Prevx Home calling home

Yes, I dislike KAV 5.0 because of ADS and because KAV listens to its customers it is removing ADS from 6.0. I think this is very positive. In the meantime, 4.5 is plenty good for me.

I thought McAfee should have daily auto updates for its home customers and because McAfee listens to its customers, I understand it is moving toward providing daily Auto updates for its customers. I like companies that do what is best for its user base.

I thought Wilders is about conversation, sharing ideas, and improving the security environment as a whole. In this case, I was politely responding to another forum member, who addressed me personally. As for this thread, it seems to bother you a lot. Have you thought about unsubscribing as a way of managing this situation as opposed to trying to stop others from conversing?

Rich

 

I had a small problem with Prevx and wrote to them. The guy that answered my email was very polite and just like that gave me my money back. I seen it on my credit card later that day. I had the pro version so I could turn off the so called spy part but dealing with them was very positive. Anyway that`s all I got to say about that...

 

Hi,

Yes, I agree. Their responses on their forum are very polite and comprehensive.

I was never able to get the Pro version running, possibly because of some conflicts. It also left some weird residule "ghost pop-up" whenever I restarted, after I uninstalled it. I could only get rid of it by doing a full image restore. I never followed-up on it since I was not going to purchase the product in any case.

Rich

 

Hi richrf.

I no longer have it on my machine either but was lucky enough to have it uninstall without any problems. I have enough stuff on here now that along with Prevx it was classed by me as overkill.

 

So as long as they do what you want, they are good companies?

Sheesh, I make one post commenting on how everyone has pet grievances on at least one software, and you think I'm targetting you. Get over yourself.

It's funny to see them post the same attacks on forum after forum, if you didn't know better, the software robbed their homes, killed their families and whatnot to inspire such hatred

Have you thought that not everything is about you? And no, I'm not suscribed to this thread.

 

George Bernard Shaw:

"Criticism of others is writing your own autobiography".

Think about it next time you want to talk about other people - especially those that you don't know anything about.

Rich

 

Excellent Aphorism Rich

 

Hi Jeremy,

I always remind myself of this one, whenever I find myself criticizing others - either overtly or even silently in my own mind. Keeps me honest.

Rich

 

In a way this thread had bizarrely amused me. I have PrevX Pro since about a month ago....I got the pro version because I didn't want PrevX PAWS to be phoning home.

However, and here's the reason this thread seems so strange to me - upon purchasing it (after reading a few reviews, and almost immediately after downloading the free version).

- I knew that PAWS collated process interaction data
- I knew that PAWS would phone home fairly regularly (if not as often as it does)
- I knew that PrevX used PAWS for research, and also sold the data

This was all spelled out to me from reading their website, and from a minimal of research. In no way did it ever seem to me like PrevX was trying to hide anything. All the information was in easy reach.

The only oddity I have found, and only from reading these forums (as my version doesnt dial home) was the frequency of dial homes...and a further oddity is that many people are experiencing a different level of dial home attempts...ie some people experience it, according to the replies here, every 5 seconds, some every 30 seconds, some every minutes, some every 5 minutes, some ever few hours. Programmed correctly the frequency of regular dial home should be EXACTLY the same. This indicates to me that there is probably a bug in the program. Still, whatever the cause, it's something they have to fix.

The other thing that I find I am unable to fathom, is anyone calling it spyware.

Spyware does the following things as far as I know :
1 Installs without your permission/knowledge
2 Collects personal information/behaviours
3 Collects personal information/behaviours without your permission
4 sends information out without your permission/knowledge
5 Trys to prevent uninstalls
6 sells that information

Prevx doesnt fit 1
Prevx doesnt fit 2 - it doesn't collect personal information, it monitors and collates process interaction that breaches its polices...so it can say nothing about you as a person, nor your behaviours
Prevx doesnt fit 3 - its website spells out 2, and not in fine print
Prevx doesnt fit 4 - it tells you it does this. The only concern being the frequency (see above)... but... what's the difference between say once a day, and 20 times a day? in reality - nothing - because once a day, a log would be kept for the purposes they say).
PrevX doesnt fit 5
PrevX fits 6 - and they tell you they do.

