Microsoft's Security Products Will Block Adware By Default Starting On July 1

An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft [Thursday] announced a change to how it handles adware, a form of malware that pushes unwanted advertisements to the user. As of July 1, the company's security products will immediately stop any adware they detect and notify the user, who can then restore the program if they wish. Currently, when any of Microsoft's security products (including Microsoft Security Essentials and Microsoft Forefront) detects a program as adware, it will alert the user and offer them a recommended action. If the user doesn't do anything, the security product will let the program continue to run until the user makes a decision." If adware is malware, why wait until July?

Comments

adware is malware

[ClaraBow]

when it deceives the user into buying shady and often worthless products.

Re:adware is malware

[The123king]

I'd define certain MS products as crapware, not malware. When they charge you $100 extra with the Ultimate editions of windows for a glitzy interface and a few features you could get for free from other vendors, that's crapware, but the underlying core of Windows (and the win32/RT API) certainly isn't.

Re:adware is malware

[mysidia]

No.... when they don't pay the fee to Microsoft. Microsoft wants to control all the advertising on the Start Screen and the Desktop alike.

Of course if you use Microsoft approved advertising methods, and pay Microsoft the relevant fees, you'll get a pass.

Re:adware is malware

[Smauler]

I wonder when microsoft will get around to getting their vendors to stop accepting kickbacks for shitty adware on new systems.

This practice is one of the reasons why I still build my own desktop systems. Getting rid of the junk is a massive hassle, and restoration of the system from partition brings it all back.

Re:adware is malware

[Cyberdyne]

I wonder when microsoft will get around to getting their vendors to stop accepting kickbacks for shitty adware on new systems.
This practice is one of the reasons why I still build my own desktop systems. Getting rid of the junk is a massive hassle, and restoration of the system from partition brings it all back.

I hate the usual crap that gets shovelled on too, but to be fair Microsoft have apparently been pushing against that for a few years now for exactly that reason. Of course, they need to tread carefully there for legal reasons: if they block, say, Dell bundling a limited-time version of Norton Anti-virus, Dell won't be happy (they lose the $5 or whatever kickback) and Symantec will probably lawyer up and come knocking, particularly with Microsoft offering their own AV product now. Remember all the fallout when they killed off Netscape, when they stopped IBM from bundling OS/2 as a dual-boot setup with Windows? We both know this is different, but Microsoft's lawyers are apparently paranoid about crossing that line again.
I'm told they also offer crapware-free machines in their own stores, which makes sense. I just wish they'd make OEMs ship a plain vanilla Windows install disk like they used to, no more "restore" BS - so anyone wanting a clean machine can just re-install.

Re:adware is malware

[Babbster]

I've never heard of "crapware" before, but charging money for something that has no monetary value (as it's offered for free by another entity) sounds to me like fraud.

That's complete nonsense; if true, it would mean nearly every piece of commercial software was fraud, from office software to image editing software to antivirus software.

Re:adware is malware

[ozmanjusri]

Of course if you use Microsoft approved advertising methods, and pay Microsoft the relevant fees, you'll get a pass.

That's exactly what's happening.

Windows 8 has a built-in advertising layer. Microsoft's not doing this to help customers, they're just eliminating competitors.

The answer of just how wrong Microsoft is to cram advertisements in its commercial software will differ from person to person, I'm sure. Me, I'm not too bothered, but I can totally relate to anyone who is. From all I can tell, none of the ads are intrusive, and I appreciate that. As for them being in paid software, that doesn't bother me either because of that above fact. However, I am bothered by other aspects.

The biggest mistake here on Microsoft's behalf is that no one is made aware of these ads until they happen to stumble on them. No one is going to expect ads to be loaded in their paid-for OS, so a notification of that at first boot would be appreciated. Further, no one is given the option to disable them (though I'm sure it'd take little more than an editing of the hosts file). Finally, there's also the fact that these ads haven't decreased the price of the OS, else that'd be a point Microsoft would no doubt flaunt.

http://hothardware.com/News/Mi...

Re:adware is malware

[mysidia]

though I'm sure it'd take little more than an editing of the hosts file

Not if you use the Windows Defender that comes with Windows 8: Windows 8 has been confirmed to not only ignore, but also modify the hosts file. As soon as a website that should be blocked is accessed, the corresponding entry in the hosts file is removed, even if the hosts file is read-only.

Re:adware is malware

[AmiMoJo]

Yes, because one common tactic used by malware is to block the sites of anti-virus software and update servers with the hosts file. Damned if they do, damned if they don't.

Why?

[Spad]

Presumably because of a deal struck with one of those weasel-word named "industry associations" like the "Really Helpful Consumer Notification Group" that represent shitty companies that do shitty things and who probably went to Microsoft and said "we need X amount of time to make sure our products meet your new standards so they don't get blocked" for which you can read "we need some time to find a way around your blocking so we can continue being shitty".

Re:Why?

[fustakrakich]

Damn you for reading my mind! That's exactly what's happening. They have to build a list of exceptions, and I'm sure one can get on that list for a "small fee".

Re:Why?

