Cyberhawk -- is it for the birds?

I began using Cyberhawk last night, mainly because three of my most favorite/trusted posters (solarpoweredcandle, wilbertnl, & RejZoR) speak highly of it HERE & THERE.

So far so good. Low usage of resources. No noticeable slow-down in my computer. Program steady as a rock so far. Gets along just fine with my other security apps (DrWeb, Kerio, SSM, A-squared. et al).

Questions, for anyone who cares to comment...

1) Any custom rules to recommend for Cyberhawk?

2) Is it overkill to run both Cyberhawk & the paid version of System Safety Monitor? (Even though I like Cyberhawk, I'm actually hoping that some savvy folk(s) will tell me that SSM doesn't need any help from Cyberhawk.)

3) Am I the only one who thinks Cyberhawk's system tray icon looks a little bit like Pac-Man taking a nap?

 

1) Any custom rules to recommend for Cyberhawk?
Just under Process List, uncheck those browsers and email clients that you don't use. Apart from that i think you don't need any other rules.
You can add custom rule for Startup registry entry so Cyberhawk will ALWAYS warn you about programs trying to add something to startup.
Everything else is already in internal rules that aren't visible.

2) Is it overkill to run both Cyberhawk & the paid version of System Safety Monitor? (Even though I like Cyberhawk, I'm actually hoping that some savvy folk(s) will tell me that SSM doesn't need any help from Cyberhawk.)
Well i haven't tried SSM but i think one or another is enough.

3) Am I the only one who thinks Cyberhawk's system tray icon looks a little bit like Pac-Man taking a nap?
Yeah i already nagged about it to them, however i don't think they'll change it any time soon... You can however resource hack file CHTray.exe and replace both icons for enabled/disabled state with your own ones.
Use Microangelo Explorer for this operation (or any other icon editor capable of changing icons in binary files).

 

Tried it. I'm curious, so i have to try things. Anyways, the slowdown it generated on my pc was way way too much. I online game, and when i was logging in to my Steam account it just sat there, 1min, 2min, 3min. I end tasked the login and end tasked Cyberhawk. Uninstalled it and logged into Steam within seconds. I noticed also that Outlook Express and IE both opened veeerrrry slowly. Even after entering my password to retrieve my e-mails it took 10 times longer to finish looking for new e-mails. I filled in their customary website form informing them the reason was the slowdown. I may try it again some time, but for now nope.

muf

 

Just wanr to say that so far I haven't noticed any slow down using FireFox. There is some slow down however, when I switch from one account to the other. What i mean is, it doesn't seem as fast as it did to do so, and then it takes several seconds for the other users (my wife) account to fully display. The only other thing I am currently running besides Windows Firewall, is the new AOL AVS Antivirus. I don't remember having this type of slow down when I was only using AVS and ZA Free a few days ago before installing Cyberhawk. I really like having this program, and with only 512MB of RAM I also remember having this same type of slowdown with Windows Defender installed awhile back. I guess another question could be. Is Cyberhawk worth keeping over something like Windows Defender?

 

Hi,folks: I have been using CH for some time.I like its theory and approach. But on the other hand I have to make some sacrifices such as reducing the lineup of security apps (I have since deleted ZAAS) due to slowness of internet access. With KAV6 and outpost being my primary defense line, I could not make anymore drawback, so I decided to drop CH for now. I immediately noticed that internet access has gone back to the way was. However,My joy was shortlived, why? This app has LEFT more than 100 items of garbage in registry after deletion. I have no other choice but using registry editor and registry cleaner to weed them out. It is a wonderful app, but WHY wouldnt they cealn their A** after saying bye bye. It is a bad taste in the mouth, indeed.

 

Wow that's alot of reg entries. Can you tell me where they were located so if and I uninstall CH I can make sure they are gone? I use Regscrub and that usually does the trick. Were any of these locked and you had to change permissions to delete them? I also wonder though if they weren't all needed considering the protection this program is suppose to give? I once used the free F-Secure Antivirus and that dug deep into my registry. Thanks for the info. Maybe we will soon see this tested, and made to use less memory.

