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Viral balls-ups
Apr. 12th, 2009 12:01 pmI use a program from a company called IdleMiner to "grab" hand histories from the Pacific poker site, because the Pacific system doesn't offer that facility. PacificHandGrabber is a useful little tool, but it does behave kind of oddly. First, it won't start unless the Idleminer web site is up and running. Doubtless some IT geek can explain to me like, duh, obviously, dude, 'cos how could the QRNS interface with the DNS underflow otherwise?' but it doesn't seem to me that it HAS to be this way.
Anyhoo, I suspect that this little foible of IdleMiner has caused McAfee all-of-a-sudden to decide that HandGrabbber.exe is Malware and a trojan. I'm note alone in this. Others have posted on 2+2 (see, the site does have some uses) to state that the same thing has happened to them.
I solved the problem by hunting through McAfee and finding the "Restore" option. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell McAfee that a program is "safe". So, obviously, the next time a scan took place, it quarantined the program again.
I emailed McAfee about this. I didn't mention the other two things, like the pathetically non-intuitive way you have to enter a phone number to get the feedback to accept it as a phone number (has it occurred to no-one there that it might just be an idea to give an example of the format that is "valid", rather than just say "invalid format"?) or the fact that you can't override the quarantine for specified programs. I've discovered that it's best just to mention one thing at a time.
McAfee offers "real-time Internet chat". I've fallen for this trick in the past. By "real time Internet chat" they mean "someone who is a total fuckwit will say 'can you hold for a while' and leave you sitting there like a lemon, wathing your life pass by." You can easily waste two hours in 'real-time internet chat'. So, better to email them and wait.
This is the reply I got back. As I said to them in my next response, this is a bit like emailing a garage to explain that an indicator is faulty, and then getting an email back saying what the function of the indicator is and how it works:
The one key takeaway I get from this is that McAfee thinks that by just automating your name at the start of three paragraphs, you will think it's a 'personal' response, rather than just something that a dick-fuck has taken from the "database of answers" under "Artemis" -- that being the keyword in my complaint.
The second takeaway from this message therefore is that, like most IT companies, McAfee thinks that all non-IT people are stupid morons because they don't understand geekspeak.
The third takeaway is that McAfee clearly don't actually read the emailed complaints.
So, I'm quite looking forward to the survey that McAfee send me. I also really hope that someone there gets to read this because they have Google Alerts working.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Anyhoo, I suspect that this little foible of IdleMiner has caused McAfee all-of-a-sudden to decide that HandGrabbber.exe is Malware and a trojan. I'm note alone in this. Others have posted on 2+2 (see, the site does have some uses) to state that the same thing has happened to them.
I solved the problem by hunting through McAfee and finding the "Restore" option. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell McAfee that a program is "safe". So, obviously, the next time a scan took place, it quarantined the program again.
I emailed McAfee about this. I didn't mention the other two things, like the pathetically non-intuitive way you have to enter a phone number to get the feedback to accept it as a phone number (has it occurred to no-one there that it might just be an idea to give an example of the format that is "valid", rather than just say "invalid format"?) or the fact that you can't override the quarantine for specified programs. I've discovered that it's best just to mention one thing at a time.
McAfee offers "real-time Internet chat". I've fallen for this trick in the past. By "real time Internet chat" they mean "someone who is a total fuckwit will say 'can you hold for a while' and leave you sitting there like a lemon, wathing your life pass by." You can easily waste two hours in 'real-time internet chat'. So, better to email them and wait.
This is the reply I got back. As I said to them in my next response, this is a bit like emailing a garage to explain that an indicator is faulty, and then getting an email back saying what the function of the indicator is and how it works:
Dear Peter ,
Thank you for contacting McAfee Technical Support. My name is Arun. Having reviewed your e-mail regarding “Artemis Issue”, I would be happy to help you in resolving this issue.
Peter , Using advanced technologies from McAfee Avertr Labs, McAfee Artemis Technology offers real-time security using a combination of signature and behavior analysis with community threat intelligence.
McAfee Artemis Technology will quickly notify you if the file should be blocked or quarantined through the following steps:
1. You get a file that VirusScan deems suspicious and for which there is no signature in the .DAT database on your computer.
2. Using McAfee Artemis Technology, your computer sends a fingerprint of the file for instant lookup to the comprehensive database at McAfee Avert Labs.
3. In less than a second, if the fingerprint is identified as known malware, an appropriate response is sent to you to block or quarantine the file.
Using McAfee Artemis Technology requires no effort on your part. We have automatically added this additional protection for our customers. In the future, you may see that a suspicious file has been quarantined or blocked. You can identify this as being an Artemis detection by its name, which will begin with the word Artemis.
Peter , we hope that we’ve answered your questions effectively. If not, feel free to contact support again. Please include all previous correspondence when replying.
Please run the McAfee Virtual Technician (MVT) and check whether your issue has been resolved or not. If not please mention the MVT ID number in your next interaction.
The link for the MVT is http://mvt.mcafee.com/mvt/mvtapp.exe
If you find it difficult to follow these steps feel free to contact our free technical support chat option at http://service.mcafee.com/LocaleSelect.aspx?lc=1033&sg=TS&pt=1&st=CHAT
Peter , you may receive a survey from McAfee in the next couple of days that will give you an opportunity to provide feedback on the support we’ve offered. This information will be used to further improve our support. Thank you for contacting the McAfee Technical Support.
Regards,
Arun Ajay
McAfee Technical Support
The one key takeaway I get from this is that McAfee thinks that by just automating your name at the start of three paragraphs, you will think it's a 'personal' response, rather than just something that a dick-fuck has taken from the "database of answers" under "Artemis" -- that being the keyword in my complaint.
The second takeaway from this message therefore is that, like most IT companies, McAfee thinks that all non-IT people are stupid morons because they don't understand geekspeak.
The third takeaway is that McAfee clearly don't actually read the emailed complaints.
So, I'm quite looking forward to the survey that McAfee send me. I also really hope that someone there gets to read this because they have Google Alerts working.
+++++++++++++++++++++
