About the Smokey’s Choice Awards

Like the Smokey’s Security Weblog Hall of Shame Awards, the Smokey’s Choice Award has the sole purpose to improve users experiences and interests. Where the intention of our “Hall of Shame” is to achieve a change of mind in positive way and improvements in behavior and procedures by the Awardees, the Smokey’s Choice Award will be granted to security (related) products that has proven to be the very best quality software available on the market. Issue ‘real security’ and ‘serious improvement’ should have highest attention of security vendors, this all in customer’s interest. The  Smokey’s Choice Award is our acknowledgement of products of outstanding quality and effectiveness, in this way we honor exceptionally well software development by some vendors which results in such top-notch products no matter it concerns free software or paid products.

All Smokey’s Choice Awarded software is thoroughly tested/reviewed, in the decision to provide a product with the Award we also include a judgment concerning the price of the software compared with the competition and what will be offered for the price. Only when we are fully convinced about quality, effectiveness and price / performance, a product will be granted the Smokey’s Choice Award. Hence we highly recommend all software provided with the Award.

Currently following products are provided with the Smokey’s Choice Award:

- avast! Mobile Security Android (recent test/review here)
- F-Secure Internet Security 2012
- MBAM – Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
- Symantec Norton Internet Security 2012
- VIPRE Internet Security 2012
- WinPatrol ‘Scotty’

Again our congratulations to all Awarded vendors!

Smokey

Review avast! Mobile Security for Android phones

TEST ENVIRONMENT

Testing period: 2011-12-10 / 2011-12-24
Phone: Samsung Galaxy S Plus (SGS+) non-rooted and rooted
OS: Android Gingerbread 2.3.5

ABOUT THE APP

Avast! Mobile Security for Android phones is an full featured Anti-virus and Anti-Theft security application for Android phones. It can protect your phone against malicious apps, hackers, infected-URLs and thieves.

Operating Systems Supported

Android 2.1.x
Android 2.2.x
Android 2.3.x

Hardware Requirements

Any phone capable of running a supported system.

Security Features

Antivirus: Performs on-demand scans of all installed apps and memory card content, as well as on-access scans of apps upon first execution. Options for scheduling scans, virus definition updates, uninstalling apps, deleting files, or reporting a false-positive to our virus lab.

Privacy Report: Scans and displays (grid) access rights and intents of installed apps, identifying potential privacy risks, so you know how much info you are really providing to each app.

SMS/Call Filtering: Filter calls and/or messages from contact list using set parameters based on day(s) of the week, start time, and end time. Blocked calls redirect to voicemail, while blocked messages are stored via filter log. Also possible to block outgoing calls.

App Manager: Similar to Windows Task Manager, it shows a list of running apps and their size (MB), CPU load, used memory, and number of threads and services – with an option to stop or uninstall.

Web Shield: Part of the avast! WebRep cloud, the avast! Web Shield for Android scans each URL that loads and warns you if the browser loads a malware-infected URL.

Firewall: Add a firewall to stop hackers. Disable an app’s internet access when on WiFi and 3G and roaming mobile networks. (Works only on rooted phones.)

avast! Anti-Theft Module Features

App Disguiser: After downloading avast! Anti-Theft, user can choose a custom name that disguises the app (e.g. call it “Pinocchio game”) so that it is even harder for thieves to find and remove.

Stealth Mode: Once anti-theft is enabled, the app icon is hidden in the app tray, leaving no audio or other trace on the target phone – the app is ‘invisible’, making it difficult for thieves to detect or remove.

Self-Protection: Extremely difficult for thieves to remove (especially on rooted phones), Anti-Theft protects itself from uninstall by disguising its components with various self-preservation techniques. On rooted phones it is able to survive hard-resets and can even disable the phone’s USB port.

Battery Save: Anti-Theft only launches itself and runs when it needs to perform tasks. This preserves battery life and makes it very difficult for thieves to shut it down.

SIM-Card-Change Notification: If stolen and a different (unauthorized) SIM card inserted, the phone can lock, activate siren, and send you notification (to remote device) of the phone’s new number and geo-location.

Trusted SIM Cards List: Establish a ‘white list’ of approved SIM cards that can be used in the phone without triggering a theft alert. You can also easily clear the trusted SIM cards list, to leave the one present in the phone as the only trusted one.

Remote Settings Change: A setup wizard guides the user through the installation process on rooted phones by either writing directly or by generating an update file. No command-line knowledge is necessary to install Anti-Theft rooted. Also supports upgrading the app.

Anti-Theft SMS Remote Features

Remote Siren: Option to sound a loud siren, which returns always to maximum volume if thieves try to silence. This siren sound can also be customized (e.g. record own siren sound or select siren sound from file).

