Security Task Manager

[RCGuy]

I just installed "Security Task Manager" and my Online-Armor came up and said that, "A program capable of recording your keystrokes has been detected" and identifies the program as Security Task Manager. Has anyone else ever heard of "Security Task Manager" as being a rogue spyware program, and does anyone else have both Online-Armor and "Security Task Manager" installed on their computer?

[Mrkvonic]

Hi,
Where did you download Security Task Manager from?
Let's begin with source. Do you doubt your source? If so, why did you install it then? If not, why do you worry? However, not to preach too much, some programs use shortcuts and thus they need to hook the keyboard. You can block the hooks and the program will still work.
AS FAR AS I KNOW - it's a good proggie - but I cannot vouch for the copy you have. Furthermore, I do not like keyboard hooks - and this has made me dump several softwares I was testing. And in the occasions I did decide to keep some programs, 90% of time I disable the hooks.
Mrk

[RCGuy]

{QUOTE-> Hi,
Where did you download Security Task Manager from?
Let's begin with source. Do you doubt your source? If so, why did you install it then? If not, why do you worry? However, not to preach too much, some programs use shortcuts and thus they need to hook the keyboard. You can block the hooks and the program will still work.
AS FAR AS I KNOW - it's a good proggie - but I cannot vouch for the copy you have. Furthermore, I do not like keyboard hooks - and this has made me dump several softwares I was testing. And in the occasions I did decide to keep some programs, 90% of time I disable the hooks.
Mrk <-QUOTE}

Thanks, for the response, Mrkvonic. First of all, I don't have a clue as to what a keyboard hook is, but as far as the STM program goes, I downloaded it from the author of the program, neuber.com: http://www.neuber.com/taskmanager/download.html Didn't know wheter or not it could have been a rogue anti-spyware site or whatever. Although, it could have been just a matter of my Online-Armor program being too catious. It seems to stop a lot of things from accessing the internet.

[Notok]

Online Armor does operate using hooks, and that's all that Security Task Manager is really reporting. Security Task Manager doesn't have the ability to determine why a program is using hooks, only that it is, so you'll want to take any results with a grain of salt. If it's reporting a program that you've never seen before, and didn't install intentionally, then you'll have reason for concern. Otherwise, it will undoubtedly report some legitimate programs as a potential security risk. Both Security Task Manager and Online Armor are legitmate :)

[muf]

I run both. Previously Online Armor did report STM as being a potential keylogger when i ran it for the first time. This may be true, with the way that STM works it could be viewed as being capable of recording activity. But STM looks for things hooking the system and as a result i suspect that with it looking for hooking it makes OA think STM is hooking. I allowed it as i've been using STM since it first came out in 2003. It's a trusted application, great at spotting hook based keyloggers and is highly regarded.

Another interesting thing is that about two weeks ago i reinstalled OA. As you are aware it does a scan of your pc and verifies everything. When i ran STM after reinstalling OA it was not picked up as a potential keylogger. It appears if you have STM on your pc before installing OA then OA won't give this alert. But if you install STM after OA has already been installed and set up then it will alert you.

I think it's a sort of false positive. Maybe if STM was added to the OA white list then this problem would not happen in future.

muf

[RCGuy]

{QUOTE-> First of all, I don't have a clue as to what a keyboard hook is... <-QUOTE}

Well, I know now what a keyboard hook is, ;D however, muf said:

"...i've been using STM since it first came out in 2003. It's a trusted application, great at spotting hook based keyloggers and is highly regarded."

What I would like to know is: How does STM spot hook based keyloggers, or anything as far as that goes? All my STM does is rate all the legitimate programs that I have running on my computer and gives the ones that seem like rogue programs - but they're not - high ratings. And then of course, as it goes down the list, the programs with lower ratings get listed. I mean, I already know that my McAfee VirusScan, Online-Armor, Google Toolbar, which all get the highest ratings, are legitimate programs, along with all the other programs that listed below them. I don't know. Mabye I'm missing something, but I don't really see how STM helps me out. ???

[bellgamin]

{QUOTE-> What I would like to know is: How does STM spot hook based keyloggers, or anything as far as that goes? <-QUOTE}STM does not spot keyloggers. Instead, when you buy STM, they give you a program called "Spy Protector" that DOES spot keyloggers. You will find a click spot for running Spy Protector on STM's entry on the Start Menu.

[MikeNash]

{QUOTE-> I think it's a sort of false positive. Maybe if STM was added to the OA white list then this problem would not happen in future. <-QUOTE}

We've been updating our whitelist recently. As we have been busy building out our new toys, we got a shade behind with it.

Cheers

Mike

[muf]

{QUOTE-> We've been updating our whitelist recently. As we have been busy building out our new toys, we got a shade behind with it.

Cheers

Mike <-QUOTE}

Mike, I hope you don't think it was a criticism. It wasn't. I was simply saying that adding STM to the whitelist may stop the alert when the scenario i described happened.

Please, carry on updating OA. I'm looking forward to the new stuff! :)

muf

[MikeNash]

{QUOTE-> Mike, I hope you don't think it was a criticism. It wasn't. I was simply saying that adding STM to the whitelist may stop the alert when the scenario i described happened.

Please, carry on updating OA. I'm looking forward to the new stuff! :)

muf <-QUOTE}

Yep, it's understood. Just thought I would pop my head up and let people know.

Don't worry, there's plenty of new stuff in the pipeline.


Mike

[G1111]

Does STM show RAM usage? Some screen shots indicate it does:

http://www.spychecker.com/screenshots/securitytask.htm

The website (Neuber) does not show it:

http://www.neuber.com/taskmanager/taskmanager.html

Is this an option or it was in a previous but not the latest version?

[muf]

Yes, STM does show memory useage for all running processes. It was one of the benefits I had when using Win ME. The task manager in Win ME and also Win 98 does not show memory useage. STM does.

And yes, it's present in the latest version. :) and has been present in all version's.

muf

[G1111]

{QUOTE-> Yes, STM does show memory useage for all running processes. It was one of the benefits I had when using Win ME. The task manager in Win ME and also Win 98 does not show memory useage. STM does.

And yes, it's present in the latest version. :) and has been present in all version's.

muf <-QUOTE}

Thanks Muf.