makeitsecure.ie?

smeggle

Theres been quite a lot of 'Adverts' on this site recently 'makeitsecure.ie'. It's getting support from rte and the usual culprits, symantec, microsoft etc.

I've reviewed the site over the last few days and whilst it's not overly bad it falls well short of giving any real usefull help. I certainly wouldn't trust that 'Pay for Rubbish' by symantec and microsofts anti spy solution just hasn't been around long enough to be considered in any way trustworthy - not against the likes or Spybot or Ad-Aware.

Nice looking site all the same and easy enough to use but I wonder how many 'Novice' users are going to be caught with the symantec pay for rubbish solution or that nonsence that microsoft has ripped of (sorry payed for)...

was wondering what others thought of it?

myself - I'd give it a 3 maybe 4 out of 10

rogue-entity

Did you notice that it fails to tackle the real cause for Spyware Infestations.
Internet Explorer - They dont tell you to switch browsers (given that Firefox is superior)
They only tell you that you should change your browsers security to a higher setting.

And the site is not W3C standards complient, it looks like it was designed on Frontpage 2003 or even MS Word. It is just not worth the server space to be honest.

Boards.ie, can provide better advice to the poor souls that like clicking on ads that say "Your computer has slowed down, click here to speed it up".

Cabaal

Yeah I was very dissappointed it had no links for alternative web browser that may be more secure, in fairness its a waste of a website unless they give users more choice and educate them by showing them that they don't have to use the same "unsecure software" as everybody else.

They'd do great to follow the likes of http://www.browsehappy.com/

Then again its funded by Microsoft so we can hardly expect them to be objective on such things
#

tck

Hi,

Sites been out for absolute yonks, think the tv ads are going full steam now.
They have been adding more and more stuff as time goes on.

Right about the browser though, I remember my mum was in a shopping center and there was a stand about this site and they were handing out leaflets or so and a gentleman handed her a leaflet explaining about precautions to take.

And she replied on yes I use the Firefox web browser I find it much safer blah blah - guy had never heard of it.

smeggle

Had an interesting e-mail of the web-master of the service who built the site. I had contacted them on an un-related matter out of 'Professional Courtesy'.

However I did give them the info that I had 'Reviewed the site' and recieved this reply;

Thanks also for reviewing the makeITsecure site. The content came from
many sources and was written aimed toward the entry level user. Security
issues are daunting to a new user, it's hoped that the information on
the site will give these users a grounding to understand the concepts
further.

Although the anti-spyware solution from MS is still in Beta, we've found
it to work well. Also, Microsoft are one of the major partners/sponsors
of the site.

BTW guy's this wasn't meant as a 'dump I.E. get Firefox' because it's more secure etcetc. No offence but Firefox has it's problems as well though these are far more quickly addressed and sorted by the Mozilla Community than I.E is by microsoft.

The main problem with I.E. is that it is utilised to do two things basically.

1. Browse html pages or the Internet and
2. It is the main 'Update Utility' for the operating system.

It is the latter that is the vital bit and the reason why microsoft have so many security issues. They will continue to have these problems imo untill they seperate the applications. The browser should be just that, a browser and respectively the update utility should be just that, an update utility.

I personally hope they do wake up to this because when mac finally do issue OSX for generic machines I seriously think they are going to put a hefty dent in the microsoft user base. Your finally going to be faced with a very competitive option. Linux imo will never achieve this as it currently is allthough IBM are making a concerted effort to address this area.

Overall though, apart from the lack of alternatives other than recomended 'Sponsor' software, one which should have been rejected with prejudice, Symantec, the site is reasonable and can give the 'Novice User' some good tips and ideas on what to do or what to look out for.

However they could have done more to offer people tried and trusted applications that have been tested to the limits over the last few years, such as Spybot, Ad-Aware, Spy-Subtract, AVG, Avast, Zone Alarm etc all offering free solutions and all top of the lot compared to most pay for solutions.