Basically PrevX fits nothing of the spyware bill except selling information....but once more, this 'information' is purely process interaction info.

So for the loss of no personal information, for the loss of no behavioural information...you get a very good product...and prevx collates process interactions info <that breaches Prevx security policies>....

<shrugs>

I don't understand all the fuss myself. If you don't like it, don't use it, but why keep repeating the same lines over and over and over again ? I don't quite understand it.

Personally, I am very happy with PrevX pro

 

Just had another thought...

often, my 'alerts' in the event history tab of Prevx will easily exceed 50 or so alerts in a short period of time...most of these alerts are just informational alerts saying some action has been allowed.

The number of alerts varies depending on what program I am using, and what I am doing with that program.

Has anyone checked the alerts log vs the log for when PrevX dials home ?

My guess is that these two logs will match up, in which case PrevX is doing exactly what it says it does <in regards to dialing home>

This would explain why different people are experiencing different frequencies of dial home.

 

Look who's talking about "other people" now.

 

Hi Vikorr,

"I have PrevX Pro since about a month ago....I got the pro version because I didn't want PrevX PAWS to be phoning home."

Precisely. And many people, such as myself were surprised to discover Prevx phoning home so often. I only discovered it after another user called into question the frequency of calls. Why the "surprise"? Because Prevx states on its Prevx Home download page:

"Prevx Home anonymously and automatically sends us threat data each time an attack is made on your PC."

This is absolutely untrue. Or, as it has been discovered, only part of the truth, because what Prevx is actually doing is (as per their statement on their forum):

"What the product is sending - in Home always, in Pro optionally, is behaviour data of your machine. That means, everything that happens on your machine which violates one or more of your Prevx Security Settings (if you have turned them on only ofcourse) will be reported to Prevx. We also call that 'Attack Data' coz we treat every breach of policies as an attack. So everytime you get an alert as a popup or in your event-history - this alert is also queued up for being sent to Prevx - not more, not less."

So for Prevx, any time an alert is given, they consider it an "attack". A very liberal definition, since most people would interpret an attack as a bonafide attack by some malware, not any accesss to a user's program or system file area - all being very acurately recorded and being sent to Prevx's collection databases for its own use (the purpose of which is not clear to me, since most of the best security software on the market are able to accomplish their task without collecting real-time data on their customers) and :

"Prevx compiles and supplies summary, near real time, threat statistics to commercial organizations from time to time in return for a subscription fee."

Well, I am not interested in participating.

The reason some people have called this spyware, is because: (from Spyware Guide):

"Spyware covertly gathers user information and activity without the user’s knowledge."

If someone knows exactly what Prevx is doing (does all of the requisite research), then it could be hardly called spyware, but it is still pretty intrusive. However, if someone thinks that Prevx is only calling home "attack" information ("attack" defined in the traditional and accepted sense), then I think that person could easily call it spyware.

At this point, anyone who has read this thread and Prevx's statement on their own forum has probably ample knowledge of what Prevx Home is doing and can make their own decisions. I decided not to use Prevx Home for exactly the same reason you didn't. I don't like Prevx calling home. I decided not to purchase the Pro version (even though it didn't work on my system, I was going to buy a license in any case to support the company) because I rather put my dollars to support companies like DiamondCS, Kaspersky, Greatis, Merijn, etc. who are able to develop top of the class products without collecting data about my behavior. It is simply my choice.

I hope this makes my points clear. The thread has been very long and the basic issues may have been lost somewhere. But I think this pretty much reflects the reasons others, as well as myself, have decided not to use Prevx software.

Rich

 

Yup, that made a lot of sense to me.

Just didn't understand why the thread was going over the same issues numerous times.

 

Thanks Vikorr. I am glad that we understand each other now, whether or not we totally agree.

As for why the thread is going on for so long. My guess is that people want to state their own views on the issue - one way or another. They are certainly entitled. The product is a good product, but has an issue that concerns many people.

