ASK

Toolbars by any other name

by certifiedbug on July 5, 2009

in Software

Comodo announcement

What’s New In 3.10.102194.530?
==============================
NEW! COMODO Secure DNS is introduced as a new free service
NEW! COMODO HopSurf Toolbar – COMODO SafeSurf Toolbar has been discontinued and superseded by COMODO HopSurf Toolbar

On-going topic at calendarofupdates.com

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Mike Nash: Ask Toolbar in Online Armor Free? Nearly…

by certifiedbug on May 18, 2009

in Software

Read the journey…
Bundle Ask Toolbar and have an early retirement?
The Scoop
Sometimes, I hate the internet…
…but most of the time it rocks
A rock and a hard place

Mike Nash wrote:

Unfortunately, adding that bar would mean that our users would hate us. Vocally. Is it rational hatred? Who cares. Hate is hate, and Vocal is Vocal. We’d already noted one of the smaller players get slammed for their search bar antics.

In all of our discussions and observations, some key points kept getting repeated:

* Users do not expect a security tool to install unneeded items, even if that security tool is free.
* Default opt-in is the only way people will install due to inattention, accident or trickery of wording.
* Default opt-in is wrong.
* Users place a lot of trust in security vendors. They are trusted to do the right thing. Do not abuse that trust.
* Is it ethical to ask your users to install a product you would not install and use yourself?

Out of all of them, the last one got to me the most. I installed the bar and had a look. If this was on my computer, I would remove it.

http://onlinearmorpersonalfirewall.blogspot.com/2009/05/ask-toolbar-in-online-armor-free-nearly.html

http://certifiedbug.com/blog/tag/ask/

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Softpedia-Comodo Software Removed

by certifiedbug on April 27, 2009

in Software

Softpedia received an official cease and desist letter (C&D) from the Comodo legal team April, 15th to “discontinue all references on Softpedia identifying CIS as adware” within seven days.

Softpedia News, CIS is adware:
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Comodo-Software-Removed-From-Softpedia-110169.shtml

Certifiedbug, May 27, 2008. Comodo SafeSurf Toolbar-ASK Toolbar

I no longer use or recommend the Comodo Firewall anymore, it has become too bloated for my taste.

CoU discussion forum

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Symantec partnership with ASK

by certifiedbug on March 25, 2009

in Internet Security

The wheels on the bus go round and round. $$$

Donna Buenaventura has a discussion thread at Calendar Of Updates.
Safe Search update

http://certifiedbug.com/blog/tag/ask/

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Norton 360 release to bundle version of the Ask Toolbar

February 11, 2009

Donna’s not happy with this and has added Symantec to the list of vendors barred from Calendar of Updates. http://certifiedbug.com/blog/tag/ask/

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Consumergain.com spamvertise’s at Photobucket

August 30, 2008

So there I was at Photobucket looking at images when this popped up. I clicked No and was redirected to the site anyway. In other words my browser was Hijacked. WOT edged in to say no no no. http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/consumergain.com Site Advisor also flags consumergain.com http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/consumergain.com Press release January 30, 2008 by the Federal Trade Commission [...]

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Pre-checked Installers

August 25, 2008

Bill Pytlovany posted that IAC/InterActiveCorp had asked him last week to reconsider adding their ASK toolbar to WinPatrol. Again he declined. It’s still surprising that programs like Zone Alarm, SpySweeper and Comodo Firewall install the Ask.com toolbar while other security programs still flag it as undesirable, suspicious or even adware. What’s Wrong with Toolbars? See [...]

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Comodo SafeSurf Toolbar-ASK Toolbar

May 27, 2008

Comodo Firewall 3.0.23.364 offers the SafeSurf toolbar. Hmmm STEP 8: Install Comodo SafeSurf Browser Toolbar The Comodo SafeSurf Toolbar protects against data theft, computer crashes and system damage by preventing most types of Buffer Overflow attacks. This type of attack occurs when a malicious program or script deliberately sends more data to a target applications [...]

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Trillian Multiple Vulnerabilities

May 23, 2008

Securia reports highly critical vulnerabilities in Trillian the popular instant messaging client. Description: Some vulnerabilities have been reported in Trillian, which can be exploited by malicious people to compromise a user’s system. 1) A boundary error within the header parsing code for the MSN protocol can be exploited to cause a stack-based buffer overflow via [...]

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ASK Approaches WinPatrol

January 18, 2008

The sales pitch to include a toolbar with WinPatrol was compelling. I’m told that the my reputation wouldn’t be affected and I would be providing my customers with a service by including the free toolbar. All the companies currently installing the toolbar are very happy. He even leaked the news that another well known Anti-Spyware [...]

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