Remote Lock: To protect your data, phone can be locked remotely and then cannot be accessed again without entering the password specified by the user.

Lock Phone Settings Access: Enables remote locking of the phone’s App Manager and/or phone settings.

Remote Display: Remotely send a customized message to locked or non-locked phone display (e.g. with a reward for its return).

Remote Locate: Remotely locate phone via GPS, WiFi, or mobile network – for maximum accuracy. Can locate either once or continuously (GPS can be auto-enabled on all rooted phones or non-rooted phones from Android 1.6 to 2.2).

Remote Memory Wipe: Remotely trigger a full, permanent wipe of all phone data (e.g. contacts, call log, SMS/MMS, browser history, apps, email accounts), including reliable, physical wipe of all memory cards from Android 2.2 on (limited functionality on older versions).

Remote Calling: Remotely have the phone call you elsewhere with screen blackened, so that thieves cannot see it. This way you can listen to the phone’s surroundings.

Remote Forwarding: Remotely activate/deactivate option to forward or copy call data and/or SMS messages to another device. Call data goes to remote device, but not the call itself. SMS messages, however, are forwarded in their entirety (“CC” copies also to original device).

Remote “Lost” Notification: Remotely send a “Lost” command to trigger same actions as SIM card change (e.g. phone lock, siren, or USB lock). “Found” command deactivates “Lost” command.

Remote SMS Sending: Remotely trigger phone to send an SMS to another phone. That way, if you forget the phone somewhere, you can reply nonetheless to incoming calls or SMS messages.

Remote History: Query the call log, contacts, and SMS messages remotely (with each forwarded as a separate SMS message, but able to be filtered).

Remote Restart: Reboot the phone by SMS command, which will lock the phone by asking for the SIM’s PIN code. (Works only on rooted phones.)

Low Battery Notification: Phone is able to send low battery notification to a secondary device.

Remote Settings Change: All of the Anti-Theft settings can be changed remotely.

THE REVIEW

To receive full protection by the app your phone should be rooted: the build-in firewall only works with rooted phones, and the Anti-Theft module will only be hard reset proof also on a rooted phone. We all know the discussions why to root and why not, personally I will not advise anybody to do such. It will weaken your phone’s build-in security mechanism, violates the warranty and there is also the risk of bricking the device.

Personally I’m also opinion that serious (security orientated) companies like avast! shouldn’t suggest/advise their customers to root their device, regrettably avast! factually does. OTOH the application will only be able to show it’s full potential on a rooted phone, keep in mind that a mobile OS has it’s limitations hence a security program can  only protect the customer in the best imaginable way when the phone is rooted. Summarizing there’s a contradiction that can’t be solved in a satisfying way.

Before installing the app please consider the cons and pros of rooting, these are mentioned before. Consider also that the app (of course) also can be installed on non-rooted devices but such will limit the possibilities of the app. If your phone is already rooted there is nothing to consider, install the app and enjoy it’s great possibilities and very good protection against malware, hackers, infected URLs and thieves.

Installing

Is straight forward, download/install the app from Android Market. After installing you are able to download/install the Ant-Theft module. During install the app will request several times Superuser permissions, please grant all these requests. Anti-Theft module will also demand to allow downloading from unknown sources, you must enable this option in your phone. Don’t worry about all mentioned/demanded settings, during install the app and Anti-Theft module will do all the necessary concerning phone settings and permissions, just grant all requests and you have nothing to care about at all.

The Menu’s

Are clear, structure is well organized and leaves no room for misunderstandings. Main menu of the Mobile Security suite contains chapters Virus Scanner, Privacy Adviser, Application Management, Web Shield, SMS and Call Filter, Firewall, and finally access to the Anti-Theft module. At the moment you access this module for the first time setup is peace of cake, the module will point out demanded settings, after completing you are done.

Anti-Theft module

Is the best part of the Security suite, and highly sophisticated. It can lock and send notification to remote device of the phone’s new number and geo-location when there’s a SIM-Card change. App Disguiser and Stealth Mode to make the module invisible to thieves. Remotely phone control by sending SMS commands, the list of possible commands is huge. They can lock the device, erase content, activating a siren, aso aso, to much to mention. An automatic weekly check of the module is possible, the check can also be done manually. An issue of criticism: avast! should offer (e.g. on their site) a survey of all possible remote SMS commands, at the moment such is not available.

Malware Detection Rates

Around 95%, till yet avast! detects majority of existing Android malware. New malware will be detected also by the anti-virus part of the Suite. Anti-virus can be updated automatically or manually.

Device Battery Impact

No notable battery impact: very low power consumption.

Price

Free. Despite the fact the Suited passed beta stage and is now Final, accordingly to the vendor they currently don’t plan to charge customers for it at all. It’s amazing this free product provides several useful and important features not offered by similar products of the competition, paid products included.