 

Hi,folks: I used registry crawler to get rid of most of trash. Still, some left within 2 section: HKLM\SYSTEM\.....\Erum\Root\LEGACY and HKLM\Software\classes\cyberhawk engine and cyberhak .log
Hope there is no harm;rootkits ? hope not

 

Eh, just run Windows OneCare Live registry cleaner every here and there and you'll be fine...

 

I still don't think Cyberhawk is for the birds, but I do wonder if it is still making PC's slow? Is there a new version coming out soon?

 

I dont notice any slow down of my system, but I dont have any games installed. I have build 1.06.0008.0007 I didnt notice any slow down with earlier build either.

 

Although I didn't try CH yet, it is certainly the type of security software I like.
It works without blacklist, no signatures. So I put it on my list.

 

Why do you use PrevX?

 

IMO, SSM would suffice as an HIPS. Adding CyberHawk on top would create some sort of conflict and slowdown, hence reducing performance and ultimately damage your hard drive. It would be like driving 140 km/h a Ford Fiesta all the time.

Anyway what other protective measures do you have in your machine?

1. Do you use a NAT router?

2. Do you access the Internet under a limited account?

3. What software firewall (with both inbound and outbound protection) do you run?


Cheers.

 

Yesterday, I installed Prevx1 in a frozen snapshot as an experiment. I still have to learn Prevx1 in detail. I ran quickly through the manual and that was enough for me to give it a try. Unfortunately I have to do this in my freetime and my wife is tired of being a computer widow.
That's why I use Prevx1.

 

Just a note - if you use Opera, several people report that Cyberhawk doesn't really get along with it. For me Opera froze a lot with Cyberhawk. Otherwise I loved Cyberhawk but using Opera pretty often I had to dump the hawk.

 

86.99197 miles per hour in a Ford Fiesta? I can go that fast in my Yugo (but only in reverse).

1- Yeth, of courth

2- Yes. I use DropMyRights + K-meleon (DMR is superb. FREE to boot!)

3- Kerio 2.1.5

Thanks for the comments. Shalom

 

I asked this because you said that you didn't like programs that use blacklists and signatures...

 

Gee Bellgamin, with all that arsenal you got enough protection already. Why do you want Cyberhawk really for?

I think it'd be overkill.

Regards.

 

This may sound ridiculous and ignorant, so forgive my stupidity if it does, but I have have just discovered Cyberhawk, and I am slightly put off by the fact that it sends out information, including IP addresses, to the 'Cyberhawk Secure Community'. Doesn't this go against the whole ethos of anti-apyware software, the purpose of which, I have always thought, is to NOT send out information from your PC? I haven't uninstalled it yet, as on the surface, it seems like a good app, but I would rather have the choice of not being a part of the 'community', and still receive updates, even if this means paying for it. Is this just me being selfish, or is anyone else concerned about privacy, and exactly how 'secure' any information being sent, actually is?

I also recommended it to a couple of other people, who have had it play havoc on their machines (blocking explorer access, refusing to uninstall), so I am starting to wonder if I want to keep it myself. It's great that it's free, but does 'free' come at a price?

 

I also wanted an answer to your question. I am a CH user since a while back wanting to add another kind of software/layer to my protection.

Btw a new version is on the way and I think this one will have improved keylogger protection - in testing the next version it detected Martins Undecteable - will be interesting to see - hope aigle tests it.

CH support always answers promptly.

Quote
Hello--

Thank you for your inquiry. I can certainly understand the confusion regarding this question, but I believe the original poster may have misunderstood how the Cyberhawk Secure Community actually works.

If a Cyberhawk user has agreed to participate in the Secure Community it means that they are agreeing to share information about any Cyberhawk alerts with Novatix only, NOT with other members of the secure community. Sharing certain information about a potential new threat with Novatix aids Novatix in quickly identifying new threats and providing the best protection against them. Please see the program Options in Cyberhawk, under Community Protection, for the specific language about what may be collected in your version of Cyberhawk. ALL INFORMATION COLLECTED IS HELD COMPLETELY CONFIDENTIAL AND IS USED SOLELY TO AID IN IDENTIFYING NEW THREATS. It is certainly not shared with other members of the secure community.

