Interesting Quote from Host at PrevX1 Forum

Begin Quote:

"We have been reviewing our current position and have concluded that the current policy of not blocking tests and test malware is confusing for the user community. For this reason, we will shortly be changing our position on this and will be starting to block the execution of tests and test malware. File scans may pick-up test malware files already.

Detection of such a test will trigger your 32-day free cleanup protection period."

End Quote...

I like PrevX1, particularly it's Event Notification ability to see what is happening with a small box that pops up (requires no interaction).

I have, however, been concerned with it's problem with not passing the AV Comparitives tests....it did the worst of all those tested. If this new policy is implemented, and it scores well in tests, then I will have alot more confidence in the program.

 

This decision by Prevx should potentially help their sales from 2 standpoints...

1- By passing the various tests Prevx will instill greater confidence in its ability to protect against malware.

2- By triggering the 30-day grace period, the fact that Prevx will henceforth *react* to test (not real) malware could reduce its free-of-cost trial period & thus enhance sales potential.

 

And another:

Bellgamin:

Yes, but I think they are worried about this backfiring: as long as the "trial" was "free for life", you could imagine this as a real inducement to buy when something popped up. Now if all users go to a test site to "try it out" then their 30 day period of grace starts and it might be easier for any interested parties to go elsewhere?

But I do think testers want to test the claims and see the utility in action if they can.

Difficult situation for PX operators.

@silver0066: seen you pushing the envelope in that forum.

I like this tool and will stick with it for the immediate future ( heh, despite what i feel may be slightly over hyped claims to this point cf: the AV-C tests.) but is not he only safety net on my box

Regards.

 

Yes it is tricky for them. But the way i see it, if you want to test Prevx1 in that way, don't come crying. So it's not real malware, it's a test. Did it pass? LOL
Pay up

 

This whole situation makes me laugh. They offer the product free to protect and clean up your first infection. Then if it stops the next infection the 30 day countdown starts. I mean come on! How good is that!!! Bloody brilliant. Most paid for software gives you max 30 days to try before you buy. Plenty others give you less, and in those 30 days you might get no infections. So your 30 days are up whether it proved it protected you or not. Prevx1 could in theory protect you for life if you never got infected. But what makes me laugh is all the people you see complaining about losing their "Free" status if they try it against 'Test Malware'. You can test it once and it's still free after that. Test it again(or have a real life infection attempt) and it counts down 30 days. With this trial set-up Prevx1 gives you a lot more than all the other paid for vendors give you. You have anything from 30 days to infinity. How can anyone complain about that!

muf

 

Hi muf.

Glad you like the pricing model

Just to be clear though for the lurkers on this thread:

The first infection will trigger the 30 day countdown. So a test malware will start your countdown immediately. One important point to note though... a point that the 500 or so users we see reinstalling every day don't seem to realise, is this:

Uninstalling Prevx1 after your first infection DOES NOT suspend your 30 day trial countdown!!!!

If you install again after say 25 days, you'll only be granted a 5 day cleanup period. So you would have lost 25 days of free cleanup. Prevx1 is designed to be fit and forget, so do just that

Also, unlike many other vendors, we allow you to buy 1 months or 3 months cleanup at a time if you wish, you don't have to buy a whole year. Current pricing in £uk (as that's where I am so that's what I can see from the web-site) is:

Individual:

12 months: £14.50 - Best buy
3 months: £5.75
1 month: £2.85
Price in your local currency is here.

Family (4 PCs):

12 months: £37.00 (that's £9.25 per PC!! )
Price in your local currency is here.

Bulk/Enterprise Pricing is here.

And finally, although they are rare, if your 30 day countdown is triggered by a false positive, please contact support and we will reset your 30 day count-down.

Regards,

ghiser1

 

No arguments here: I commented previously.

The pricing model is very innovative, very good value and competitive!!

You want a "good' trial,
get the free trial,
run it against every test you can find, or malware sample you've got
see it in action,
( you find a weakness, we all benefit immediately ),
dont like: ditch,
like:get the "90 days": just over 10c/day, and go from there !!

My 12 month's works out to < 10c/day.

