AplusWebMaster
Topic Starter
FYI…
- http://preview.tinyurl.com/2qeaf5
February 20, 2007 ~ "Banner advertisements for a security application said to report false or inflated threats appeared for at least a few days on Microsoft's instant messaging (IM) program, prompting warnings from security analysts. Microsoft appears to have removed the ads, which were displayed in the contacts panel for its IM program, Windows Live Messenger, said Sandi Hardmeier, a Microsoft Most Valued Professional, a designation the company gives to people who have expertise with its products. The progam, known as Winfixer, falsely warns a computer has been infected with malicious software, according to Symantec*. It asks users to buy a program to remove the unwanted software. "Quite often, it reports files that are perfectly safe," Hardmeier said. "It uses a lot of false positives. Basically, it's a rip off"… Hardmeier, who notified Microsoft of the problem, said the ads that appeared on Windows Live Messenger tried two ways to get users to install Winfixer on their machine. The first was via a pop-up window offering to scan the computer for problems, she wrote. Depending on the version of Internet Explorer used, Winfixer would try to download itself through an Active X control…"
* http://www.symantec.com/security_response/…-120121-2151-99
Updated: January 28, 2007 ~ "…WinFixer 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…"
- http://preview.tinyurl.com/2qeaf5
February 20, 2007 ~ "Banner advertisements for a security application said to report false or inflated threats appeared for at least a few days on Microsoft's instant messaging (IM) program, prompting warnings from security analysts. Microsoft appears to have removed the ads, which were displayed in the contacts panel for its IM program, Windows Live Messenger, said Sandi Hardmeier, a Microsoft Most Valued Professional, a designation the company gives to people who have expertise with its products. The progam, known as Winfixer, falsely warns a computer has been infected with malicious software, according to Symantec*. It asks users to buy a program to remove the unwanted software. "Quite often, it reports files that are perfectly safe," Hardmeier said. "It uses a lot of false positives. Basically, it's a rip off"… Hardmeier, who notified Microsoft of the problem, said the ads that appeared on Windows Live Messenger tried two ways to get users to install Winfixer on their machine. The first was via a pop-up window offering to scan the computer for problems, she wrote. Depending on the version of Internet Explorer used, Winfixer would try to download itself through an Active X control…"
* http://www.symantec.com/security_response/…-120121-2151-99
Updated: January 28, 2007 ~ "…WinFixer 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…"