I've found a bear nearby, a stick in my hand & dropped the stick & coolly walked away.

Someone deleted my topic concerning geodata collected pre-EULA  (not i - never had the privileges,; doubt anyone hacked into my account either for same reason).
I attempted to appeal to a mod as a new topic (TOU didn't explain how to start an appeal) only to have that disappear in short order.
I never violated TOU as far as i know, IMHO & used level-headed netiquette.  I even suggested that it must be a bug, rather than making accusations.
I added some new independent info that corroborated my claims, as no one had refuted unequivocally.  That's when posts started disappearing, even the whole topic back over two months.  Never received a single 'PM' about the 'takedown'.

To be fair, we have a similar policy written into our rules:

  Is no one else willing or able to confirm or deny what i've seen occur before an EULA can be viewed? 

*note:  link contents generated by ThreatExpert.com

Someone deleted my topic concerning geodata collected pre-EULA  (not i - never had the privileges,; doubt anyone hacked into my account either for same reason).
I attempted to appeal to a mod as a new topic (TOU didn't explain how to start an appeal) only to have that disappear in short order.
I never violated TOU as far as i know, IMHO & used level-headed netiquette.  I even suggested that it must be a bug, rather than making accusations.
I added some new independent info that corroborated my claims, as no one had refuted unequivocally.  That's when posts started disappearing, even the whole topic back over two months.  Never received a single 'PM' about the 'takedown'.

No enlightenment seems forthcoming from that forum.  I must have struck a raw nerve.

Apparently 'Caveat Emptor' applies to 'Free AntiV-Adware', too.

the USA --> http://www.av-test.org/en/statistics/spam/
"In God we trust, all others pay cash!"

If you own a Symantec product with AntiVirus, you may have spent some time awaiting the completion of updates this previous week, again.
http://www.av-test.org/en/statistics/updates/

AV-Comparatives has some new reports available:  Retrospective/Proactive Detection Tests:  Revised Nov2011 http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/s … ov2011.pdf
                                                                           AntiPhishing:  Revised Oct2011 http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/s … ng2011.pdf

Total malware is up, new malware is down.  http://www.av-test.org/en/statistics/malware/
Way down over the last two months!  "Sept 11" for the malware industry, hoorah!  Or was it that there was just so much of it that any significant percentage cut would appear in the stats as having been all-but destroyed?

Spam is as spam does, sit on my shelf.  Anyone for Green Eggs & Spam?  I much prefer Roast Beast! http://www.av-test.org/en/statistics/spam/

If you have a Symantec product, odds are that you have spent much time installing updates.  Hopefully it wasn't over WiFi-g.   http://www.av-test.org/en/statistics/updates/

Here's a link to some free BitDefender Apps:  http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/#Free%20Apps

A mass ASP.NET attack is underway, beware.  SQL is being injected almost as often as fuel through an internal combustion engine.  I wish i was making this stuff up.  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/10/14 … ion_grows/

Beware the link at the bottom of the 'VirusTotal' analysis, it links to malignant code for research purposes.  Verify the link with either of the following free scanners:

http://sitecheck.sucuri.net/scanner/
https://www.virustotal.com/index.html

Odd, 'VirusTotal' now says that 0/43 recognize this, yet 'sitecheck.securi' insists it is still active malware?!?
Anyway, they have toolbars for popular browsers and an API, too. http://www.virustotal.com/advanced.html#browser-addons

There are other signature based services, such as the ones mentioned here: http://www.h-online.com/security/featur … tml?page=2

ThreatExpert, from PC-Tools, the makers of ThreatFire (a free behavior-based AV), is a behavior-based detection service for files at http://www.threatexpert.com/submit.aspx

If you want to clean an infected system, there are some rescueCD's available.  Notably absent from the following site is Avira's & AVG's rescueCD's.  Other rescue platforms mentioned are worth looking at for data recovery.  http://www.h-online.com/open/features/S … 83726.html

Now, if only i could find an integrated solution for my smokin' new smarf meter, to protect from malware & worms, without resorting to tin-foil.

Ask.com:  EPIC FAIL

   Whole Product Dynamic Tests (June 2k11) --> http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/s … 1_1_en.pdf
   False Alarm Test (Aug 2k11) --> http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/s … ug2011.pdf
   On-Demand Comparative - Detection Tests (Aug 2k11) --> http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/s … ug2011.pdf
   Performance Test Security Suites (Aug 2k11) --> http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/s … g_2011.pdf
   Corporate Review (Complete Report) (Sept 2k11) --> http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/s … w_2011.pdf

I note that Netcraft's Toolbar shows forum.driverpacks.net as the 14610th most popular site on the internet. 
   driverpacks.net is rated 44256th.  http://toolbar.netcraft.com/stats/topsites

Location data was recorded in my registry here --> [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Ask.com.tmp]
  as well as a pair of log files in my %temp% folder.  Funny thing is, they got my location wrong!  They were close, though.

This was my experience upon install of the latest version of ImgBurn & Avira AntiVirus Free (collected without choice of accept/decline)
They insist that i should not be using Spybot instead of their WebGuard (powered by Ask.com - Don't Ask), yet they have yet to elaborate.
Edit:  one moderator on their forum suggests that it is up to the user.  http://forum.avira.com/wbb/index.php?pa … ost1117580
         allegedly Ask.com gets paid for each install of toolbar http://forum.avira.com/wbb/index.php?pa … ost1111180
         formerly discovered targetting children with ads 2005 http://www.benedelman.org/spyware/insta … es-banner/
       put that together with collection of geolocation data could potentially spell doom for any company partnering with Ask.com's Toolbar in it's present form.

If you do not want the toolbar, yet you like the software that it is bundled with, simply disconnect from the internet, install the program,
deselect any options associated with Ask, Finish; reconnect to internet.
Edit:  the former procedure has yet to be confirmed to prevent or stop geo-location.

http://forum.avira.com/wbb/index.php?pa … dID=136682   http://forum.avira.com/wbb/index.php?pa … dID=136708

This behavior may be enough to have Ask toolbar classified as 'malware' once again.  The ball is in Spybot's court now.

Actually, i really like the concept of AntiVirus Rescue CD's in general (there are several available).  Fix & remove windows virus' without running Windows.
Always best to image a drive before cleaning, just in case.