Due to this I've actually placed a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority due to RTE's massive 'Advertising' campaign. Not so much as the site being misleading but inaccurate in some small areas and the lack of good solid advice. This is mainly due to the Symantec recommendation and articles I obtained earlier in the year..

1. http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/0,2000061744,39180674,00.htm

and possibly the worst of the two due to the attitude that Symantec take

2.http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39173002,00.htm

This is what is being recommended to the 'Novice' end user who is more than likely a person that has bought there brand new pc of the shelf, ran home all pleased as punched, managed to get it up and running - then they connect to the internet - em 'Hello" Yoohoo! Your running in 'Administrative' mood mate!!
That bundled AV package (Probably more than likely a trial version of Norton 2005) - em - well - it ain't going to help you. There simply going to reply that www.makeITsecure.ie says it is and they must know cause it was on the telly (:rolleyes: ) and it's recommended by the 'Sponsors' on there..

Thats the reason why I am putting the complaint in anyway as RTE should be behaving more responcibly, I really feel for some guy's stuck in IT jobs like this that know this stuff is rubbish but are unable to do little or nothing about it..

I've also noticed that it doesn't have one link pointing people towards resoncible support forums similar to boards.ie (Or my own place )where these 'Novice' end users can get good sound advice and further help.

All in all it does have some information that is helpful but it fails to fully deal with issues or offer advice on how further an end user can protect themselves. It gets a very big thumbs down though for it's applications to use advice.

Cabaal

smeggle wrote:

I've also noticed that it doesn't have one link pointing people towards resoncible support forums similar to boards.ie (Or my own place )where these 'Novice' end users can get good sound advice and further help.

I'd be against such a thing, boards.ie and similar sites don'ty need the responsibility of dealing with newbie's problems to that extent, its also worth noting that if makeitsecure provide a link that means they are endorsing it and if a user gets bad advise it could be a PR nightmare for makeitsecure and many of its sponsers

smeggle

Cabaal wrote:

I'd be against such a thing, boards.ie and similar sites don'ty need the responsibility of dealing with newbie's problems to that extent, its also worth noting that if makeitsecure provide a link that means they are endorsing it and if a user gets bad advise it could be a PR nightmare for makeitsecure and many of its sponsers

Yeah true - interesting point and totally valid. In hindsight I agree it would be a nightmare...

Cake Fiend

smeggle wrote:

2. It is the main 'Update Utility' for the operating system.

It is the latter that is the vital bit and the reason why microsoft have so many security issues. They will continue to have these problems imo untill they seperate the applications. The browser should be just that, a browser and respectively the update utility should be just that, an update utility.

I don't see how this is a security issue (especially seeing as there already exists a seperate update utility (Automatic Updates) that should hopefully be running on an SP2 system). In my opinion, the main problem with IE is its deep integration with the operating system - how many times have we seen an internet explorer exploit that can result in administrative privileges being gained on the host? More times than I care to think about. And with Firefox? Nowhere near as many. Then there's all the fun with ActiveX controls, in a default IE installation.

As far as I can see, one of the most common entry ways for malware on an average user's system is through internet explorer. Using an alternative browser, one that isn't inextricably tied to the OS, gives quite a bit of added protection IMO.

rogue-entity

I have to agree with you, anything that is integrated with the OS is not good for security, MS is working on improving IE's security and other issues but it will take a while.

I would like to know if anyone contacting makeitsecure.ie's webmaster has asked him/her to put up links for software like AntiVir (better then AVG by far), Spybot and Firefox, even if it is only for the more advanced users.

Cormic

smeggle wrote:

microsofts anti spy solution just hasn't been around long enough to be considered in any way trustworthy - not against the likes or Spybot or Ad-Aware.

Actually MS Anti-Spyware was previously known as Giant and had quite a good reputation. MS bought the company a while ago.