In your current version of Cyberhawk you may have seen prompts after an alert asking if you'd like to forward a copy of a file for analysis to Novatix. In the next update, you will no longer see this prompt and copies of any files that have triggered an alert will automatically be sent to Novatix. Again, the information transmitted is held in complete confidence and is used only to aid in analysis for identifying new threats or to identify a false positive so that overall program performance and protection can be improved.

In addition to stating what is transmitted in the Options section of Cyberhawk, we have also always listed this information in our Privacy Policy on our website:

http://www.novatix.com/Privacy.aspx

The next version of Cyberhawk (due within a week or so) will also have the following language included in the Cyberhawk EULA to make it clear that a copy of any file triggering an alert will be shared with Novatix for analysis:

If a potentially malicious behavior is detected, the Software will prompt an action to "Allow" or "Deny" the process in question. Information regarding this event is collected and transmitted to Novatix. This information may include the reason a program alert triggered, the history of relevant events that led to the event, the decision you made regarding this alert, a copy of the file that triggered the alert and any relevant IP address. This data is transmitted solely for research and analysis purposes to aid in determining whether a process is malicious in nature. Sample malware files collected may be shared with other security providers for the sole purpose of creating signatures to protect against further spread of the specific threats. All information and file samples are held completely confidential and are not tracked back to individual users. Each installation of the Software is also associated with a unique anonymous identifier that does not include any personal data and is used solely to help track the total number of active users.

Data about any new threat may also be shared with other security providers, again solely to provide better protection against these threats. This is not tracked back to individual users.

Down the road a Pro version of Cyberhawk will be available for a small fee that may have more flexibility in these Community Protection Options settings. We're still in the process of defining this.

I hope that this helps explain why we wish to receive data on Cyberhawk program alerts. There are other "community-based" security programs out there that operate in a similar fashion and collect data from users on potential new threats. This is proving to be a very quick way to learn about new threats due to the fact that our many users see much more and reach much farther out than we alone can.

Novatix does take privacy concerns very seriously and we have always operated under full disclosure. We never, ever sell or rent any personally identifiable information of our users. And in fact, since we have a unique application id associated with the transmission of any data back to Novatix we do not even require any personal information such as name, address or even email addresses from our users. This allows users to be more anonymous than if they were using a program that required this type of registration information.

Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns.

Best regards,

Becky Dubrow
Unquote

Best Regards
Rivalen

 

Go to rules settings, custum rules, add your games (Steam) to the trusted processes. CyberHawk is low on resources (way faster than e.g. PrevX), so I do not understand the slow down of IE and OE

 

That does explain things well. Unfortunately, I have had to (with difficulty) remove Cyberhawk from my machine, as it was slowing things down very significantly. Among other things, I tried to run a registry cleaner, which found over 200 'dead' entries. The removal process was taking out one item per second with CH running. Once CH was uninstalled, the 200 entries were removed in less than 2 seconds! Sorry, but unless the new version is significantly improved in this area, the compromise of speed is too great for me to continue using CH. Emails and browsing was also very much slowed down. At the time, all I had running was KIS, and AVGAS, and I can only assume a conflict with one of these programs, which are both paid for, so I am disinclined to remove them.

 

==> You are right it is not a show stopper for me, as said before it is a good low noise solution (I use Antivr + CB + DefenseWall + XP DEP)

 

==> Just unselect the community protection (which I did)

 

Yes, but doing that disables the updates, which after a while, will render the app about as much use as a chocolate teapot. I couldn't see a way to manually update it, unless the trick is to enable the community thing, wait for it to update, then disable it again. Seems like a lot of faffing about to me, and as I said above, it drained too much on my resources, so I'm not going to use it anyway.