Anti-Spyware Vendor Partners with Spyware Company?

Tuxedo Jack writes "eWeek reports that the anti-spyware vendor Aluria Software has partnered with WhenU of 'WhenUSave' and 'SaveNow' infamy. They've removed WhenU from their spyware/malware definition lists, certified their applications as safe, and they deny that money was involved. As a result, SpywareInfo and many other anti-spyware sites are delisting Aluria's 'Spyware Eliminator' from their lists of preferred software. Is this a dangerous trend for anti-spyware? Or are we just witnessing a natural evolution? I sure hope it's neither - I like my Windows boxes junkware-free, thanks (oxymoron noted)."

And Microsoft will be selling Anti-Virus software.

[Anonymous Coward]

This is nothing new... capitalizing on the very market you help to create.

Cincinnati Microwave is another example; they manufacture both Police Radars and personal Radar Detectors.

Antiviruses

[krunchyfrog]

We had that kind of BS with "Antivirus companies making their viruses so they'll keep on selling" kind of crap. An anti-spyware is the same as an antivirus, except it gets annoying stuff instead of dangerous stuff.

as unimportant as Aluria may seem....

[wo1verin3]

(and for those that don't RTFA) .... they are the backend behind AOL's anti-spyware application which is means potentially millions of users are affected by this.

Re:Oxymoron noted? Puh-leaze

[Gentoo Fan]

Agreed! (this from a current Gentoo user ;) I also run a WinXP Pro box at home, and I'm quite confident that I don't have any spyware because I DON'T DO STUPID THINGS like blindly install binaries from nefarious sources. I have it behind a (linux) firewall, and I pretty much never run IE. If you are smart about it, you won't get spyware. It is as simple as that.

Aluria... who?

[g_adams27]

Can't say I've ever heard of Aluria's Spyware Eliminator. I've got my triumvirate of anti-spyware tools, and I'm satisfied:

• Spybot - Search and Destroy [kolla.de]
• Ad-Aware SE Personal [lavasoftusa.com]
• SpywareBlaster [javacoolsoftware.com]

No need to limit yourself to just one, either - run all three!

Re:Not that it relieves my nausea..

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

Yeah.

It seems that Aluria is leaving the "Reality-based Community" [warblogging.com].

Not a Dangerous Trend

[artemis67]

As Slashdot is now proving, when this sort of thing comes to light, it totally destroys the brand image, and the credibility of the company goes down in flames. Sales plummet, people get laid off and the company never recovers.

Companies work very, very hard to create a brand image. Their brand is their promise to the consumer that they are going to deliver the best product possible. It's a really stupid CEO that is willing to sell out his brand in such a blatant conflict of interest.

Re:Dangerous Trend

[Anonymous Coward]

AdAware

Spybot S&D

I've never been shown any reason not to have faith in these software packages. If someone knows better, let me know.

Re:Dangerous Trend

[erick99]

I use Adaware SE and SpyBot which I run manually once a week, each. I have Webroot's Spy Sweepter which stays in memory and provides a good level of "live" detection. Between the three programs it has been a long time since I've had a adware/spyware program on my desktop. However, it has only been through the use of all three that I have gotten to this point. I haven't found a program that will accomplish this by itself, either free or for fee. PC Magazine ran a comparison of spyware removal programs recently and came to about the same conclusion. They did rate AdAware SE as the best program, though.

Re:What is a good spyware program for Linux.

[Pxtl]

Just tell them FireFox is anti-spyware 'cause its protected from ActiveX scripting installers.

Re:Dangerous Trend

[jacksonj04]

Spybot S&D - http://security.kolla.de

Cannot be beaten IMHO. Autoscanning, background tasking, full backups, constantly updating detection list and a veritable Swiss army knife of tools for doing all your security maintenance.

Re:Not that it relieves my nausea..

[It'sYerMam]

A quick google revealed this URL [spywareguide.com]

It appears that their privacy policy is a load of crap, stating that URLs are not transmitted. A new version of the internet, perhaps?
Anyway, this calls into question the reliability of the entire policy, and besides - whilst submitting requests to adservers, you're automatically given tracker cookies.
They're blockable in the long run, but in the end it's cat and mouse, so it's evil enough for me.

What next?

[Tajas]

OK, we got spyware remover programs trying to keep up and remove 90%+ of the junk and now we got anti-spyware companies joining spyware companies for the purposes of removing themself as spyware? That's crazy!!

I invite you all to see how the whole spyware thing came about on one of the first sites to report on it at http://grc.com/downloaders.htm [grc.com] and also check out some of his freeware to help you protect yourself (Three Musketeers) which are directly on the home page @ http://grc.com/default.htm [grc.com].

Good Spyware prevention and removal programs which are free, google for them:
SpywareBlaster (Prevent Spyware activex install)
SpywareGuard (Prevents spyware activity, similar to AV software)
AdAware SE (Spyware removal)
Spybot S&D (Spyware Removal+)

NOT FREE:
Webroot's Spy Sweeper (Good for preventing and scanning, no free version)
PestPatrol (Junk Removal for advanced users only!)

Re:Aluria... who?

[GlassUser]

All of the activex installs they use require admin rights. You're right, if they download an executable and run it then they still have problems. But it's not going to tank the computer. Just log in with a different profile and delete the stuff. Or remove that user's profile. No spyware cleaner program is needed.

Not in monopolies

[gad_zuki!]

If what you say is true, windows would have 1% of the marketshare by now.

We're dealing with end users here, not experts. They just want something that works and expect their anti-virus company and anti-spyware company to deliver the goods.

What good is branding when the company in question used to be called Gator? They simply changed their name. So long bad PR!

Its cronyism and its killing IT. The entire spyware phenomenon can be traced to activex, which exists to tie the browser to the platform.

That said, I've been running into a lot of OSX converts. They got sick of windows and bought a used iMac for next to nothing or 999 for an ibook with some promotion. My next machine will be an iBook too. With Mozilla and Firefox telling lazy web designers and those who make corporate policy to pay attention to standards, the shift will be even easier.

Re:Test them all

[ScrewMaster]

Well, the current Spybot definition file has almost 20,000 entries, so it would be tedious at best. Almost as tedious as developing the definition file in the first place.

Ironport does this, too.

[Animats]

Ironport [ironport.com] sells both rackmount spam filters and rackmount spam senders. They own SpamCop. They also operate the Bonded Spammer [bondedsender.com] program, which "certifies" spammers as OK to bypass spam filters. They're definitely playing both sides of the street. The New York Times picked up on this [nytimes.com] last year.

Oh, yeah, Ironport claims their multimillion e-mail per hour senders are only for use by good guys. Right.