[pchelpers] Re: Peer Guardian

Hi Bonnie and Scott

> At http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/5846.cfm down below, it has
> discussions, and the second item asks about spyware or whatever.  The
> third items says to only download from official sites.
> 
> At
> http://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Firewall/Peer-Guardian-Pr.shtml
> there's a link that says "Read user reviews (1)", which leads to
> http://www.softpedia.com/progViewOpinions/14-3-55,.html, in which the
> only substantial content is "this version has spyware in it."

Sorry for being too dull and dim-witted to realise everybody but me was 
talking about reader comments when i thought "reviews" meant the 
original full analyses.

Reading the comments, i found this late 2003 MIT paper on PeerGuardian 
(spelled in one word!), actually on its filter, that says nothing about 
it being spyware or having a key logger:
http://web.mit.edu/patil/Public/805project/
Interestingly, it links to an address http://www.peerguardian.net/ that 
no longer exists as such and automatically switches to 
http://www.bluetack.co.uk/index.php
which in turn recommends Protowall as a better alternative.

There, at
www.bluetack.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=6162 ,
i also found this answer to my question about possible conflicts if one 
already has a normal firewall. As far as i remember, Bonnie already has 
Sygate:
Don't know why I keep getting all these port scans, but thanks to Sygate 
PFP and Protowall I have nothing to worry about :)

On the other hand, on
www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=63041
it's explained that if you already have a software firewall like Sygate, 
you can use Blocklist Manager 
www.bluetack.co.uk/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=1
to let your firewall software block the same IP addresses that Protowall 
or PeerGuardian will, without running a second program. But this is 
probably more complicated than just installing Protowall or PeerGuardian 
  and accepting the slight loss in computer memory and resources.

Also, www.download2me.net/portal_security.php seems to say that it might 
slow your computer down more to add long lists to your normal firewall.

Bonnie, if you already downloaded PeerGuardian from somewhere else than 
the official site http://methlabs.org/ it'd be best to delete it and 
download it again because spyware-infested versions are/were apparently 
being offered at Download.com and elsewhere. If you already installed 
it, here's a test to see if you installed a clean version:
http://methlabs.org/howtotell/guide.html
more info: http://methlabs.org/howtotell/

Ek


PS
more info:
http://www.download2me.net/portal_security.php
http://www.ntcompatible.com/thread29300-1.html
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=63041

Google with all three at once: spyware Protowall PeerGuardian


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