Microsoft's Security Products Will Block Adware By Default Starting On July 1 177
An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft [Thursday] announced a change to how it handles adware, a form of malware that pushes unwanted advertisements to the user. As of July 1, the company's security products will immediately stop any adware they detect and notify the user, who can then restore the program if they wish. Currently, when any of Microsoft's security products (including Microsoft Security Essentials and Microsoft Forefront) detects a program as adware, it will alert the user and offer them a recommended action. If the user doesn't do anything, the security product will let the program continue to run until the user makes a decision." If adware is malware, why wait until July?
Microsoft blocks Slashdot Beta????? (Score:2, Interesting)
Works for me.
Re:Does that include Bing Bar? (Score:5, Interesting)
Bing Bar nothing. Windows 8 includes an unavoidable banner ad [microsoft.com] for the Windows Store.
Re:adware is malware (Score:5, Interesting)
though I'm sure it'd take little more than an editing of the hosts file
Not if you use the Windows Defender that comes with Windows 8: Windows 8 has been confirmed to not only ignore, but also modify the hosts file. As soon as a website that should be blocked is accessed, the corresponding entry in the hosts file is removed, even if the hosts file is read-only. [slashdot.org]