Microsoft Security Essentials Final

The day has come and the new Microsoft Security Essentials has gone into a full release. I haven’t tried it but this is a big deal so I thought I would announce it on my blog. However, here is a good review from Alex Eckelberry on the Sunbelt Blog. Thoughts on MSE

Key Features

• Comprehensive malware protection
• Simple, free download*
• Automatic updates
• Easy to use

*Your PC must run genuine Windows to install Microsoft Security Essentials. Get Genuine MS Software

Minimum system requirements for Microsoft Security Essentials

Operating System: Genuine Windows XP (Service Pack 2 or Service Pack 3); Windows Vista (Gold, Service Pack 1, or Service Pack 2); Windows 7

• For Windows XP, a PC with a CPU clock speed of 500 MHz or higher, and 1 GB RAM or higher.
• For Windows Vista and Windows 7, a PC with a CPU clock speed of 1.0 GHz or higher, and 1 GB RAM or higher.
• VGA display of 800 × 600 or higher.
• 140 MB of available hard disk space.
• An
  Internet connection is required for installation and to download the
  latest virus and spyware definitions for Microsoft Security Essentials.
• Internet Browser:
  • Windows Internet Explorer 6.0 or later.
  • Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or later.
• Microsoft Security Essentials also supports Windows XP Mode in Windows 7. For more information see the Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC for Windows XP Mode in Windows 7

Microsoft Security Essentials Homepage

Cloud Antivirus coming under fire

Looks like the new Cloud Antivirus that many companies are releasing might not be all it’s cracked up to be.

Click the links for the entire article.

Dissipating the Cloud – ESET Threat Blog One of the big problems with using “the cloud” is that at times the product may actually upload a file from your computer to the internet. This has very serious privacy implications. Virus scanners make mistakes at times. In this case a file that is proprietary or contains sensitive information may be uploaded and the customer may not want that file to leave their network.

VB Conference Day 2 – Avira Blog Another hot topic was cloud computing. There were two perspectives shown: From the testers point of view and from the developers side. Fortunately, both sides agree in a central point: In-the-cloud-computing is not the holy grail of the Antivirus and Antispam industry. It helps to fix some of the problems, but it is definitely not the panacea, the solution to all problems.

A Cloud is a Container of Fog that Obscures Vision – ESET Threat Blog What they found in extensive testing is that “Cloud” scanners do not have a detection advantage over traditional solutions. In one example they showed where a product had no normal or cloud detection, but did have detection in tradition beta signatures.  In some cases cloud based products added detection much later than a traditional solutions.

F-Secure Health Check 2.0 Beta

There’s a new version of F-Secure Health Check available for beta testing and it’s considerably different from its predecessor which I blogged about in July.

So what’s new? More browser support and no more ActiveX among other things.

What are the requirements? Various 32-bit Windows, Internet Explorer and Firefox.

Full details here. Health Check 2.0 Beta is Available

5 Worthy Gmail Notifiers

If you rely on Gmail for your social or business needs then a good ‘Notifier’ is an important and convenient addition to your browser or Windows taskbar. Here are 5 that should meet your needs. Test them all out and pick one or more that you like most.

• Google’s Gmail Notifier

• Firefox addon Gmail Notifier

• Gmail Notifier

• Yahoo widget Gmail Notifier

• Google Desktop Gmail Gadget

USB Image Tool

If you have important data on your portable drives and have ever wondered if there was an easy way to keep that data safe in the event the drive suddenly dies then this is for you.

USB Image Tool can create images of USB flash drives and MP3 players, that are mounted as USB drives. It allows you switch between images with different music styles on your MP3 Player or to make an exact backup image of your USB Stick.

Features

• create image files of USB flash drives
• restore images of USB flash drives
• compressed image file format
• show USB device information
• manage favorite USB images
• command line utility

Supported devices

USB Image Tool works with any device, that implements the USB Mass Storage protocol. This includes flash drives, card readers and a lot of other devices, like digicams, cell phones and mobile music players.

USB Image Tool
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