Every blogger, journalist, and even some credible IT professionals have been jumping on the news that Microsoft is releasing it’s FREE to consumer’s Security Essentials software tomorrow – Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 9 AM Pacific time.

Are you people crazy or are you just that starved for attention?

Where in your neuro-transmitters have you made a connection that Microsoft equals secure anything?

One of the posts I read even stated the most ludicrous thing I’ve ever heard when it mentioned that this free product would give the main security vendors serious competition. I think the blogger is on crack.

And if this post sounds jaded, sarcastic, and just downright mean, well good! I’m glad I’m getting my point across!

Any software company who makes operating systems as unsecure as all of Microsoft’s has no right to claim they know anything about security! If they knew about security, wouldn’t they know how to make a secure Operating System? Hello?

I would trust Linux with a security software! I would trust Mozilla with a security software! Microsoft? NEVER!

In a more recent article at InformationWeek.com we get this genius quote from the “let’s all play nice” CEO of AVG:

“J.R. Smith, CEO of AVG, says Microsoft’s new offering will be good for consumers and good for the security market overall because it will raise awareness that security products are necessary. He expects that companies like AVG, Kaspersky, and Symantec will be able to provide more extensive protection than Microsoft is offering.”

(Source: http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/app-security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=218100195&subSection=Vulnerabilities+and+threats)

However, I really like Lockergnome’s take on it all far better!

Certainly the sheeple will applaud this effort, as they are too lazy to check the many free offerings from companies whose purpose is to combat the digital nastiness, and glean the fact that a couple of gems are actually in the mix.

(Source: http://www.lockergnome.com/theoracle/2009/06/17/will-microsofts-security-essentials-be-essential-to-you/)

And to be brutally honest with you, faithful loyal reader, Microsoft should be considered malware!

After all, what would you call software that digitally spies on you? Malware!

What would you call software that performs stealth updates on your system? Malware!

What would you call software that sells you information to third party providers? Malware!

Oh and I have much, much, more! Just wait until tomorrow’s post!

US-Cert has just issued a security alert affecting Adobe Reader versions 9.1.1 and earlier & Adobe Acrobat (Standard, Professional, and 3D) versions 9.1.1 and earlier warning about vulnerabilities that exist that allow an attacker to take control of your computer.

The recommended course of action is to disable JavaScript capabilities in both software.

In Acrobat Preferences menu:

• Open the Edit menu.
• Select Preferences.
• Choose JavaScript.
• Un-check Enable Acrobat JavaScript.

Disable the display of PDF documents in the web browser.

To prevent PDF documents from automatically being opened in a web browser, do the following:

• Open Adobe Acrobat Reader.
• Open the Edit menu.
• Choose the Preferences option.
• Choose the Internet section.
• Un-check the Display PDF in browser check box.

Do not open unfamiliar or unexpected PDF documents.

Read the Adobe Security Bulletin with links to update your product(s) – at the end of the bulletin – here:

http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb09-07.html

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If you are a user of any Intuit products such as:

• Quickbooks  (US, Canada & UK)
• Quicken (US, Canada & UK)
• TurboTax
• Innovative Merchant Solutions
• ProSeries and ProSeries Express – tax years 2003-2006
• ImpôtRapide (Canada)
• QuickTax (Canada)
• Clearly Bookkeeping (UK)

There is a a potential security vulnerability which involves AnswerWorks software, which is licensed from Vantage and developed on Microsoft’s ActiveX platform. It’s used in the “Help” feature of the affected Intuit products.

You will need to download and install a patch to help protect you!

The patch links are available here:

http://about.intuit.com/support/security/

Join us tomorrow morning, June 10, 2009 on BlogTalk Radio at 10 AM CDT where we will have guest Richard Stiennon, security expert and industry analyst.

Richard is known for shaking up the industry and providing actionable guidance to vendors and end users. He recently re-launched the security blog ThreatChaos.com and is the founder of IT-Harvest, an independent analyst firm that researches the 1,200 IT security vendors. He was Chief Marketing Officer for Fortinet, Inc. the leading UTM vendor. Prior to that he was VP Threat Research at Webroot Software. Before Webroot, Mr. Stiennon was VP Research at Gartner Inc. where he covered security topics including firewalls, intrusion detection, intrusion prevention, security consulting, and managed security services for the Security and Privacy group. He is a holder of Gartner’s Thought Leadership award and was named “One of the 50 most powerful people in Networking” by NetworkWorld Magazine.

Join us live at TechnicalTidbits BlogTalk Radio!