THE VERDICT

The Security Suite works flawlessly on my non-rooted as well rooted smartphone (SGS+), nevertheless the verdict must be separated into two parts: one part concerning the software installed on non-rooted phones, the other part on rooted devices.

Part 1: non-rooted phones.

On an ascendent rating scale of 1 to 5 I rate it with a 4. Reasons: no firewall, and Anti-Theft module not exercising it’s full potential (anti-theft hard reset protection). Hence on non-rooted phones I partially recommend avast! Mobile Security for Android, nevertheless the app offers decent protection.

Part 2: rooted devices.

On an ascendent rating scale of 1 to 5, I rate it with the highest possible score: a 5. An excellent Security Suite with tons of possibilities, everything is working just fine. An also very reliable Suite with a top-notch Anti-Theft module. I can recommend this Suite unconditionally to everybody with an already rooted Android device, to me it’s without any doubt the Best Android Security Suite there is. The overall exceptional good impression of the software on rooted phones and results of my tests is reason to provide avast! Mobile Security for Android phones on rooted phones with the  Smokey’s 2011/2012 Choice Award.

NOTES

- at the moment no web interface, vendor informed me this will change in the beginning of 2012.

LINKS

- avast! Anti-Theft  SMS commands overview: http://www.avast.com/en-us/free-mobile-security#tab4

- avast! Mobile Security on Android Market: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.avast.android.mobilesecurity
- avast! Mobile Security vendor site: http://www.avast.com/free-mobile-security
- avast! Support Forum: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?board=49.0

REVIEW UPDATES

2011-12-25: review supplemented.
2011-12-26: recommendations added.
2011-12-28: app beta status removed because in the meanwhile the Suite is now Final.
2011-12-28: vendor contacted me to discuss parts of the review. Vendor had some valid points hence I adjusted the review concerning these points. This is also the reason I adjusted the rating for the Suite on non-roooted phones: was a 3 on a rating scale from 1 -5, is now a 4.
2011-12-30: link to Anti-Theft SMS commands overview added.

- o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o -

Note: Awarded is avast! Mobile Security for Android on *rooted* phones
Despite the Award I don’t encourage nor recommend to root phones

Smokey’s Security Forums will drop support for IE6 starting 2012-01-01

Internet Explorer 6 was released on August 27, 2001 so the browser is now 10 years old. Despite numerous campaigns to dissuade further use of IE6, 9% of the world is still using IE6 as browser.

The web has changed significantly over the past 10 years, regrettably IE6 not. It can’t handle new web technologies and is highly insecure. Besides, performance is really bad and there are also severe rendering issues.

It’s obvious that most of IE6 (corporate) users and IT Organizations aren’t interested at all to upgrade to a modern browser like IE8/IE9 or to use e.g. Opera 11, Firefox 7 or Chrome 15 browser instead. I know their argumentation to well however I can’t take it seriously anymore. Especially not because IE6 is End of Life (EOL) and the problems with the browser are on the rise.

Considering the never ending argumentation as well all con’s to use an outdated, insecure IE6 instead of a modern and safe browser, Smokey’s Security Forums will drop support for IE6 and will take the ultimate consequence by DENYING SITE ACCESS TO IE6 USERS STARTING 2012-01-01.

Smokey

Owner Smokey’s Security Forums

Breaking News: former Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi killed in Sirte, Libya

Sirte, Libya, October 20, 2011

According to the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC), today former Libyan dictator Moammar Kadafi succumbed to gunshot wounds in his head and his legs. After his capture in Sirte, Libya, he was in critical condition carried off with an ambulance.

Kadafi was in a convoy trying to flee Sirte. NATO would have bombard the convoy. The death of the former dictator was confirmed by the Libyan top official Abdelmajid of the National Transitional Council.

U.S. President Barack Obama’s statement on Kadafi’s death:

“Today, the government of Libya announced the death of Moammar Gadhafi. This marks the end of a long and painful chapter for the people of Libya, who now have the opportunity to determine their own destiny and a new and democratic Libya. For four decades, the Gadhafi regime ruled the Libyan people with an iron fist. Basic human rights were denied, innocent civilians were detained, beaten and killed, Libya’s wealth was squandered. The enormous potential of the Libyan people was held back, and terror was used as a political weapon,. Today we can definitively say that the Gadhafi regime has come to an end. The last major regime strongholds have fallen. A new government is consolidating control over the country. One of the world’s longest serving dictators is no more.

