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Microsoft Apologizes for Serving Malware
Posted by
ScuttleMonkey
on Wed Feb 21, 2007 01:30 PM
from the caught-sneaking-one-by dept.
from the caught-sneaking-one-by dept.
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.'"
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Microsoft Apologizes for Serving Malware
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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Say what? (Score:5, Funny)
Does anyone proofread anything anymore?
SystemDoctor 2006?? (Score:5, Funny)
Personally, I'm downloading SystemDoctor 2007.
Re:SystemDoctor 2006?? (Score:4, Insightful)
really meant that 20% of dentists wanted you chewing the stuff that rots your teeth
If you polled system utilities firms, I'm not sure whether they WANT you to buy Vista,
or run an old rotten O/S that turned AV from a cottage industry to a major profit center.
Re:SystemDoctor 2006?? (Score:5, Funny)
OK, how about this:
35% of all road accidents are caused by drunk drivers. Therefore, 65% must be caused by sober drivers. Therefore, you're safer driving drunk than sober.
Somebody else said it ... (Score:2)
In Soviet Russia... (Score:5, Funny)
(http://www.devinmoore.com/ | Last Journal: Thursday May 24, @06:16AM)
Re:In Soviet Russia... (Score:5, Funny)
I kid, I kid.
Re:In Soviet Russia... (Score:4, Interesting)
Please choose one (Score:2, Redundant)
(Last Journal: Friday November 09, @01:18PM)
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.
No Conspiracy But Still Stupid (Score:4, Interesting)
Regardless, this is a really stupid oversight on Microsoft's part. Reminds me of the p2plawsuits.com thing [wired.com]. Shouldn't a person knowledgeable about ads be approving these beforehand (at least in Microsoft's case)?
Slashdot is the worst malware (Score:1, Troll)
Re:Slashdot is the worst malware (Score:5, Funny)
Another reason to rush out and buy Vista? (Score:2, Funny)
(http://slashdot.org/)
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.
System Doctor (Score:2, Interesting)
(http://www.personal.psu.edu/mdb305 | Last Journal: Friday December 29 2006, @04:46PM)
We are also very sorry for... (Score:2, Funny)
Intriguing. (Score:2)
Re:Intriguing. (Score:4, Funny)
(http://comix.sourceforge.net/)
Windows.Vista malware (Score:5, Funny)
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/ [redhat.com]
Re:Windows.Vista malware (Score:4, Funny)
Known side effects: Steals personal data, installs backdoors, downloads code from the internet, has the ability to infect further files to prevent their use on different PCs.
Protection: None
Removal: Install a clean OS.
Abridged and clarified (Score:1)
[insert pithy acknowledgement]
In other News (Score:5, Funny)
(http://www.restorationunity.com/ | Last Journal: Tuesday July 05 2005, @08:12AM)
Symantec on SystemDoctor: Pot, meet kettle... (Score:5, Interesting)
(http://www.dpbsmith.com/)
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...
Re:Symantec on SystemDoctor: Pot, meet kettle... (Score:4, Informative)
I'm also a big fan of Kaspersky antivirus. It seems to only call your attention to something when it really needs it, and has intelligent things to say, rather than seeming to act like it's trying to justify being there. Stick to just A/V (that picks up spyware like Kaspersky does) and a little hardware firewall - it'll generally do the trick very nicely.
Re:Symantec on SystemDoctor: Pot, meet kettle... (Score:4, Informative)
(http://slashdot.org/)
Recent review here [biosmagazine.co.uk] and when searching for reviews just now (never seen a bad one), I just discovered it's user rating [cnet.com] blows away that of Kaspersky [cnet.com].. rightly so, IMHO. This is a nerd's AV if ever there was one.
Tagging data missing? (Score:3, Insightful)
Too bad there's no flamebait moderation option for the twits who apply pointless tags.
wow ad dept people are dumb (Score:1)
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
UserFriendly (Score:4, Funny)
http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20050130 [userfriendly.org]
Standard Operating Procedure (Score:2)
(http://www.friendwich.com/ | Last Journal: Thursday November 09 2006, @12:05PM)
It's important to note that in most cases, it doesn't change anything.
[shrugs]
Message to managers (Score:4, Insightful)
Here's what you get: "Whoopsie. Sorry, our bad"
Oxymoron? (Score:2)
I think the right word is ironic...
Sensationalist? (Score:2)
(http://home.happyface.net/)
I don't run Microsoft Operating systems but... (Score:4, Interesting)
Is a good start... (Score:4, Funny)
(Last Journal: Tuesday April 12 2005, @11:12PM)
I wasn't aware... (Score:1)
Gee (Score:2, Funny)
(Last Journal: Monday September 25 2006, @07:02PM)
Putting Paid (Score:2)
Ohh.... (Score:1)
Serving malware? Nothing new ... (Score:3, Insightful)
Screenshots for Apple PR campaign (Score:1)
Re:Motive? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Motive? (Score:4, Informative)
(http://www.p10link.net/plugwash/)
Re:Motive? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Motive? (Score:2, Insightful)
(http://www.dailygrrl.com/)
Re:Motive? (Score:5, Insightful)
Plus, their apology and recommendations aren't any less stupid. From TFA : Microsoft recommends customers follow our Protect your PC guidance at www.microsoft.com/protect.
Let's have a look at their guidance: Protect your computer in 4 steps [microsoft.com] :
Step 1. Keep your firewall turned on
A firewall is useless in this situation. The user manually downloaded and executed a piece of software.
Step 2. Keep your operating system up-to-date
See step 1.
Step 3. Use updated antivirus software
That's exactly what the user is trying to do. The message lets the user believe he needs to use this software as a protection against viruses, spyware and whatnot. Plus, it's on a Microsoft.com page. You gotta trust Microsoft.
Step 4. Use updated antispyware technology
See step 3.