I hope Kaspersky Team Reads This!

I wrote this post over at Kaspersky's forum:

http://forum.kaspersky.com/index.php?showtopic=80760&st=0#entry731442

I hope some of you are in the same boat as me, because I don't know about you, but I just want an ANTIVIRUS program, that's ALL I need, can't they just stick by the name? After all they call one an ANTIVIRUS program, so
PLEASE just give us an AV program, I mean what's with the security and recovery tools, you already have an Internet Security program, can't they just keep them in there...

SHeeeesh, it's all I've got to say...

P.S. I'm saying here in the post, 'I' just want an AV program, but I also later say, PLEASE just give, 'US'.

This post isn't just about me, it's about acknowledging the experienced user-base, and giving them something too.

 

yeah. you are true.
i miss old kaspersky antivirus.
but now
kaspersky is a bloatware and overkill

symantec learned what user want
i hope kaspersky learn it

 

Perhaps only an AV is oldfashioned (I am serious)

Gerard

 

You're my man: I third your opinion. Kaspersky is becoming bloatware.

This is one of the reasons I have started using Dr.Web: just an "old fashioned" lean and mean powerful AV without all the bells and whistles.

I'm still using KAV on one of my partitions though; detection wise it is a powerhouse. Despite this, when renewal time comes I am not sure this time. Last 5 years I renewed without even thinking about another AV.

Security advisor tells me, among other things, there is a high security risk when using MS Word 2000. Nice to know. What to do next ? Don't use it anymore?

 

DasFox,

The etiquette of cross forum postings is questionable at best. If you wish to have a discussion, it is best to have it in one place (and the appropriate subforum to boot - hence the move of this thread to a more appropriate home).

That said, I would reiterate the first response provided by saso to your original post and reinforce that with the observation that KAV/KIS (since V6) has implemented a very modular design which allows you to pick and choose the specific program modules to install. Don't like the Proactive Defense module? Fine, don't install it.

In fact, if a stripped down vanilla AV only is what you desire, it is a trivial exercise to obtain just that with the current commercial release of KAV/KIS via a custom installation (or via a modification of the install for an installed product - simply initiate the uninstall procedure and choose Modify to adjust to your hearts content). Note, this is very different than simply deselecting features from a main menu, which is the usual case with software.

If you want lean, you can get lean. In fact, that is precisely what I do with KAV/KIS on my own machines.

Blue

 

Indeed - I don't have a problem with the extra features. The OP seems bothered by

Anti-Phishing
Security Analyzer
Browser Configuration
System Restore
Rescue Disk


All nice features that average user will find useful. How can you have a problem with the recovery disk - it is a link to a download of Bartpe could be useful in removing infections.

 

Thanx Blue
I couldn't have said it better myself

 

norton is not a light av !

 

I agree... If you have option to don't install something I see no problem...

 

this goes for 99% of all av's out there also if you don't like the options DON'T install them. this honestly can be applied to many posts of this nature.

 

Actually, that's not quite the case. There's a difference between feature set disabling (which is the typical course) and modular installation. I'm sure other products follow this scheme, but 99%? I don't think so...

Blue

 

I'm not bothered by any of this, and yes you seem to be able to remove everything you don't want except the System Restore and Rescue Disk , has anyone seen a removal for those?

The point really is two things, first it's called an 'Antivirus' application, and then in the truest sense of the word, spyware/malware is not a virus, and security doesn't always mean issues with viruses and spyware/malware either. Also system recovery and rescue disks has nothing to do with just antivirus applications also, people use these features for many reasons...

Second point, Kaspersky already makes an Internet Security application, so why not just simply place all of these extra tools in their and just leave the AV as it is, what's the harm in that?

I replied back to the post over at KAV forums.

The problem I see here like many companies is they just want to start cramming a lot tools in one at people thinking this is what they need, but what they need to do is get EDUCATED, yes just like the users around here that know better at what they need and don't need.

For an AV I like to just us an AV program, then I have my hardware firewall for security, another program for system recovery, and another program for spyware/malware.

I applaud KAV for trying to make a nice application, there is nothing wrong with this, but if you're going to call it an ANTIVIRUS program, then PLEASE keep it just that!

P.S. BlueZannetti THANKS for letting us keep the post going, NOW please boys & girls keep it nice!

 

I guess you have to view the commercial motivation from the pure end user perspective. They don't want an AV, they don't want a firewall or HIPS, they don't want protection from X (whatever one chooses to focus on)...., they want security. At that point it becomes a voice of the customer exercise as to what they perceive as encompassing the trait referred to as "security". From a consumers perspective, this encompasses a lot, including many of the areas that you've labeled as not having to do with malware (and strictly speaking from a technical perspective, they don't).

You're approaching the situation from a functional solution perspective while the vast majority of users really don't care how the solution is realized, simply that a viable solution is achieved and that the solution covers the space that they've delineated as PC "security".

I suppose KL could play with the product names, but the market category is based on a historical legacy which has experienced a lot of creep over the years.

A final point to note is that many of the older applications that have maintained a functional purist approach (for example, anti-trojan applications, firewalls, and so on) are quicky losing commercial viability. In part, that is due to consumers redefining the scope of the basic category and the functional traits that are required to be considered suited at even a very basic level.

