Some people think that there's no harm installing software with add-on because you can simply uncheck it from the installation wizard.  True that un-checking to install the third-party and unnecessary add-on is easy to do but remember that there are hundreds or thousands of end-users is impacted because some of them "trust" and "not reading closely" what they will click.  Anyway, here's a good example of third party add-on detected by Microsoft Security Essentials

The Windows community is somewhat notorious for leaks from upcoming versions of Windows (obligatory link to this guy since that's most of what he does), and while the official PR word from Microsoft and many other companies with regards to leaks is a simple 'no comment,' no one has really gotten a candid, inside look at the various things that go down when word, screenshots, or builds of upcoming software leak. I managed to get some time with a senior Microsoft employee for the sake of

Kaspersky Lab announces that four new malware analysts have been hired to provide additional research support to the Americas region. Josh Phillips comes to Kaspersky Lab from Microsoft, where he served as a virus analyst who developed signatures for new and emergent malware. As a Senior Researcher with Kaspersky Lab, Josh will be responsible for continuing to identify and capture developing malware for the Americas region, as well as developing future technologies. Tim Armstrong comes to the Global

Avast! installs some program files with insecure permissions. "Everyone" group has "Full Control" rights to the files/folders in the following path: "%Program Files%\Alwil Software\Avast4\Data". It means that any unprivileged user can modify, delete or change permissions of any file in DATA folder. The folder consists of data, executable and configuration files. In result multiple attack vectors are possible. Vulnerable Systems: * Avast! Professional Edition version

China's anti-virus authorities on Sunday warned computer users to guard against mutation of Hack_Kido computer virus, which could prevent users from downloading operation system loophole patches. The virus would monitor the users' on-line browsing and close any web-site related with the Microsoft, preventing users from getting any help from the Microsoft web-sites, according to the Tianjin-based National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-10/25

Comcast now is trying to cut off spammers before they unleash torrents of junk e-mail. The operator in the third quarter deployed a "sender reputation" service from San Francisco-based Cloudmark to pinpoint potential spammers. Comcast has already been using the Cloudmark Authority system to protect the 25 million e-mail accounts it hosts from spam, viruses and phishing attacks. Terms of the expanded deal were not disclosed. Comcast, the nation's biggest cable operator, had 15.3 million

Under certain circumstances, Microsoft's recently launched Security Essentials (MSE) security solution fails to download updates for several days, despite new anti-virus signatures being available on the server. As a result, the software no longer offers adequate protection against new malware. These are the results found in tests run by The H's associates at heise Security for the latest edition of the computer magazine c't. Read more in http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/Microsoft

In news that will send a shiver down the spines of many job seekers, it has been revealed that the UK version of the Guardian Jobs website has been broken into by hackers. The site, which is described as one of the top five job websites in the UK, with some two million users a month, would be a rich data mine for identity thieves who would be rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of getting their hands on confidential information from innocent people's CVs and job applications. Details

AV-Comparatives.org has published their first malware removal test! eScan, Symantec, Microsoft, F-Secure, Kaspersky and BitDefender won :) http://www.av-comparatives.org/weblog/?p=173

Nigeria's anti-corruption police said Friday they had shut down some 800 scam websites and busted 18 syndicates of email fraudsters in a drive to curb cyber-crime the country is notorious for. "Over 800 fraudulent e-mail addresses have been identified and shut down," Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) boss Farida Waziri said. "There have been 18 arrests of high profile syndicates operating cyber-crime organisations," she added. In a statement EFCC, which has previously