“One year ago, the notion of a free Libya seemed impossible, but then the Libyan people rose up and demanded their rights. And when Gadhafi and his forces started going city to city, town by town to brutalize men, women and children, the world refused to stand idly by. Faced with the potential of mass atrocities and a call for help from the Libyan people, the United States and our friends and allies, stopped Gadhafi’s forces in their tracks. A coalition that included the United States, NATO and Arab nations persevered through the summer to protect Libyan civilians. Meanwhile, the courageous Libyan people fought for their own future and broke the back of the regime.

“This is a momentous day in the history of Libya. The dark shadow of tyranny has been lifted, and with this enormous promise, the Libyan people now have a great responsibility: to build an inclusive, tolerant and democratic Libya that stands as the ultimate rebuke to Gadhafi’s dictatorship. We look forward to the announcement of the
Country’s liberation, a quick formation of an interim government, and a stable transition to Libya’s first free and fair election. And we call on our Libyan friends to continue to work with the international community to secure dangerous materials and to respect the rights of all Libyans, including those who’ve been detained.

“We are under no illusions. Libya will travel a long and winding road to full democracy. There will be difficult days ahead. But the United States, together with the international community, is committed to the Libyan people. You have won your revolution. Now we will be a partner as you forge a future that provides dignity, freedom and opportunity. For the region, today’s events prove once more that the rule of an iron fist inevitably comes to an end. Across the Arab world, citizens have stood up to claim their rights. Youth are delivering a powerful rebuke to dictatorship. And those leaders who try to deny their human dignity will not succeed.”

Update 10-20-2011: according to the News Channel al-Arabiya is the body of Kadafi transferred to the city of Misurata.
Update 10-20-2011: Anees al-Sharif, spokesman for Tripoli’s military council, said Gadhafai’s son Muatassim and his chief of intelligence, Abdullah al-Senussi, also were killed.
Update 10-20-2011:  statement U.S. President Barack Obama on Kadafi’s death.

Norton 360 v5.1.0.29 (patch 5.1) released – ENGLISH ONLY

Symantec/Norton released Norton 360 v5.1.0.29 (patch 5.1). Note: the patch is currently available to ENGLISH users ONLY. Norton will release the patches in other regions soon. You can also receive the update by running LiveUpdate and download the update. A reboot will be required.

All downloads are originating directly from the Symantec/Norton servers, for security reasons I strongly advise only to download from these vendor servers.

Fixes and improvements patch 5.1

This patch contains many changes and fixes from the previous version. Some of these changes include:

- Added Firefox 4 Support
- Added New TidSrv detection & notification
- Improved Activation Process
- Corrected an issue where your product may report a loss of subscription days after upgrading from a previous version.
- Added performance improvements for IE 9 plugins.
- Fixed some Registry Cleaner hangs that may have previously occurred.
- Online Backup & Restore fixes for very large (> 4GB) files.
- Fixed compatibility issues with 3rd party software such as Corel Paint Shop Pro & Max SEA.

Downloadlinks full version / update / trial / Norton 360 v5.1.0.29 (patch 5.1)

- Norton 360 Standard edition English version 5.1: http://buy-download.norton.com/downloads/CLT/N360/US/2011/5.1/ESD/N360-ESD-18-6-0-29-EN.exe

- Norton 360 Premier edition English version 5.1: http://buy-download.norton.com/downloads/CLT/N360P/US/2011/5.1/ESD/N360-PREMIER-ESD-18-6-0-29-EN.exe

Norton Internet Security 2011 and Norton Antivirus 2011 v18.6.0.29 (patch 18.6) released – ENGLISH ONLY

UPDATE May 12, 2011: Norton 360 v5.1.0.29 (patch 5.1) released – ENGLISH ONLY

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Symantec/Norton released v18.6.0.29 (patch 18.6) Norton Internet Security 2011, Norton Antivirus 2011 and Norton Internet Security Netbook Edition 2011.  Note: the patch is currently available to ENGLISH users ONLY. Symantec/Norton will release the patches in other regions soon. You can also receive the update by running LiveUpdate and download the update. A reboot will be required.

The new NIS/NAV/NIS Netbook Edition 2011 v18.6.0.29 as offered for download in this blog can be installed over the top of existent version (18.5.0.125), the update will not deliver any problem, all previous 2011 settings will remain unaltered after the update. The update will be accomplished within 1 minute, reboot is required. All downloads are originating directly from the Symantec/Norton servers, for security reasons I strongly advise only to download from these vendor servers.

Fixes and improvements patch 18.6

- Added Firefox 4 Support
- Added New TidSrv detection & notification
- Improved Activation Process
- Corrected an issue where your product may report a loss of subscription days after upgrading from a previous version.
- Added performance improvements for IE 9 plugins.
- Fixed compatibility issues with 3rd party software such as Coral Paint Shop Pro & Max SEA.

