microsoft!
stuff |
1) it seems therefore to be an oxymoron that they have started to put paid changing banner advertisements for malware, on the popular MSN groups servers.
2) it seems therefore to be an oxymoron that they have started putting paid changing banner advertisements for malware, on the popular MSN groups servers.
3) it seems therefore to be an oxymoron that they have stooped to putting paid changing banner advertisements for malware, on the popular MSN groups servers.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Regardless, this is a really stupid oversight on Microsoft's part. Reminds me of the p2plawsuits.com thing. Shouldn't a person knowledgeable about ads be approving these beforehand (at least in Microsoft's case)?
do you know squarepusher?
Each time I click a link from it, the browser freezes.
Even if this were true, how does proliferating malware on Windows hurt Google?
I hear there's rumors on the Slashdots
AKA microsoft doing business as usual, is it not? Which is why in my book Vista et. al will be classified as malware until proven differently a couple of years down the road.
...Open Source isn't the only answer -- but it's almost always a better value than the alternatives...
Malware or Malpractice?
... building an "OS" that allows anyone else who wants to place malware on your computer the ability to do it without your knowledge. Please click "OK" if you would like to accept this Apoligy.
With Microsoft recently purchasing a company that specializes in in-game advertising, I wonder how long it is until Malware gets a hold of my Xbox 360?
Good to see the Slashdot effect is alive and kicking.
Risk Impact: High
Systems Potentially Affected: All PCs
Behavior:
Windows.vista is malware that gobbles up all resources on a machine and renders it unusable. Suggested solution is to visit the following malware cleansing site : http://fedora.redhat.com/
"Microsoft has apologized for serving malware via ... Windows
[insert pithy acknowledgement]
Done with slashdot, done with nerds, getting a life.
Gator apologized for advertising Windows Vista. "Obviously this sort of malware slipped through our screening process, " they quipped.
One ring to bind them - should probably have more fiber and less rings in their diet.
they have started to putting paid changing banner advertisements for malware --- wtf?
who writes this crap?
-TGP
Symantec says "SystemDoctor is a Security Risk that may give exaggerated reports of threats on the computer. The program then prompts the user to purchase a registered version of the software in order to remove the reported threats."
I completed the unpleasant task of helping my wife get started with a new HP computer, preloaded with Windows XP Home and a plethora of shovelware. We spent hours watching dialogs pop up suggesting that we download this, register that, and update the other.
Practically the first thing that happened was that Norton Internet Security popped up a huge scary dialog warning us that we hadn't turned it on. The next thing was a huge scary dialog saying that it had found a security risk in her system. The problem it had found was that it apparently ships with no virus definitions at all, and required about twenty minutes over broadband to download and install some seventeen thousand of them. The next thing was a huge scary dialog saying that we needed to register with Symantec (presumably so that it can give us a huge scary warning at the end of the free 60-day trial).
The next thing was a huge scary warning that we needed to turn off Windows Firewall, which to Microsoft's credit is apparently preinstalled turned on and functioning, so that we could use Norton Internet Security's firewall instead.
The next thing was a huge scary warning that we had attempted to change Internet Explorer's home page from an AOL signup offer to my wife's existing "my Yahoo" page.
Every time she launched an application a little yellow flag would rise up from the taskbar to tell her that Norton Internet Security noticed that she had launched an application.
And from time to time it puts up a message box with no apparent purpose other than to tell her that Norton Internet Security is running properly. "Exaggerated reports of threats on the computer?" "Prompts the user to purchase a registered version of the software in order to remove the reported threats?" To be fair, although it did prompt her to register, I don't believe it will prompt her for a purchase until the end of the sixty days.
But the thing is the most intrusive, obnoxious, offensive piece of crap I've ever seen. It makes Clippy look adorable by comparison.
Presumably she needs more than just an antivirus program (ClamAV). If anyone has any recommendations on a well-behaved, friendly security program for Windows XP that isn't in your face all the time, I'd love to hear it.
P. S. The reason we bought a machine with XP is that my wife has been stalling on a much-needed upgrade for about three years now, and what she read about Vista was what convinced her that we needed to run out immediately while we could still get a machine preloaded with XP. Do you think she is being included in these statistics that show that Vista has boosted PC sales...
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
Too bad there's no flamebait moderation option for the twits who apply pointless tags.
this is news??? is it really that shocking that the advertising people would miss something like this?
/. has stopped them serving pages anyway it appears =p
btw... does anyone know if Windows Defender would have blocked this unfortunate mistake from affecting a users computer?
the TFA dosn't seem to say?... and now
actually I am happy to see you, however that is in fact a banana in my pocket.
Reminds me of a UserFriendly comic
http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20050130
The current method of influencing voters/consumers when it comes to issues that slow the acceptance of an public servant/company is to make a public apology to effectively put the issue behind them.
It's important to note that in most cases, it doesn't change anything.
[shrugs]
http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
Especially to those who always claim "You have to buy from a big company, that's better than free software where there is no company that you can hold responsible".
Here's what you get: "Whoopsie. Sorry, our bad"
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I think the right word is ironic...
This is true, in fact after 60 days if you perform a scan even the clean result window will have a big red cross on it!
s onal.php) and Spybot Search and destroy (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index .html), to clean up spyware.
Uninstall and put Antivir (http://www.avira.com/en/pages/index.php) (you can change the update reminders in preferences) and Zonealarm (http://www.zonelabs.com/) on instead, for FREE!
You can also use AdAware (http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad-aware_se_per
PS: DONT USE INTERNET EXPLORER (dont know about v7 though?) use firefox instead http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/
More like, "Microsoft appologizes because a spyware company bought advertising from them, violating their policy, and the ad was shown to people in Messenger until it was reported and removed.".
-David
"With Microsoft launching Vista along with their Defender software to protect users from viruses and spyware, it seems therefore to be an oxymoron that they have started to putting paid changing banner advertisements for malware, on the popular MSN groups servers."
Linguo: Error! Error! Bad grammar overload! System shutdown imminent!
can anyone tell me if their ad blocking software prevents the user from blocking ads on Microsoft sites?
Hope soon we will see the "Microsoft Apologizes for Selling Malware" headline.
MSN groups are popular?
I thought everything from M$ after Win 3.11 was malware!
Professional Politicians are not the solution, they ARE the problem.
Putting paid is a British/Australian idiom for disrupting somebody's plans or intentions.
Reduce, reuse, cycle
One last question.
What are the chances that Norton Internet Security will uninstall itself gracefully via the Add/Remove Programs control panel? (I certainly plan to set a System Restore checkpoint before trying it!)
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
DefectiveByDesign is referring to a campaign to end DRM. It's pointless and out-of-place on the non-drm related articles that get tagged with it, which I think is the grandparent's point.
I for a second really hoped that the apologies for malware related to the big brother functions in Windows Vista and the EULA which allows MS to take control over the computer as normally only trojans do....
Actually, now that I think of it, that should probably be step 3.
Sometimes boldness is in fashion. Sometimes only the brave will be bold.
they've been serving up Windows Genuine Advantage for some time now.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
they might as well advertise for windows as well
Apple should use the three screen shots in the article for their commercials. These screens basically sum up why Microsoft sucks, and why Mac OS X is vastly superior...
The real problem is m$ just having too many idiots in the role of Program Manager. Many seem to have ego problems and just wont listen to anyone more educated in their specific area (which tends to be everyone else in their cost center).
What was the final straw that had the wife decide against Vista?