Ad-Aware lost a lot of confidence earlier this year with the whole WhenU saga as did some other anti-spyware vendors.

smeggle

Sico wrote:

I don't see how this is a security issue (especially seeing as there already exists a seperate update utility (Automatic Updates) that should hopefully be running on an SP2 system). In my opinion, the main problem with IE is its deep integration with the operating system - how many times have we seen an internet explorer exploit that can result in administrative privileges being gained on the host? More times than I care to think about. And with Firefox? Nowhere near as many. Then there's all the fun with ActiveX controls, in a default IE installation.

As far as I can see, one of the most common entry ways for malware on an average user's system is through internet explorer. Using an alternative browser, one that isn't inextricably tied to the OS, gives quite a bit of added protection IMO.

huh? what talking about makeitsecure.ie is not a security issue? Essentially this is what the topic is about hence

BTW guy's this wasn't meant as a 'dump I.E. get Firefox' because it's more secure etcetc. No offence but Firefox has it's problems as well though these are far more quickly addressed and sorted by the Mozilla Community than I.E is by microsoft.

Allthough I will speak of the reasons why microsft has so many problems and will continue to do so as long as I.E. remians an internet browser and also the update utility, (Which it is btw Sico - sp2 does not address this issue - the browser is still used for both).

As I said though this is your views etc on a very highly advertised 'Public Security' web-site recommended by most of the major corparate players in Ireland, and also by the Goverment.

Does it then address the issues that are faced by the 'Ordinary' end user and does it help them?

My own opinion is that it does address some issues adequately but could be better but falls far short of giving people advice on how best to protect there computers and identity. Certainly the recommended solution, Symantec does not. Most advanced end users know that it has well known and long lasting problems.
There other recommendation microsoft Anti-Spy is again in-adequate. The company they bought it of (As microsoft has want to do) just is not around long enough as opposed to the industry standard market leaders that have been around for a few years now. Yes certain ones have had probloms which are very quickly addressed but overall they have a long term solid reputation and will continue to be free. microsoft anti-spy once out of beta, (Again another reason not to be so trusting), is supposed to be a 'Pay for Solution'.

Cake Fiend

smeggle wrote:

huh? what talking about makeitsecure.ie is not a security issue?

I don't understand how using Internet Explorer as an update utility is a security issue. Which is why I quoted the part of your post in which you said it was.

Please explain how using Internet Explorer as an update utility is specifically a security hazard and how using a seperate utility would avoid this alleged vulnerability.

aidan_walsh

So why not start doing something about it.

I have been thinking the last few days that whats needed is a proper site to help people fend for themselves, with descriptions of the problems and solutions written in plain English. Take a heavily reformatted Wiki to give it a nice friendly look, and all.

I'll be considering putting it on the side as a project to work on, but I was wondering if anyone would be willing to help contribute if it went up?

scojones

aidan_walsh wrote:

So why not start doing something about it.

I have been thinking the last few days that whats needed is a proper site to help people fend for themselves, with descriptions of the problems and solutions written in plain English. Take a heavily reformatted Wiki to give it a nice friendly look, and all.

I'll be considering putting it on the side as a project to work on, but I was wondering if anyone would be willing to help contribute if it went up?

Count me in buddy.

Webmonkey

aidan_walsh wrote:

So why not start doing something about it.

I have been thinking the last few days that whats needed is a proper site to help people fend for themselves, with descriptions of the problems and solutions written in plain English. Take a heavily reformatted Wiki to give it a nice friendly look, and all.

I'll be considering putting it on the side as a project to work on, but I was wondering if anyone would be willing to help contribute if it went up?

Count me in as well. I'm from Killarney myself. If you want we can meet up and have a chat though I spend most of my time in cork now, college.

scojones

As Aidan knows I'm in tralee myself. I could call out too, love Killarney

aidan_walsh

Heh, an inaugural pissup. Sounds good

NutJob

Can i say anymore than its sponsoured by main industry players who will publish the same crap as usual.


Anyone who needs to know why just watch exactly what windows sends over networks without permission