This patch also contains fixes from previous patch 18.5. Some of those changes included:

- Fixed an issue where Norton Insight might falsely report 0% trusted when Performance Monitoring was disabled.
- Fixed an issue with the Activity Map might not update when Smart Definitions are enabled.
- Improved instances where the Norton AntiSpam Toolbar might be erroneously disabled (or “grayed out”) in Microsoft Outlook 2007 and Microsoft Outlook 2010.
- Corrected an issue where “Custom UI Runtime Error in Norton AntiSpam Outlook Plugin” might display when using Microsoft Outlook.
- Fixed an issue where the option to “run” an executable was missing from a File Insight/Download Insight window.
- Corrected an issue where Idle Full System Scans would show report inconsistent amounts of Scanned Files.
- Fixed an issue where Full System Scans would not run continuously, including when the machine is left idle.
- Fixed an issue where the Norton Product may display “Subscription Expired” after updating from a previous version.
- Fixed Internet Explorer crashes that were due to Intrusion Prevention.
- Performance Enhancements were made on the Norton Toolbar for Internet Explorer 9 Beta.
- Enhanced Settings migration when updating from an older version.
- Usability and Performance improvements to the support experience.
- Added better Norton AntiSpam support for Microsoft Outlook configured with multiple accounts.
- Corrected a few instances of 8504 errors that may appear when the Norton product is launched.
- Fixed a Registry Leak issue that may occur during shutdown.

Downloadlinks full version / update / trial / Norton Internet Security 2011, Norton Antivirus 2011 and NIS Netbook Edition v18.6.0.29 (patch 18.6)

- Norton Antivirus 2011 English version: http://buy-download.norton.com/downloads/CLT/NAV/US/2011/18.6/ESD/NAV-ESD-18-6-0-29-EN.exe

- Norton Internet Security 2011 English version: http://buy-download.norton.com/downloads/CLT/NIS/US/2011/18.6/ESD/NIS-ESD-18-6-0-29-EN.exe

- Norton Internet Security Netbook Edition 2011 English version: http://buy-download.norton.com/downloads/CLT/NISNE/US/2011/18.6/ESD/NIS-NETBOOK-ESD-18-6-0-29-EN.exe

Osama Bin Laden death related malware expected: be careful

(CNN – May 2, 2011) — Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the worst terrorist attacks on American soil, is dead, officials said — almost 10 years after the attacks that killed about 3,000 people.

The founder and leader of al Qaeda was killed by U.S. forces Monday in a mansion in Abbottabad, north of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, along with other family members, a senior U.S. official told CNN.

In an address to the nation Sunday night, U.S. President Barack Obama called bin Laden’s death “the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al Qaeda.”

“Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan,” Obama said. “A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.”

To satisfy the curiosity of many people, here the location of Osama bin Laden’s compound on Google Maps. The compound is located at 34°10′9″N 73°14′33″E, 2.5 miles (4 km) northeast of the center of Abbottabad and three-quarters of a mile (1.3 km) southwest of the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA).

Expect a flurry of e-mails, and likely black hat search engine operations trying to take advantage of the event to distribute malware. Be aware for the dangers of emails proclaiming to have information and searching for websites about his death. If you look-out for news about the death of Bin Laden and related issues, please only visit trusted news sites, also don’t click blindly on images related to the news.

Update May 2: there are reports the Bin Laden death scams are already all over Facebook.
Update May 3: malware is found on numerous sites optimized to show up on Web searches related to the event, also in scams on social networks like Facebook, Twitter & Co.

Kaspersky Lab statement about alleged events related to the Kaspersky family

Kaspersky Lab statement

22 April 2011

Kaspersky Lab respectfully asks members of the media to refrain from speculating and distributing unconfirmed information about alleged events related to the Kaspersky family. Eugene Kaspersky continues his day-to-day work at the company, and has stated that the unconfirmed information being spread at the moment is harmful for the company.

This statement is clear and at the same time very reasonable, hence I will not allow comments on this statement. I fully support the requests made in the statement and ask the community to respect what is asked by Kaspersky Lab.

Smokey

[HOW TO] Block All Location Records Stored on your iPhone – Protect your Privacy

In the meanwhile we all know (anyway, it’s big in the news) Apple seriously abuse your privacy rights by collecting location data on every Apple iPhone and iPad running on iOS 4.x, including GPS longitude and latitude coordinates along with the timestamp, and regularly transmits that data to itself via nearby Wi-Fi networks. To perfect their condemnable spy system, information gets copied to your computer as a part of iTunes sync, it will be synched with the Apple server every time you sync the involved consolidated.db file.

There’s a way to stop Apple’s spying efforts, according to IT Central Blog, I will quote them:

You can block all location records stored on your iPhone by using a new jailbreak tweak available in Cydia. The name of this tweak is Location Blocker. After you have installed this tweak on your jailbroken iPhone it will allow you to block locations from storing any information about cell location, your past locations, and WiFi location. Simply follow the steps posted below to install this tweak on your iPhone.

