Microsoft to give away anti-virus (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

Microsoft is poised to start giving away security software.

The company is reportedly trialling free anti-virus software internally and said the beta version would be released "soon".

Called Morro, the software will tackle viruses but lack the broader range of utilities, such as parental locks, found in paid-for security suites.

Morro will be Microsoft's second venture in the highly competitive security market.

Microsoft's first attempt revolved around the Windows Live OneCare service that did not succeed in turning many customers away from rivals such as Symantec and McAfee.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8095932.stm




Probably a dupe by now, but not LBN anyway ...

[Towlie]

1. Well it's about time, considering that it's their fault that viruses are even possible.

[Deja Q]

3. "I'll break your leg and then lean on me" - that's Microsoft's message.

:flippy:


(DU admins, PLEASE bring back that dear sweet emoticon... :cry: )

[Angleae]

27. How is it "their fault" viruses are possible?

If an OS runs software, then it runs viruses.

[Deja Q]

2. For free? That alone merits a federal investigation... anti-trust and competition killing.

That's obvious.

Besides, after getting e-mails about their truespace product going under for good, I thought they couldn't afford to continue to give away things for free...

And this IS Microsoft; while no product is immune, their history is replete with examples of how they encourage such behavior. Not to mention the keylogger built-in into Windows 7, ostensibly to help tech support personnel understand the keystrokes and mouse clicks the user initiated... Like XP's firewall and UAC, expect it to be broken and abused in about 20 minutes...

[vow66]

9. Again with this

keylogger built-in into Windows 7.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3924312&mesg_id=3925263

Why can I not find anything about this "keylogger built-in into Windows 7" with a Google search?
Do you just make this stuff up?


:eyes:

[Deja Q]

11. It's called the "Problem steps recorder". What that does is record your keystrokes for support staff

and mouse clicks too.

IT IS, IN REALITY, A KEYLOGGER WITH A FANCY NAME TO FOOL PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE COMPUTERS.

And given MS's track record, it'll be hacked and misused fairly quickly.

Count on it.






I think that resolves any obstreperousness you might otherwise have to offer. :)

[vow66]

16. Problem steps recorder

Is NOT a keylogger

http://gizmodo.com/5131234/win-7-tip-problem-steps-recorder-is-amazing-needs-to-be-in-every-os
The quick summary of PSR is that it's a recording app you activate to record any inputs you make to your Windows 7 machine (mouse clicks, keyboard presses) along with screenshots of every step. When done, PSR generates one big HTML slideshow of all your actions complete with an English language description of what you did.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystroke_logging
A keylogger Is typically used in a covert manner so that the person using the keyboard is unaware that their actions are being monitored.

[Occulus]

22. I didn't know 7 had that!

Holy CRAP could that be useful.

And no, it's not a keylogger, the person saying that doesn't know what in the fuck they're talking about.

[vow66]

25. I Installed build 7229

a few days ago, but I have never seen the app before.

It's not listed on the programs list , but I did find It with a search, It seems to work very well.

[Occulus]

30. Is that build a release candidate?

I downloaded what Microsoft claims is the RC (haven't installed it yet). Was that direct from their site?

[vow66]

32. This build was leaked

by a Microsoft Windows 7 beta tester, It was not downloaded from Microsoft by me, but It was downloaded from Microsoft by the beta tester.

[high density]

19. Don't worry, the next version of Mac OS will have that feature and it will be praised as brilliant

Bitching about that feature of Windows 7 is like complaining that a car will kill you if you drive it into a telephone poll.

[jmowreader]

15. Oh, the "abuse" won't just be from hackers

"Good morning, Mr. Jones. Why are you carrying an empty box?"

'Frank, we've got to talk. It seems that yesterday, you were conducting some non-business-related use of your computer.'

"Excuse me?"

'Last night, our security team inspected your computer and discovered that during the time between 12:08 and 12:45 yesterday, your computer was accessing a website called "Democratic Underground dot Com."'

