Giveaway of the Day Forums

1. 

   Bigun
   Member

   I am more than a little upset with moderators over on the giveaway comment page. This morning before the first post appeared, I read a little about the giveaway of the day ("Skype Recorder") and decided to take a look at the website. I clicked on the following link

   <http://www.extralabs.net/skype-recorder.htm>

   while the data on the webpage was rendering a large warning box appeared on the page from "Norton Security Suite". The warning said that the "Extraabs.net" website was unsafe due to the fact that the Norton Security Suite discovered that the website contained three computer threats. Further discussion on the security rating contained a statement saying that evaluations by computer users outside of the Norton Security Suite personnel were graded separately. The seperate group of computer users also found the website to be a security risk.

   I tried to post this information on the comments page. By this time one comment had already been posted. My comment contained additional details from those that I have given above and several links pointing to the origins of the statements that I quoted.

   Nothing ugly but said by me or by Norton, no accusations were made, and no personal commentary was given by myself. What was submitted was a straightforward security evaluation without any frills. Late tonight I rechecked the security evaluation of extralabs.net using Norton Security Suite. Nothing had changed -the warning from the Norton Security Suite was still there.

   The information that I attempted to post was ignored and was not published. I published my information on the comments page because that's where most go to learn about the GOTD giveaway of the day. I do not think that a private message would have been very effective.

   I do not have a reputation for crying "Wolf". Norton is one of the best known companies in the antivirus community. Norton's reputation in the past for detecting viruses usually ranges between very good and excellent. My post concerned a big issue and I feel that someone should have contacted me to praise my discovery or chastise my indiscretion.

   Posted 14 years ago #
2. 

   Inas
   Member

   Hi Bigun, I can understand your frustration with not receiving a response from the GOTD Execs (i.e., owners, people in charge, etc.) - I also sent them a message many months ago, about a matter of concern, and never received a reply, so you're not the only one (believe me) - please rest assured on that point.

   That said - both MYWOT and MCAFEE's SITE ADVISOR sites give the extralabs.net site a clean/green rating.

   Sometimes, the Norton Security program (and other anti-virus suites) give "false positives," based on the heuristics they use in their programs. In this case, apparently, the Norton Security Suite gave a "false positive," and maybe this is why the GOTD team did not respond - because there is no real concern or threat - as the GOTD team always scans daily giveaway offers/programs to ensure they are "virus-free." I hope my explanation is helpful, and gives you a good level of comfort & confidence in the GOTD team.

   Best regards,
   Inas
   ______________________________________________________________________________________

   EXTRALABS - CLEAN SITEADVISOR RATING

   EXTRALABS - CLEAN MYWOT RATING

   Posted 14 years ago #
3. 

   Whiterabbit-uk
   Games Guru

   I found that including links to other websites would cause the spam filter to place the post in the spam box. I only noticed this when I was given moderator status on the game giveaway site. I'd post my usual review only to find it had disappeared.

   so now I always post without links then add the links via the editor (unfortunatly that's not possible for anyone other than a moderator of admin). So it's likely that your post was consigned to the spam bin automatically.

   Posting one link is usually safe. the more links you add the greater the risk of removal.

   Regards

   Whiterabbit

   Posted 14 years ago #
4. 

   BuBBy
   Teh adnim

   A possible solution - write up the post with links etc in these forums - then on the comments page - write a brief comment/intro with a link to the forum comment/topic.
   

   (the following is not directed at any individual user, but "users" in general).

   On the subject of Virus/Malware being detected (or "guessed" in the case of Heuristics) don't just come out and announce that a Giveaway has a virus because your chosen AntiVirus said so.

   With the exception of one possible (non-malicious) proof of concept infection (that wasn't detected for several weeks/months? after the GOTD) there have been no cases of virus/malware included in Giveaways.

   The GOTD team assures us that everything gets scanned and checked before being put up for download. Scan and check yourself. If you aren't happy with the results - don't install. Remember everyone else has Antivirus software too - they will do their own scanning, and make their choice also. I don't need to hear from other users on how their scan went, as surprisingly I have antivirus software installed also - and there are online scanners available where I can have a file checked by another 30 or so scanners. I guess that just like email chain letters, some users like to do their civic duty and announce what happened with their virus scanner - but it is running in a different environment, on a different PC. The results from other users do not necessarily apply to me.

   Also there is just as much skill involved in interpreting the antivirus alerts - as some software is suspicious by definition of the function it performs. If these virus/malware scare posts were put up in the comments pages - they would be there every night. False positives, and users who don't understand the reports from their antivirus software, or the details on how the software operates (or is configured).

   Posted 14 years ago #
5. 

   notblocklox
   retired

   Thanks, Mr.BuBBy, for this clarification.

   Let me bring back to attention, that we have a sticky for all questions around malware:

   Review Trojan/Virus Reports

   I think that's the better place to discuss supposed threats, because a "sticky" won't get lost as fast as a "normal" forums-post.

   graylox

   Posted 14 years ago #

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