How to Install Location Blocker on iPhone

STEP 1. First you have to start Cydia.
STEP 2. Now you have to go to Manage – > Sources -> Edit -> Add the following URL source: http://cydia.pushfix.info/
STEP 3. Now simply click on “Add Source”.
STEP 4. Tap on Done and then tap on the Added Source after the Source is verified and updated.
STEP 5. Now search for Locationd Blocker.
STEP 6. Now simply tap on Install button to install Locationd Blocker.
STEP 7. Tap on Confirm button to complete the installation.

Thanks IT Central Blog for this How-To!

Keep in mind you will need to have jailbroken iPhone to install this tweak, how-to’s are mentioned here.

There is another tweak available to stop Apple from tracking you: ‘Untrackered’. Difference between Untrackerd and Location Blocker: Location Blocker tweak removes all location information while Untrackerd tweak runs in the background and doesn’t remove all location information. Location Blocker not only delete the past data but also block iPhone to record data going forward.

If you want to use Untrackered instead of Location Blocker, Untracker How-To here.

If you don’t have a jailbroken iPhone or iPad, the best you can do is encrypt your backups when you sync with iTunes.

Keep in mind, by jailbreaking your device you are at a higher risk of installing something that may be risky.

Article sources: IT Central Blog, Solid Blogger, Genius Geeks, BBR/DSLReports, Business Insider

Norton Internet Security 2011 and Norton Antivirus 2011 v18.5.0.125 (patch 18.5) released

UPDATE May 9, 2011: Norton Internet Security 2011, Norton Antivirus 2011 and Norton Internet Security Netbook Edition 2011 v18.6.0.29 (patch 18.6) released – ENGLISH ONLY

UPDATE May 12, 2011: Norton 360 v5.1.0.29 (patch 5.1) released – ENGLISH ONLY

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Symantec/Norton released v18.5.0.125 (patch 18.5) Norton Internet Security 2011, Norton Antivirus 2011 and Norton Internet Security Netbook Edition 2011 (Stable/Official Release).

Like before, I installed the new NIS 2011 v18.5.0.125 over the top of my existent version (18.1.0.37), also this time the update was no problem, all previous 2011 settings remained unaltered after the update. The update was accomplished within 1 minute, reboot was required.

Note: all downloads are originating directly from the Symantec/Norton servers, for security reasons I strongly advise only to download from these vendor servers.

Fixes and improvements

- Fixed an issue where Norton Insight might falsely report 0% trusted when Performance Monitoring was disabled.
- Fixed an issue with the Activity Map might not update when Smart Definitions are enabled.
- Improved instances where the Norton AntiSpam Toolbar might be erroneously disabled (or “grayed out”) in Microsoft Outlook 2007 and Microsoft Outlook 2010.
- Corrected an issue where “Custom UI Runtime Error in Norton AntiSpam Outlook Plugin” might display when using Microsoft Outlook.
- Fixed an issue where the option to “run” an executable was missing from a File Insight/Download Insight window.
- Corrected an issue where Idle Full System Scans would show report inconsistent amounts of Scanned Files.
- Fixed an issue where Full System Scans would not run continuously, including when the machine is left idle.
- Fixed an issue where the Norton Product may display “Subscription Expired” after updating from a previous version.
- Fixed Internet Explorer crashes that were due to Intrusion Prevention.
- Performance Enhancements were made on the Norton Toolbar for Internet Explorer 9 Beta.
- Enhanced Settings migration when updating from an older version.
- Usability and Performance improvements to the support experience.
- Added better Norton AntiSpam support for Microsoft Outlook configured with multiple accounts.
- Corrected a few instances of 8504 errors that may appear when the Norton product is launched.
- Fixed a Registry Leak issue that may occur during shutdown.

Important Symantec Corporation Statement

The issues that some users were experiencing where the Norton product would lock up after installing the 18.5 update was due to a definition that was applied after 18.5 was installed. Symantec have since corrected that definition and the issue will not occur.