Cya,
Rich

 

Very good post Richrf.I was using PrevX in the stage of beta and dropped it as soon as i saw this irritatingly frequent need to phone home.The fact that doesn't hide the fact that it ll collect "attack" data from my Pc (anything that causes a pop-up,so even a simple program that you install and runs at startup that will cause a popup is considered "attack" and be reported home-a bit too much for my taste),doesn't make it less uncomfortable for me.I ve Webshots desktop (a little program to change wallpapers) that during the installation warns you that unless you untick a box,Gator will also be installed.The fact that they warn me,doesn't mean that Gator automatically becomes non-spyware(yes,the comparison with Gator is an extreme,but it's the same eula type).Since i also differ on the definition of "attack" (and i wouldn't want to find out later that there is another point that they interpret differently too that we all ignore now) and feel uncomfortable when a security application pops up in the firewall logs all the time,i chose to remove it and i m quite happy about it.

 

Thanks Hyperion,

It is an interesting position that Prevx has staked out, defining any access to a System, Program file folder, or Registry as an "attack".

I would prefer that they clearly state on their Download Page that they are "Collecting information any time a Prevx pop-up alert appears on the screen for whatever reason." I think this is far more informative and correct.

Cya,
Rich

 

Hi Peter,

The issue for myself is certainly not the dollars. I was going to pay Prevx for a full license whether or not I used the Pro product (I never got the Pro product running on my machine).

For me, it is a question whether I want to buy into the product and the company. Do I want to help Prevx fund its efforts as well as purchasing a product for my own use? I believe it supporting companies that support me. However, in the case of Prevx, I felt that they were misleading customers about the real nature of the reporting of their Home product, and it was for this reason I decided not to use their Home version (I could firewall it - but it seems absurd to me to firewall a security product) or licensed Pro product.

There are many good security product companies out there and I purchase products or donate money from those who I feel are advancing security in the direction of ensuring user privacy and data security. I hope this better explains my point-of-view.

Rich

 

Hi Peter,

I guess it wasn't entirely clear in my message. I was referring to Prevx Home.

"However, in the case of Prevx, I felt that they were misleading customers about the real nature of the reporting of their Home product, and it was for this reason I decided not to use their Home version (I could firewall it - but it seems absurd to me to firewall a security product) or licensed Pro product."

It was suggested by some forum members that one way to get around Prevx's monitoring was to block Prevx. However, I find the idea dubious since, to me, there seems to be something fundamentally wrong with using a firewall to block a security product. In other words, if I don't trust the security software and the company that makes the security product, then it seems that I shouldn't be using the product to begin with. Ditto for the Pro version. When I give security software access to my system (e.g. in my situation give it ProcessGuard "allow always permission"), I feel that I must entirely trust the product and the company that is producing it. In this case, I never got past the "trust" issue with Prevx for the reasons I have stated. Other forum members have echoed similar misgivings.

Rich

 

Mornin' Peter,

I feel that there may be a trend toward putting "behavior monitoring" logic in free products, and I certainly do not want to support any security company that participates in this trend. Security companies, I believe, should be tracking and alerting about any products that do such things - not become like them.

Among the very excellent free security products that I have, and have tried in the past, include Ad-aware, Spybot, HijackThis, Spywareblaster and SpywareGuard. I have donated to all of these companies because I believe in paying for good security and to continue to support these companies' efforts now and in the future.

I also prefer working with companies that are black and white on this issue, because, for me, security software must be beyond reproach. For example, Ghost Security is very clear about their product:

http://ghostsecurity.com/index.php?page=regdefend

FREE! Try RegDefend for 14 days!
No spyware, adware or junkware

This is what I am looking for. A totally clean, simple to install, easy to use piece of security software with no if, ands or buts, or liberal definition of what constitutes an "attack". The security company must be completely beyond reproach because their software can do anything it wants once it is on my system. Right now I feel comfortable giving DiamondCS (ProcessGuard) and Ghost Security (RegDefend) these kind of rights on my system. I am, and probably always will be, decidedly uncomfortable with Prevx (once a company decides to sell info to third parties, it is almost impossible to reverse direction).

However, there seems to be other new products like Antimalware and KAV 6.0 with proactive protection coming out, so I am sure that there will be lots of good products and good companies to choose from in the future.

Cya,

Rich