 

HHmm
Dont get me wrong here but the comment above gives me some concern.
I accept your right to protect your investment and avoid exploitation; however, from the FAQ

I'm not sure this gels.
Would you care to expand a bit?

Regards

 

wait I just got a bunch of stuff trying to get passed prevx i didn't know what it was so i freaked out and did a system restore. What happens now?

 

You have to connect to their database to install. Your computer has a unique number that allows tracking - otherwise people could cheat the system.

 

How can you be concerned? How would this make you think personal data is being sent? It just needs to know that computer 12652134 was on trial, detected malware, uninstalled, reinstalled days later.

 

Ok
That's fine if thats it.
Your explanation may be a bit superficial: how are the different boxes identified?
?IP addy alone?
That would presumptively be bypassed by using proxies if someone wanted to.
Believe me I'm not too concerned just wondering.
There are (AFAIK heh) no other apps that have the same access to my files

How is 12652134 re-identified?

Nothing to be alarmed about I've got nothing to hide

BUT:How did you get my ID no? lol

Paranoia is never enough on it's own.

regards

 

That kind of paranoia is healthy i think. One must know what runs in our computer.
I think they had an audit of some sort to check what was being sent. Ghiser1?
I think they were a private firm, though i would be happier if it was a consumer association that does that sort of things on a regular basis. And has visibility/ reputation.
I'm not saying i'm worried, but it's like Bellgamin said in another thread about community based apps. With a M&A who knows if the new owners have any issues regarding privacy.

 

Hi Longboard,

When Prevx1 is installed it generates a deterministic but unique number that represents your machine - a machine ID if you like. When you activate Prevx1 that machine ID is passed to the central database. The DB looks it up and if its an ID that's been used before we know it's a reinstall. If its a new ID we know you're a new user.

When you buy a family or business license we tie you license key to your machine IDs. This allows you to see the machines using your license key in the control centre.

Hope that helps,

ghiser1

 

Prevx is now included in VirusTotal
http://blog.hispasec.com/virustotal/11

 

Oh well I must have just been really lucky. It stopped malware and went red and held the malware in the holding cell. I deleted the culprit file and it went green. There was no countdown started. Then after about another two weeks it stopped another malware and went red and held the malware in the holding cell, like previous. I removed the malware and then since that day it has counted down. I just presumed it allowed one cleanup for free and the next started the countdown. Must have been a bug and I got an 'extra' block for free. Anyway, thanks for the clarification.

muf

 

IMO they're getting greedy. This thing used to have a free version now they need to make it less and less functional for free. It's not even that great on some test results.

 

As for trials, this is the most honest one. If you test it and it passes WHAT WERE YOU EXPECTING?

 

There has been some confusion, so I think it's actually worth pointing out that Prevx1 R was never meant to be freeware. It was the ongoing beta version, which was offered free of charge in return for your help in reporting bugs and working with us to get them fixed. Only a limited number of beta testers are needed, so it was closed to the public after exceeding 10,000 testers. When that number drops sufficiently it will be opened back up for public download, but testers are expected to give feedback.

If, however, you're refering to the old Prevx Home, that was a very different piece of software. That was a pure behavior blocker, where the newer Prevx1 is focused on specifically identifying and removing malware, which does require daily updates by a dedicated team of analysts, which requires more resources than something that only requires updates a few times a year and less staff.

 

I was referring to Prevx home. I realize it was different, but it's just plain greed to not let us download the old version. It was pure HIPS if I recall so it's not as though it can get out of date. They shouldn't have pulled the Prevx Home download from every site, so as to force us to get to Prevx1 and basically, pay up. Ridiciulous greed IMO...

 

But this program is what £13? For the protection that you get I cannot call that greedy.

 

I guess everything but free is greedy

 

Prevx1 is innovative both in its strategy to prevent malware and in its pricing model.

I’m a big advocate of Prevx1 and other companies that take a dynamic approach to malware.

 

£1 per month. I find that totally reasonable. Is someone going to give you a free car, free house, free holiday, free food, free drinks? Great if you can get it, but in life not everything is free. In fact most things aren't free. There's plenty of software out there way more expensive. I believe Prevx1 is priced extremely reasonably in a very competitive market. Not only that but it provides a lot of protection for the money.

muf