"Yes, but there's no policy prohibiting viewing non-pornographic websites during lunchtime. I was looking at the site while eating lunch."

'Don't you know Mr. Soetoro is an anti-American communist who wants to force pro-life doctors to perform abortions against their will?'

"No...I wasn't aware of any of those things."

'And don't you know that his tax increases are causing the loss of thousands of jobs every day?'

"No...in fact, we've hired over a hundred people at this very company in just the last month thanks to the steps he's taken to improve the economy. You even said so yourself."

'Well, his tax increases are causing the loss of jobs, and yours is one of them. Put all your stuff in this box and get the hell out now.'

[high density]

20. Paranoia: Check

Your concern should be directed at Google instead of Microsoft. After all, every page you load on DU, no matter the operating system, is being tracked by Google Analytics service. It's in the footer of every page, right after the copyright notice.

[CatholicEdHead]

28. Not to mention a company just has to look at their firewall logs

and other router logs for peoples' web surfing habits. They can find DU surfing in so many other non-Microsoft ways.

[jmowreader]

33. True dat...

but there are lots of non-internet-related personal uses for a computer that the MS keylogger WOULD catch.

[itsrobert]

4. One Care is awesome

I look forward to having a similar/same program for free. Much better than McAfee and others.

[BadgerKid]

5. Why wait? ClamWin is already free (and open source)

http://www.clamwin.com/

[Feron]

18. My experience with ClamAv wasn't a good one.

It may be good, but it's also slower than molasses. Everytime I tried it in Linux, it would take minutes to scan a single file.

Avira, Avast, and AVG all have free versions and all work well. As for Morro, I'm going to pass.

[man4allcats]

6. Hopefully it will do it's job better than some of Microsoft's other products like - wait for it -

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Windows Vista.

God what a bust that was!

[Deja Q]

14. Lies! The truth is, with Vista, unused RAM is wasted RAM!

:spray:

[NorthCarolina]

7. AVAST for Home Users is 100% Free and has protected my computer

for three years now without any issue. That is way more than can be said for either Norton's or McAfee (I had them both previously). I have been very pleased with Avast.

http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html

[IDemo]

23. Ditto.

I will be triple-booting my new PC: XP Pro, Win7 64 bit, and Linux Mint. The two Windows partitions will continue to use Avast.

[hvn_nbr_2]

8. How long till a virus targets security gaps in MS's virus software?

2 days? 3 days? Who wants to start a pool?

[Deja Q]

12. I'll chip in $5 for "0 - 60 minutes"

[Sebastian Doyle]

10. Depending on Microsoft to keep your computer secure is like Wall Street fixing the economy

How much credibility do you give the ones who fucked it up in the first place? :shrug:

[Deja Q]

13. Their tactics are to break others' legs and then say "lean on me" with a soft voice and piano music

[riverdeep]

17. Isn't this about nine years too late?

Maybe in 2000 this might have meant something. There are plenty of free alternatives out there already that do a much better job than anything Microsoft could come up with. Their firewall is a joke. I guess they think at least it's something.

You need outside parties to undo or modify what Microsoft does half the time anyway.

[undeterred]

21. We really need an irony icon.

:eyes:

[moondust]

24. Ahh, the old browser strategy.

The multi-billionaire's free stuff vs. the competition's stuff you have to buy. Decisions decisions...

[Raineyb]

26. I already use a free anti-virus

And it ain't Microsoft's.

:shrug:

[SmileyRose]

29. You get what you pay for.

[HughMoran]

31. I was wondering how long before these dimwits would protect their investment

Their operating system is like swiss cheese, and after all these years they finally think of this?

Maybe next they'll figure out why my Vista laptop would stay on for 100 years before going into sleep mode as it should :eyes:

[eppur_se_muova]

34. Thanks to all the folks who posted links for anti-virus freeware ! nt