MS Antispyware Beta

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Despite the massive number of new people who are flocking to the Beta of Microsoft's anti-spyware program.... I have some concerns. It seems that those concerns are justified. Before you fall all over yourself to proclaim the new MS(Microsoft) Anti-Spyware Beta as the holy grail of PC protection....you might want to give this a read.

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1836008,00.asp

This is a very informative article that covers exactly why the MS Anti-Spyware program is no longer one that you or I can trust. It even goes into some good detail as to exactly why we can no longer trust what was once a great product.

I have tested the MS Anti-Spyware Beta, and honestly, it's left me feeling more frustrated at the fall of a once great product, than anything else. The program blatantly disregards any customized user settings. Even if you tell it not to, it still shows pop-ups every single time that it allows something. That's right, every single time that it allows something to happen, a nice, informative, and annoying pop-up comes up to let you know what a good job the program is doing in allowing things to happen. I can possibly understand a pop-up, if user requested, when the program blocks something.....but a pop-up EVERY time that it allows something? That's completely ridiculous. It's also a feature that will cause many games that run in full screen to crash. For some reason, it also ignores user settings to not run a spyware scan of your files and folders whenever it suits the program's whim to do so. The so-called "Spynet" that you can subscribe to, supposedly for faster updates to newly found products.....is one that I don't trust as far as I could pick up and throw Bill Gates limo. Why? Because I do not trust the findings of untrained individuals, with no professional experience, to decide what is spyware and what is not.

Sadly it seems that the war with spyware, unlike the war against computer viruses, is a war that is being lost. Even the best rated commercial anti-spyware program will only detect about 50-60% of the spyware out there. Sadly, a lot of those programs are unable to even remove some of the spyware that they detect. Freeware alternatives aren't much help either. Even with Spybot Search and Destroy, Ad-Aware SE Personal, and Spyware Blaster combined, you still miss a lot, and I mean A LOT of spyware that is out there. Even with the latest definition files for each of those programs, you're still not fairing too well at finding, removing, or blocking spyware.

Is there a solution? It's hard to say. Part of the problem all comes down to the motive of any business......to make money. Why be in business if you aren't trying to earn a profit? Sadly, some companies will pursue profit by any means necessary. Does this include intentionally changing their spyware definition files to allow this product or that.....so the company can get a check from an advertising firm? It's scary to think of, but given the proof documented in the above link, it doesn't seem that far fetched.

I also feel that part of the problem has to do with how spyware and/or adware is classified. They are classified as an entirely different animal from a computer virus. You won't find Norton, McAfee, or any of the other anti-virus giants, intentionally allowing viruses onto your PC. Why? Because computer viruses, regardless of their intended function, are ALL blatantly harmful in one way or another. Adware is just a program for putting advertising in front of potential customers. Spyware is just a program that gathers "research" information on a user to better be able to create new programs tailored to their needs....right?

So then, what is the problem? Those don't sound too harmful. WRONG. Not only can spyware or adware cause all sorts of problems, but worse still they can lead to serious crimes such as identity theft. There is simply no justification whatsoever, for any company to resort to spying on people, and blatantly invading their privacy. Likewise, there is no justification for harassing people with unwanted advertising. The old line that a company can only allow you to try or use their product if you accept advertisements from their sponsors.....is completely and total bull. There are so many potentially areas that a company or individual can gain profit from a product....that there simply is no need whatsoever for harassing people with advertising or stealing their private information.

[JRosenfeld]

I just ran SpyBot here in the office before I do anything and there is always at least 1 or 2 in the system. Also I run Ad-Aware which 9 times out of 10 scan clean, but on the odd occasion it finds at least 1 critical object.

So my query is that I thought MS AntiSpyware was supposed to detect and clean spyware before it even gets onto your machine?

:unsure:

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Spybot and Adaware scan for tracking cookies, MSAS beta doesn't in its present version. So maybe those were what Spybot/Adaware flagged. Also each of the three apps probably has different items in its database, so what one finds another may not.

I use all three, but use the MSAS active monitoring rather than Spybot's teatimer as it is more comprehensive and flexible to use.

[xTrinity]

You would think M$ or Micro$oft gets old after a few uses. I guess not.

w00t. 1337.

To not be totally offtopic, I find MS Anti-Spyware to be the most effective anti-spyware I have used. As for the popups (which are disabled, as per my settings), I turn off everything except nod32 when I'm playing games. Its not like I'm surfing the web while playing, so its highly unlikely I would ever be infected.