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Posted by =?Utf-8?B?YmlsbA==?= on September 2, 2005, 9:44 pm
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Hi, I am new to security issues, so, please be patient with my questions.
I have Windows XP Home sp2, Broadband, Router firewall, One Care Beta, and
varius anti-spyware.
I have just become aware, through One Care firewall notice, that programs
such as Real Player, Sonic Record Now, and MusicMatch are trying to access
the internet without my knowing it.
I set settings to disallow these programs access to the internet.
My question is: Is this what you more knowledgable users do? Is there a
downside for these settings?
Thanks for your comments.
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Posted by Arek Iskra [MVP] on September 3, 2005, 2:05 am
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> Hi, I am new to security issues, so, please be patient with my questions.
>
> I have Windows XP Home sp2, Broadband, Router firewall, One Care Beta, and
> varius anti-spyware.
>
> I have just become aware, through One Care firewall notice, that programs
> such as Real Player, Sonic Record Now, and MusicMatch are trying to access
> the internet without my knowing it.
>
> I set settings to disallow these programs access to the internet.
>
> My question is: Is this what you more knowledgable users do? Is there a
> downside for these settings?
>
> Thanks for your comments.
Greetings Bill,
Unfortunately, there is a very thin line between what is considered a
legitimate traffic being send from your computer to a 3rd party vendor, and
what can be simply consider as a violation of your privacy. A golden coin to
the one who can say for sure what is being transmitted back to software
maker, even if they claim they do not collect any personal data.
The software you have mentioned are well-known products. I use Sonic Record
here, but I opt not to send any information out (as you did). Simply because
I don't feel comfortable about it.
I would say the choice is yours. If you don't find that functionality of any
of the above products is somehow impaired by not allowing it to communicate
via Internet, then stay with it. Every now and then software vendors are
releasing updates to their products. You can grab them from their website.
And you can subscribe to their newsletter, so you will be up to speed when
it comes to critical updates (such as when security is a concern).
Personally, for products which I use, know and trust I don't mind to allow
automatic polling for updates (saves me time and trouble).
--
Arek Iskra
MVP for Windows Server - Software Distribution
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Posted by Robert Moir on September 3, 2005, 12:31 pm
If you were Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options
> Hi, I am new to security issues, so, please be patient with my
> questions.
>
> I have Windows XP Home sp2, Broadband, Router firewall, One Care
> Beta, and varius anti-spyware.
>
> I have just become aware, through One Care firewall notice, that
> programs such as Real Player, Sonic Record Now, and MusicMatch are
> trying to access the internet without my knowing it.
>
> I set settings to disallow these programs access to the internet.
>
> My question is: Is this what you more knowledgable users do? Is
> there a downside for these settings?
To follow on from Arek's helpful comments, it is simply a matter of trust
and perspective.
The 3 programs you are talking about are all "Internet enabled media
players" which like to do things like talk to central track databases so
that when you play a .mp3 (for example) it can pull down all the track
information, maybe a picture of the album cover, related links so that you
can buy more songs by this artist, preferably from the media player's
approved seller so they can get comission, etc.
To do this, it has to share what media you are playing, in order to get this
related information.
So...
Trust : Do you trust these pieces of software and their creators?
Perspective : Do you regard this as an invasion of privacy? Are you willing
to lose some of the "cool" features of these tools in order to keep your
privacy?
As an aside, media players are not the only class of software where this
sort of debate takes place.
--
--
Rob Moir
Website - http://www.robertmoir.co.uk
Virtual PC 2004 FAQ - http://www.robertmoir.co.uk/win/VirtualPC2004FAQ.html
Kazaa - Software update services for your Viruses and Spyware.
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