vista spy

[nukex]

Does Vista RC2 has any MS spyware software ?

[cluberti]

If you mean software that phones home, yes, Vista checks home every so often to verify that the OS is genuine and activated properly. If you mean antispyware software, Windows Defender (formerly MS Antispyware, formerly Giant Antispyware) is built-in and can be accessed via the Control Panel or under All Programs in the Start Menu.

[nospoon]

If you mean software that phones home, yes, Vista checks home every so often to verify that the OS is genuine and activated properly.

what about for those poor folks still on dial-up who don't stay connected to the net all the time

[nitroshift]

what about for those poor folks still on dial-up who don't stay connected to the net all the time

Vista will "phone home" next time a connection to the internet is established.

[LLXX]

You can block it at the router or external firewall.

[kartel]

Vista could protect Rootkits !

A security researcher is raising concerns about a DRM (digital rights management) feature in Windows Vista that he claims may make it easy for malicious code authors to block antivirus programs from removing their wares.

Aleksander Czarnowski, of the Polish firm AVET Information and Network Security, said that a new Vista feature, known as Protected Processes and designed to provide DRM functionality in Vista, could be abused to protect rootkits and other malicious code.

etc -

»www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.c···sid=7331

-

For example, Czarnowski hypothesized that malicious software that was able to take control of protected processes could use them to modify memory addresses and make other changes that would be invisible to anti-virus software and other detection tools running in the same environment.

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Among other things, Czarnowski predicted that Vista's kernel protection technology, PatchGuard, would become a major target of the malicious coding community and that techniques for evading kernel protections might be publicly available within a year of Vista's release -- and perhaps sooner.

Shane Coursen a senior technical consultant at Kaspersky Labs said that both the driver-signing protections and kernel protection have been proven to be vulnerable to manipulation.

The efficacy of hacks such as "Blue Pill," an effort to circumvent Vista kernel protections that was developed and demonstrated by Joanna Rutkowska of Singapore's Computer Security Initiative Consultancy (COSEINC), are still being debated. It's only a matter of time before other malicious code authors build on the work of researchers like Rutowska, Coursen said.

"Based on past experience, it usually takes a little more than a year for these advanced technologies to come out and be used by the bad guys. Unfortunately, we have some things in the works already and that could move up the timeline," Coursen said.

etc -

»www.infoworld.com/article/06/10/···s_1.html

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,17084494

Edited October 17, 2006 by kartel

[nukex]

Can Microsoft see what software(like Office and other software) I've instaled on my PC ?

[newsposter]

If you are asking if MSFT has a way to detect pirated installs of Vista and Office, the answer is yes. MSFT also has the ability (in theory) to make your PC inoperative if pirated license keys are in use.

[fizban2]

microsoft has no ability to do that, it is built in to vista, if the key you use is found to be pirated, you go into a 30 day trial perion in which time you can change your key. during this time parts of the OS are locked so that you can only get to the internet and reactivate your product. if you are asking if MS can just scan your computer without telling you the anwser is probably but there is a moral level there that is in place, you can go out to the web and find a dozen websites that can scan your computer and see what you have installed, it isn't anything special. when you connect to windows updates MS scans to see if you have office installed and any other MS products so that they can be patched.

[newsposter]

microsoft has no ability to do that, it is built in to vista,

I thought that Vista was a Microsoft product.......

[Spooky]

Vista is a MS product - no it doesn't render the machine inoperative only degrades use of the OS - yes its built into the OS but its triggered by a rejection for activation in the case of pirated versions.

microsoft has no ability to do that, it is built in to vista,

I thought that Vista was a Microsoft product.......

[LLXX]

if you are asking if MS can just scan your computer without telling you the anwser is probably but there is a moral level there that is in place, you can go out to the web and find a dozen websites that can scan your computer and see what you have installed, it isn't anything special. when you connect to windows updates MS scans to see if you have office installed and any other MS products so that they can be patched.

-only- if you allow it though, through the use of ActiveX.

[Spooky]

There are other ways without ActiveX, but ActiveX is probably the most common method.

only- if you allow it though, through the use of ActiveX.

Edited October 26, 2006 by Spooky

[fizban2]

if you are asking if MS can just scan your computer without telling you the anwser is probably but there is a moral level there that is in place, you can go out to the web and find a dozen websites that can scan your computer and see what you have installed, it isn't anything special. when you connect to windows updates MS scans to see if you have office installed and any other MS products so that they can be patched.

-only- if you allow it though, through the use of ActiveX.

injected java script can do it to, though not very easily from what i am told, but that is beyond the realm of my knowledge so i won't continue further. as for the original question

@ kartel

the "blue Pill" exploit has already been patched, it will no longer work

[yronnen]

How can I block vista from sending info to MS? I mean, which address should I block.

i use legitimate versions of windows, but I don't feel like sending info to MS.