Has The Antivirus Industry Gone Mad?!

[A Guy]

We have seen a concerning trend that is about to spiral out of control: Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) are further on the rise. What’s even more concerning is how they are spreading. After big vendors as Oracle (Java) and Microsoft (Bing and Skype) started bundling, now antivirus vendors have joined the game. We did research on some of the most popular PUP practices among the freeware antivirus vendors, and the results are quite disturbing.

Source

A Guy

 

[ICIT2LOL]

yes Bill I saw the same thing and what was annoying I saw another article criticising the use of ads for other programs yet right at the end ti shoved in a PC Tune up program LOL!!

 

[OvenMaster]

From what I can see, all these PUPs are optional. Too many people just click right on through and don't read the fine print.

 

[andrew129260]

I agree it is ridiculous for antivirus vendors to do this.

But to be fair, people need to read. The difference here is they do not do deceptive button clicking or graying out options to uncheck there stuff. It is a simple uncheckmark.

But pups need to die.

 

[strollin]

As long as I have the option to NOT install the bundled PUPs it's not so bad. I'd rather they weren't there but it's hard to blame someone giving you free software not to try to make some money from it. Unfortunately, it's made all too easy to simply click thru the install and wind up with the PUPs. Less savvy users get the worst of it.

 

[Jacee]

Some people like the extra 'search' providers. I know it sounds hard to believe, but I've come across some that don't want to remove those added 'features', so they won't follow my advice.

 

[HammerHead]

Come On

Unwanted PUPS. I don't know if anyone else has noticed this or not.

Recently I have noticed a spot ad on my TV channels, for free candy crush and some similar games. That is all the ad mentions, "FREE". Well I knew this had to be a come on so I checked it out. During the install I was presented with boxes to check to turn down various installs. There probably was at least a half dozen. OK, I unchecked all boxes. Guess what it went right ahead and installed them all. I am savvy enough that I ran malware software (different ones) until I got rid of all of them. This, I don't think is fair to the uninitiated user. They would be stuck with all of that garbage.

 

[windude99]

Unchecky
Good antivirus program
Reading things carefully

Those three things are all you need to stay protected against PUPs.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Yes well I find if I have missed some by mistake or they have crept in without me knowing (happens a quite a bit) most are picked up by SuperAntiSpyware runs which I do fairly regularly

 

[LarryA]

Used to be a click, click & not read the agreements or install software using recommended settings used to add a lot of Bloat Ware. Thanks to these forums no longer click, click.

Auto Up dates have gotten to be another issue by changing the name from auto up dates to a new name so you have to be care full if you do not want auto up dates running in the back ground consider Bloat Ware.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Used to be a click, click & not read the agreements or install software using recommended settings used to add a lot of Bloat Ware. Thanks to these forums no longer click, click.

Auto Up dates have gotten to be another issue by changing the name from auto up dates to a new name so you have to be care full if you do not want auto up dates running in the back ground consider Bloat Ware.

Yep well like windude I use Unchecky it catches most but have just noticed on my 8 desktop Pale Moon browser got through with some thing and shortly to go again

 

[Phill3990]

Its annoying having to double check when installing stuff for these damn check boxes with bloatware etc. Avast for me lately has been of issue... ramming some of their 'extra' stuff like grimefighter and other programs i don't want every 30mins, minimising games and interrupting other stuff.

It's going to get uninstalled very soon lol

Phill3990

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
PUPS are very difficult to protect against with standard AV systems since the program might look and behave totally as a "standard windows program".

The best way of dealing with these is to use Windows firewall to block ALL UNUSED PORTS (both In and Out bound) and ensure only programs you specifically authorize can call on services that access the web.

A PUP might mask itself as a legitimate program that you have already authorised on the firewall but provided NOTHING can be installed unless you specifically authorise it then you should be OK.

My feeling is that the whole AV industry has now passed it's sell by date (for OS'es > W7). The later Ms OS'es have decent security built in and are updated almost daily. USER participation is far more important now --most scams are not preventable by purely software means in any case.

Always ensure that you download what you want to --many sites hide the real download with a forrest of green arrows etc all pointing to other products. NEVER just click --always uncheck toolbars, trial programs, free registry scans, driver fixes etc type of programs and unless you know EXACTLY who the supplier is and can trust it NEVER use "Installer programs".

Cheers
jimbo

 

[Phill3990]

This is why I love my Chromebook because it runs Chrome OS and runs as a sandbox it doesn't even need an AV really. The Chromebook boot times and general performance as a laptop I find is much better than others I have tried and I don't have to worry about adware, malware or viruses and picking an AV, scanning and all the other pains that come with AV software.

Phill3990

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Well I tend to agree with what Jimbo has to say my "trusted" Kaspersky of five years now I have all setting set to the highest levels for firewall email ports etc and they still glide through because the SAS picks them up.
So as was stated the use by date of security suites as such I think is not coming soon I think maybe it is here with us now because so many of us use add on scanners like MBAM and SAS for example.

 

[PeaB4YouGo]

YOUR SYSTEM MAY ALREADY BE INFECTED!!
(If you've decided to install any of our other programs and didn't read every page of the install process...)

Bread and Butter to those of us who service systems in-home. I ALMOST don't want them to go away.

 

[Phill3990]

YOUR SYSTEM MAY ALREADY BE INFECTED!!
(If you've decided to install any of our other programs and didn't read every page of the install process...)

Bread and Butter to those of us who service systems in-home. I ALMOST don't want them to go away.

People will always not uncheck those boxes or click on banners etc which link to malware and spyware even the obvious ones lol. Sometimes peoples curiosity outweighs their caution I guess :/

But as you say where there are problems, there are jobs for people to fix them ;D

Phill3990

 

[ICIT2LOL]

This might interest a few of you Top 10 Ways PUPs Sneak Onto Your Computer. And How To Avoid Them. | Emsisoft Blog

 

[LarryA]

This might interest a few of you Top 10 Ways PUPs Sneak Onto Your Computer. And How To Avoid Them. | Emsisoft Blog

Interesting information thank you for posting good information provided.

After reading this post brings up a few questions concerning Firewall protection.

 

[profdlp]

I'm used to looking for them. My 82-year-old dad on the other hand...