[Bite The Pillow]

Or they tried to minimize impact to their business by only inviting lawsuits from antivirus vendors on charges of anticompetitive behavior for bundling MSE. And did not want to take on additional enemies, since virus creators are unlikely to raise a fuss. But now they are taking that extra step, again with minimal business risk.

And, if they announce mse will block adware, it has to be pretty good day one because it will be immediately tested. Announcing plans gives consumers a good feeling, and legit businesses time to turn into an opt in model that gives users something. And time to develop and test the process that gets software blacklisted.

So if your explanation is correct, there was already a private announcement, and a deal. Microsoft made a public announcement that it did not have to make for another several months anyway, and businesses have 6 months to modify their software.

My version gives them the same time period, with no shady deals needed. And it matches normal business practice of announce then deliver. And it shows familiarity with the legally hostile world they have created for themselves, as well as their past behavior in that regard.

But you're right, "conspiracy" makes much more sense, and of course "paid off" makes even more, to address the other reply.

Re:Why?

[lgw]

"we need some time to find a way around your blocking so we can continue being shitty".

Well, sure, but not much time, and consider that products like the Java installer bundle this crap. This change is very broad, and doesn't just affect fly-by-night malware bundlers like Sourceforge.

baby steps

[noh8rz10]

MS is walking a fine line as it tries to transition from a company that sees users as the target to be exploited and a company that sees users as the customers. Remember all the crapware like Norton installed on every new PC. MS was cool with this because it enabled the OEMs to them more $$. If they were user focused they would have never allowed it.

Now they're trying to move to an apple model where the user is first. blocking adware is part of this. but turning a big ship takes time, and there are a lot of long-time corporate relationships that need to change, so they are phasing in this new policy to block adware by default.

Now that MS has gotten the "customer is king" memo, there are only two companies that see users as a resource to be exploited for gain, and customers as partners to assist in this exploitation: goog and fb.

Does that include Bing Bar?

[Glasswire]

One person's adware / malware is another's vital revenue stream.

Re:Does that include Bing Bar?

[Deathlizard]

I wouldn't call the Bing Bar (or the Bing desktop for that matter) Adware per say simply because it doesn't attempt to sell anything, but it definitely is bundleware and needs to die in a fire like the rest of the toolbar garbage.

That's going to be the real test for this initiative. Is it going to at least ask you remove the more legitimate toolbars like Ask, Bing Yahoo and Google Toolbars or is it going to ignore them. If it ignores them, Conduit's going to have a field day suing the hell out of MS for blocking their "Non harming" toolbar while ignoring the others. If they do detect them they better make sure Bing Bar is on the list or Google will be screaming "Antitrust" until the cows come home

Re:Does that include Bing Bar?

[Guppy06]

Bing Bar nothing. Windows 8 includes an unavoidable banner ad for the Windows Store.

Re:Does that include Bing Bar?

[sconeu]

What bugs me about Bing Bar is that I hide it every time it shows up in Windows Update.

Yet the next Patch Tuesday, there it is, just like Groundhog Day.

Re:Does that include Bing Bar?

[Deathlizard]

If I had to make a call there, it would be Ad Supported. Although MS is getting very ad happy with their metro apps as of late. Hell even Solitaire is coming with Ad's now. At least so far they've been static images which i'm ok with more than virus infected flash ads. The same goes with banner ads for Android apps as well.

I define Adware as an application installed by a third party that is not associated directly with the downloaded app in any way and disrupts your experience outside of that particular app. A good example would be bundleware installers that love to install VLC media player for you as well as "Value added apps to enhance your experience" (if you want to see what I mean, Search for VLC media player in Google and Bing and click on one of the ads) or ads in the android notification bar popping up every 5 minutes.

Now this is where it gets dicey. What if the developer Wants you to see ads because its their revenue stream? Fine, but only show the ads when I'm directly using the app. I don't want you making money off me when I'm browsing the web by covering up malware infected website ads with malware infected banners (BTW I use Adblock plus for this reason), or annoy me about how I need to pay you to fix my 23409 registry errors every 5 minutes by about 12 different registry scanners running on my machine at once sucking down CPU time to scan. Or notify me that there's this great game I need to download from Google play every five seconds.

Re:Does that include Bing Bar?

[oji-sama]

Perhaps you should uninstall it as it would remove the need to update it? (I've never seen a Bing Bar update)

Microsoft blocks Slashdot Beta?????

[Anonymous Coward]

Works for me.

Re:But that's the deal, surely?

[Joce640k]

Is that not the deal? You get the program for sort-of-free, the price being that you get adverts displayed.

Spoken like somebody who hasn't had to remove "Babel toolbar" from anybody's machine and try to get the machine working normally again...

Dealing with the problem at the wrong end

[eneville]

Why disable software once it's installed? Shouldn't you at least attempt to stop the program getting installed first? Rather than open the front door and let the crap in, keep the door locked and screen your visitors.

partners

[Tom]

If adware is malware, why wait until July?

Because they need to give time to their OEM and other partners as well as their own departments to transition to something that'll bypass this change.

The real question...

[Hamsterdan]

Will it prevent the Bing bar from being installed ?