Downloadlinks full version / update / trial / Norton Internet Security 2011 and Norton Antivirus 2011 v18.5.0.125 (patch 18.5)

- Norton Antivirus 2011 English version: http://buy-download.norton.com/downloads/CLT/NAV/US/2011/18.5/ESD/NAV-ESD-18-5-0-125-EN.exe

- Norton Internet Security 2011 English version: http://buy-download.norton.com/downloads/CLT/NIS/US/2011/18.5/ESD/NIS-ESD-18-5-0-125-EN.exe

- o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o -o -

- Norton Antivirus 2011 French version: http://buy-download.norton.com/downloads/CLT/NAV/FR/2011/18.5/ESD/NAV-TW-30-18-5-0-125-FR.exe

- Norton Internet Security 2011 French version: http://buy-download.norton.com/downloads/CLT/NIS/FR/2011/18.5/ESD/NIS-TW-30-18-5-0-125-FR.exe

- o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o -o -

- Norton Antivirus 2011 German version: http://buy-download.norton.com/downloads/CLT/NAV/GE/2011/18.5/ESD/NAV-TW-30-18-5-0-125-GE.exe

- Norton Internet Security 2011 German version: http://buy-download.norton.com/downloads/CLT/NIS/GE/2011/18.5/ESD/NIS-TW-30-18-5-0-125-GE.exe

- o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o -o -

- Norton Antivirus 2011 Dutch version: http://buy-download.norton.com/downloads/CLT/NAV/NL/2011/18.5/ESD/NAV-TW-30-18-5-0-125-NL.exe

- Norton Internet Security 2011 Dutch version: http://buy-download.norton.com/downloads/CLT/NIS/NL/2011/18.5/ESD/NIS-TW-30-18-5-0-125-NL.exe

- o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o -o -

Downloadlinks full version / update / trial / Norton Internet Security Netbook Edition 2011 v18.5.0.125 (patch 18.5)

- Norton Internet Security Netbook Edition 2011 English version: http://buy-download.norton.com/downloads/CLT/NISNE/US/2011/18.5/ESD/NIS-NETBOOK-ESD-18-5-0-125-EN.exe

PCWorld Labs / AV-Test.org tested 13 security suites

Intro by PCLabs

It’s no longer enough for antivirus software to scan files on your PC. You need someone looking over your shoulder and telling you whether it’s safe to click that link; whether the popup for that software update is legitimate; and whether that download from your favorite social network is actually a tool created by organized criminals for stealing your personal information. You need an all-in-one Internet security suite capable of identifying, blocking, and cleaning up after a wide array of malware.

We examined 13 security suites for this story. To handle our expanded Internet security testing, PCWorld contracted for the services of AV-Test.org, a respected security testing company. We looked at traditional signature-based detection (which indicates how well products can block known malware) and at how well the suites cleaned infections and blocked brand-new, live malware attacks.

In many respects, the suites we looked at produced closely bunched results, but they did vary in the efficacy of their protection and in the extra features they offered. Ultimately, we picked Symantec’s Norton Internet Security 2011–the most balanced of the suites–as our overall winner.

Source / full tests: http://www.pcworld.com/article/214618/battle_of_the_security_superpowers.html

Tested Security Suites

Symantec Norton Internet Security 2011

Kaspersky Internet Security 2011

BitDefender Internet Security 2011

PC Tools Internet Security 2011

G-Data Internet Security 2011

F-Secure Internet Security 2011

Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security 2011

Panda Internet Security 2011

Eset Smart Security 4.2

Avira AntiVir Premium Security Suite

Comodo Internet Security 2011 Complete

McAfee Internet Security 2011

Webroot Internet Security Essentials 2011

Advice: remove Outlook 2007 update KB2412171 immediately

Statement Microsoft Outlook product team, 17 Dec 2010:

On Tuesday, December 14, we released an update (KB2412171) for Microsoft Outlook 2007. We have discovered several issues with the update and want to inform you about problems you might encounter and what corrective steps we recommend. As of December 16, this Outlook 2007 update has been removed from Microsoft Update.

This Outlook 2007 update was distributed via Microsoft Update. Many of you receive updates automatically and if you installed the update between Tuesday, December 14, and Thursday, December 16, it is likely that you are affected.

The three issues identified in the December 2010 update for Outlook 2007 are as follows:

Outlook fails to connect if Secure Password Authentication (SPA) is configured for an account and the mail server does not support SPA. This is important for Google Gmail users because Gmail does not support SPA. Outlook customers using Gmail who have the SPA option turned on cannot connect to Gmail.

Noticeable performance issues are experienced when switching between folders if you do not have a Microsoft Exchange Server account configured in Outlook. Switching folders might take several seconds depending on the performance of your computer. This issue only applies when you use an IMAP, POP3, or Outlook Live Connector account, such as Windows Live Hotmail, and do not have an Exchange Server account configured in the same Outlook profile.

AutoArchive cannot be configured for IMAP, POP3, or Outlook Live Connector accounts if there is no Exchange Server account configured in the same Outlook profile. If you previously configured AutoArchive, no additional items are archived.

If you are experiencing any of the listed issues with Outlook 2007, we recommend that you uninstall the December 2010 update by doing the following:

Uninstalling KB2412171 on Windows 7 or Windows Vista

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Programs, and then under Programs and Features, click View installed updates.
3. Click the entry for KB2412171, and then click Uninstall.