Blue

 

the rescue disk is incase your system is unbootable you use it to scan and remove viruses and malware from your computer.
surely removing malware and viruses is the job of an antivirus program? its hard to remove malware when the system is running these days so thats why rescue cd's are used. its not bloat.
there isnt any true viruses anymore. most of the malware these days is trojans,keyloggers spyware,rootkits. so antivirus companies have to keep up detect and remove these threats.
spyware can disable alot of componants of a computer so even an admin account can acces the control panel or my computer etc. the system restore function is used to restore those functions.
if antivirus programs only detected viruses they wouldnt need to detect anything since what you think of a traditional virus doesnt excist anymore and then the antivirus companies would go out of business.
antivirus companies are simply keeping up with the threats. signiture detection used to be enough to keep up with malware. but now there is so much malware HIPS modules are needed to block unknown malware before it infects your computer.

if you want a antivirus only product your gonna be hard pushed since all antivirus products detect malware because thats the main threat at this time.

you dont want to go back to 5 years ago when antivirus companie didnt know about spyware and malware because they was looking for traditional viruses and people didnt know why there computers was slow. i was in that boat and glad now antivirus products detect spyware and malware so i dont get infected. plus i know it excists so im more careful to the sites i visit and what i download and install.

a pure av product will most likely get you infected.
so you would rather pay say £30 to kaspersky for a pure av for a year, then say pay another companie £20 a year for antitrojan and then another £20 to another companie for antispyware?
when you could instead use kav2009 which detects all forms of malware,decent heristics and HIPS module to help block unknown malware. much better package,cheaper and not bloated.
adding a registry cleaner or backup app is bloat.

i dont like that fact it looks for vunrabilitys. i prefer to go to the securina website and run a scan their.

 

What's the problem? do just like me, install KAV with only the antimalware module enabled and discard other stuff, that's it.

 

And the last version you used was? Norton has indeed shed a lot of bloat and they along with EVERY AV company should continue to try and do better and monitor their product in that regard.

 

Sorry for any confusion I didn't mean to imply by having it only as a AV program to not include malware support, trojans, worms, etc... Of course in an AV application you'll want these.

Yes consumers nowadays want a one size fits all application, and there's nothing wrong with it for those that need it, but also the question has to be asked here, WHO do we really trust out there to just give us the ALL IN ONE APPLICATION? I certainly have not found anyone worthy enough to be the end all in everything, have you?

If Kaspersky wants to take this approach, at least allow the end-users to remove everything they don't want. So far you can remove everything in the Custom Setup except the system restore and rescue cd. If we now need to get on that subject of why would you want to remove these, well I'd rather trust using IFW for starters any day over KAV to do the job, wouldn't you?

 

You're really viewing this with the wrong glasses. The granularity that you're injecting into the discussion starts with some preconceived notions on your part. Those notions aren't wrong, but they are also not the sole way to look at the situation. Rather than one size fits all or an all-in-one application, think about it as one size fit one or a single application for a single task - security.

Again, you're injecting a granularity that is not necessarily a given and which many consumers simply do not see.

I'm looking for certain functionality and speed. For myself, it's a trade-off in speed/convenience and security functionality with the incremental security benefit being somewhat outweighed by the performance penalty (in my balancing scheme) for the specific modules I don't install. It's a qualitative judgement call.

Blue

 

I'm not seeing anything incorrect, I guess my point isn't being made clear here is all... I have no preconceived notions, I know how the software market works with different vendors and the types of users it targets. Kaspersky like many vendors believes they have a great product and they want to give a more complete solution to the end-user.

The consumers who don't see it are the consumers who are not experienced computer users, and that is the market Kaspersky targets, hoping to get in trying and using their product when they have designed something like this, or even the experienced users likes the product, either way, in the end it just gets down to personal preferences...

I'm just looking for something that does the job, and I personally don't believe having some of these tools helps me in providing better AV/Malware protection, because I've never needed them in the past, and I don't need them now, that's all, for me it's a personal preference, because I can maintain the safety without them. I find them non essential.

Thanks for your input, sorry for any confusion, I'm trying to be clear here with my wording...

 

If you're just looking for something that does the job...., what's wrong with the current field? You might not find it with KAV/KIS, but the products are there. I tend to view Dr Web as a good of example of a minimalist robust solution. They actually take some hits because of this. It's actually what's on the machine I'm using now (which is my primary machine).

Blue

 

I wasn't looking for a tool to use for myself personally, just trying to give feedback to the Kaspersky team was all.

If they would at least allow users to remove all the options from the Custom Setup, then this would be a good choice for many.

I also wouldn't mind trying it out if I could get rid of the System Restore and Rescue CD from the Custom Setup, just to take it for a whirl, but from what I can see there is no option to remove these two tools...

 

I agree with DasFox.....Kaspersky is eventually headed for a "rosy" bloatware. One more thing I'll like to say that the Vulnerability detection tool is quite useless, it has several false positives.

Kaspersky labs are making their Hats bigger and bigger, instead of adding feathers to the Hat.

What will you prefer a bigger Hat or a feather on Hat?

 

I seriously don't get your problem. You can turn off the web protection module and the phishing protection. Heck, you can turn off everything except the normal real-time protection.

 

Perhaps on your rig but on mine there were no false positives. Every reported vulnerability reported proved to have been correct (verified independantly), patched and a rerun of the scanner came up clean. An excellent feature IMHO.

I prefer a hat that keeps the rain off my head (covering more) rather than one that looks nice (with feathers).

But then again it may not suit everyone otherwise all the other security suite manufacturers would be out of business...and that would not be a good thing.

This version is lighter than ever, runs faster than ever and provides better than ever security...you wait until all the reputabel tests are in.

 

If your argument is " I want only AV and I will pay only for AV ". Then there is some merit to it.
Else I will have to side with Martijn2.