Giveaway of the Day Forums

1. 

   mikiem2
   Moderator

   In case it helps at all...

   Seeing a bit more comments on the download pages saying something like running the GOTD setup app used to work, but now it's giving me more problems, or won't install etc. That *might* be caused by the way that the companies making AV software update the software's malware database.

   No one AV software company has a monopoly, so when a device running Windows encounters a new or slightly different sample of malware, only the company making the AV software on that device might know about it. To better stay on top of things, & better protect their customers, AV software companies share their findings, & one way that they do that is by uploading samples they've found to VirusTotal.

   Now when new samples get uploaded, each AV company has a choice -- either add it to their app's database right away, or try to verify it 1st. Most add it right away rather than risk their customers getting infected. So if some company uploads a sample that contains code somehow similar to the GOTD wrapper, it might trigger warnings or get blocked when previously it did not. *Hopefully* if this is what's happening, it'll subside as more AV companies have a chance to take another look at the patterns they added from VirusTotal.

   Posted 7 years ago #
2. 

   Idunnobutiwastold
   Gaming Acolyte

   If some company uploads a sample that contains code somehow similar to the GOTD wrapper, it might trigger warnings or get blocked when previously it did not. *Hopefully* if this is what's happening, it'll subside as more AV companies have a chance to take another look at the patterns they added from VirusTotal.

   
   That sounds a bit like when a mail server detects html code in an email and blocks it systematically on the grounds that it might be malware.
   Maybe, software companies can repackage their giveaways, taking into account the time-sensitive wrapper, when offering them on GOTD?

   Posted 7 years ago #
3. 

   mikiem2
   Moderator

   Maybe, software companies can repackage their giveaways, taking into account the time-sensitive wrapper, when offering them on GOTD?

   I've been thinking on this, researching a bit, & I'm not sure anything will or would eliminate every problem.

   You don't *normally* want any software working the way that the GOTD wrapper works -- it doesn't write the actual setup files to disk, and it blocks any attempts to probe it or see inside the wrapper. And while the GOTD setup file is digitally signed, that doesn't matter much to some security software companies, because certificates have been issued for malicious apps &/or to malicious companies, as well as stolen. I ***think*** Kaspersky might be just such a company that won't budge on GOTD offers because of both of those points.

   At the same time the GOTD setup file is signed by Softdeluxe, which sort of brands that file as belonging to Softdeluxe. If you Google on softdeluxe the 2nd & 3rd results allege that most of their apps are adware or potentially unwanted. So you could have some security software blocking the GOTD setup files because they &/or their customers feel that Softdeluxe isn't trustworthy.

   SO there are some brands of security software that might always be a problem because of one or more of those factors -- that's just the way their developers design them to work. But when you have other brands that work with GOTD downloads for quite some time, then suddenly don't, my thought -- & I could be Very wrong -- is that they didn't all of a sudden change their design philosophy, but that something else triggered it.

   Now this part is very much alleged... Some people say that Kaspersky, upset that they were doing everyone else's job, finding all this malware & sharing it through virus total, got even by uploading samples with slightly altered code they got from popular legitimate software. Microsoft was especially upset because all sorts of software started breaking.

   And that's why I thought that maybe someone had uploaded something that caused more security apps to flag GOTD files. While I've read that alleged story several times, I've never read where it led to any sort of changes, at virus total or elsewhere, so I assume it's still a problem, but again could be wrong. A growing number of people blame the security software companies & developers -- GOTD is not the only one having problems, By Far.

   Posted 7 years ago #

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