Uninstalling KB2412171 on Windows XP

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Add or Remove Programs, and then make sure that the Show Updates check box is selected.
3. Click the entry for KB2412171, and then click Remove.

Note for Office 365 Beta customers: You do not need to uninstall this update. The listed folder switching and AutoArchive issues do not apply because Office 365 accounts are Exchange Server accounts. However, the issue with SPA when connecting to non-Exchange Server accounts that don’t support SPA does apply. In this case, turn off the SPA option by doing the following:

1. In Outlook, on Tools menu, click Account Settings.
2. Select your account, and then click Change.
3. Clear the Require logon using Secure Password Authentication (SPA) check box.

We are working to fix these issues and will post a release date for those fixes, and link to download them, as soon as that information is available.

Microsoft shut down Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) anti-piracy program

Microsoft shut down Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) anti-piracy program on December 17th 2010, without any announcement or explanation.

From their KB917999, dated 2010-12-17:

Article ID: 917999 – Last Review: December 17, 2010 – Revision: 4.0

Error message when you try to validate Office by using Office Genuine Advantage: “Why didn’t my computer complete validation” or “Error code: 0×8018111″

The Office Genuine Advantage (“OGA”) program has been retired.

Full KB917999 here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917999

Note: a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed that Microsoft has no plans to decommission Windows Activation Technologies or Windows Genuine Advantage.

After applying the Norton Internet Security/Norton AntiVirus 18.5 patch, the Norton product may lock up or cause the system to become unstable

Official Symantec/Norton statement regarding Norton Internet Security 2011 and Norton AntiVirus 2011 v18.5.0.125

12-11-2010

There have been several reports on the forums where after applying the Norton Internet Security/Norton AntiVirus 18.5 patch (is version 18.5.0.125), the Norton product may lock up or cause the system to become unstable.

While this issue only seems to affect a small number of installations, we’re still taking this issue seriously and are quickly researching the cause of this problem.

We will be halting the throttled LiveUpdate release of 18.5 for the time being while we investigate these issues.

If you are experiencing this issue and would like to assist us in gathering information (debug logs and process dumps) for this issue, please post a response in THIS THREAD. The more logs and dumps we get, the more information we have that will help us make the proper corrections.

If you are having these issues and need to revert your system back to 18.1 (is version 18.1.0.37), simply uninstall 18.5 using Control Panel (or Uninstall from the Norton Product Program Group), and reinstall 18.1 from the following locations:

Norton Internet Security 18.1 – http://www.norton.com/nis11

Norton AntiVirus 18.1 – http://www.norton.com/nav11

Norton Internet Security 18.1, Norton AntiVirus 18.1 and Norton Netbook Edition 18.1 in English, French, German and Dutch language (direct downloads from Symantec/Norton servers too) – http://smokeys.wordpress.com/2010/08/28/norton-internet-security-2011-and-norton-antivirus-2011-final-rtm-released/Some users are reporting troubles uninstalling. Try uninstalling from Safe Mode. If that fails, you can use the Norton Removal Tool.If you have 18.5, but are not experiencing any issues, it is advised that you remain on 18.5.

Update 12-29-2010

Symantec Statement: “The issues that some users were experiencing where the Norton product would lock up after installing the 18.5 update was due to a definition that was applied after 18.5 was installed. Symantec have since corrected that definition and the issue will not occur.”

Download Norton Internet Security 2011, Norton Antivirus 2011 and Norton Internet Security Netbook Edition 2011 v18.5.0.125 (patch 18.5, stable/official release) here: http://smokeys.wordpress.com/2010/12/29/norton-internet-security-2011-and-norton-antivirus-2011-v18-5-0-125-patch-18-5-released/

Top-notch F-Secure Anti-Virus 2011 [1-PC, 1-Year] for FREE

Information provided by the vendor:

F-Secure Anti-Virus 2011 protects your privacy online.

Fast and easy so you get more out of your computer while staying protected.Fast and easy so you get more out of your computer while staying protected.

Viruses and spyware don’t always ask for your permission before they install themselves on your computer. Most of today’s malware is delivered silently, via the Web. F-Secure® Anti-Virus™ 2011 is must-have protection, making sure that your system is safe.

This is what you get:

Total protection against viruses and spyware

Easy to install and use

Instant Protection against new threats

Grab this great free offer asap, F-Secure Anti-Virus 2011 is a top-notch AV product.

How to obtain the free 1 year license

Visit the facebook promotion page (mentioned below), click “Like” (“Gefällt Mir”) at the right hand top and then enter your name and email address.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bjoerns-Windows-Blog/212088222911?v=app_123121377739575]http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bjoerns-Windows-Blog/212088222911?v=app_123121377739575

Keep in mind, a facebook account is required to obtain the free license.