JTM1051
MVM
join:2000-07-08
Moorpark, CA
|  SBC Yahoo Online Protection
SBC Yahoo Online Protection
Subscribers to SBC Yahoo broadband can now avail themselves of a free online protection service meant to handle worm attacks and other threats, SBC Communications and Yahoo said Tuesday.
The service, dubbed SBC Yahoo Online Protection, was announced Tuesday. It includes anti-spyware features, antivirus tools, a pop-up blocker and parental controls, the companies said. People who use the package can access it from an integrated dashboard.
The service is designed to let subscribers see the status of their core online protection tools, Yahoo said, and get notifications with instructions if they need to take a specific action to counter a threat. The service will update itself against the latest virus threats, said Yahoo, ...
Wonder who's/what software SBC Yahoo using for "SBC Yahoo Online Protection".
Interesting that this "All-in-one security suite" does not include a firewall. |
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nwrickert
sand groper
Premium,MVM
join:2004-09-04
Geneva, IL | The cynic in me warns that this is probably just some more bloatware that I don't want on my computer. |
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godprince
join:2002-01-03
Vallejo, CA | reply to JTM1051
yes ? any SBC personell have some answers here ? |
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elvey
Spamassassin
join:2001-02-17
San Francisco, CA | I'd GUESS you get the stuff they were offering for free before only as an option:
•Yahoo! Anti-Spy (which is rebranded Pest Patrol, which is an above average quality spyware remover, IMO)
•CA Antivirus (good)
•etc. |
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JTM1051
MVM
join:2000-07-08
Moorpark, CA
|  reply to godprince
Important notice about your SBC Yahoo! DSL account.
Please upgrade anti-virus software.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear SBC Yahoo! DSL Customer,
We are writing to tell you about some changes in the way SBC Yahoo! DSL provides security protection for your PC, particularly your anti-virus service.
Currently, you receive PC anti-virus protection (a Premium Service Choice that you selected when you signed up for SBC Yahoo! DSL) using Computer Associates(R) eTrust(TM) Antivirus software.
Effective immediately, SBC Yahoo! DSL includes SBC Yahoo! Online Protection, a new, free, all-in-one security software suite. It comes with PC anti-virus, plus anti-spyware, pop-up blocking,parental controls, and spam protection. An easy-to-use dashboard brings all of these online protection tools together in one convenient place. This free upgrade is an exclusive benefit for SBC Yahoo! DSL members.
Now that PC anti-virus is included as a free element of the SBC Yahoo! Online Protection security suite, the current version of Computer Associates(R) eTrust(TM) Antivirus software offered through SBC Yahoo! DSL is being discontinued. As a result, you must upgrade to SBC Yahoo! Online Protection by July 17, 2005, in order to maintain ongoing anti-virus protection and customer support. (Bold added by me)
I for one do not consider the SBC Yahoo! Online Protection an "upgrade" or "convenient". Only "convenient" for those who do not know any better. Too bad SBC does not have the foresight to offer its users a choice of SBC Yahoo! Online Protection or eTrust Antivirus -- instead of a one size fits all mentality.
For info on the SBC Yahoo! Online Protection see the Tutorials.
Per the tutorials the Anti-Virus based on eTrust EZ Antivirus and Anti-Spyware based on eTrust PestPatrol.
All the screen shots in the tutorials are shown using the SBC Yahoo! Browser.
So I'm now looking for a new AV. eTrust EZ Antivirus is basically a good AV and have been using it since it was free from SBC Yahoo!.
But there's no way I would pay $29.95 eTrust EZ Antivirus for two reasons:
* eTrust support is very poor.
* For a little more money ($4 - $10) there are much better AVs available e.g., AVG, Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal, NOD32, etc. |
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bobup
@pacbell.n
| I have just "added" this package to my son's PC....you can choose which features you want loaded, I chose not to include the anti-virus ( I use McAfee)...what I really needed was better parental controls. This has turned out to be a good direction for me. Sure, it loads SBC/Yahoo's own browser...looks and works just fine.
As for my parental controls...easy to setup and works very well indeed.
bob |
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JTM1051
MVM
join:2000-07-08
Moorpark, CA
| said by bobup:
....you can choose which features you want loaded, ... Sure, it loads SBC/Yahoo's own browser... Wee bit of a contradiction eh?
Well I glad you're happy with it.
I don't want the SBC Yahoo! Browser or any SBC Yahoo!/Yahoo! software on my system. Nor do I use Internet Explorer.
Been there, done that before knowing better. Installing ISP's software to "enhance" your internet and browsing experience. Except when you need/want to switch to a different ISP and try to uninstall/remove the software and changes made to your system. |
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tonydi
Premium,MVM
join:2001-05-11
San Jose, CA
| said by JTM1051  :Installing ISP's software to "enhance" your internet and browsing experience. Except when you need/want to switch to a different ISP and try to uninstall/remove the software and changes made to your system. As crappy as the SBC-Yahoo software bundle is, I've got to say that at least it uninstalls cleanly. Still, I don't recommend that anyone install it in the first place.  |
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Defcon888
Premium
join:2003-07-22
San Bruno, CA | reply to JTM1051
This sounds sort of like AOL Security Edition 9.0 except without the "AOL" and "9.0" in it  |
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jmorlan
Crescit Eundo
join:2001-02-05
Pacifica, CA
 ·Pacific Bell - SBC
| reply to JTM1051
I was curious, so I downloaded the Yahoo Anti-Spy. I had to use IE and allow an ActiveX control in order to get it to download, but I did not have to use the Yahoo browser.
An applet runs in the system try, but mine is a triangle with and "!" indicating that there are things that need attention. The things needing attention are that the anti-virus and popup blocker are not installed.
My SBC Yahoo mail protection is enabled, but that just seems to be the spam blocker at Yahoo mail.
Parental controls are also not installed and show a gray icon with a bar across. I'm guessing that the popup blocker and parental controls work only with the Yahoo browser, but that's just a guess.
Yes, there are other inexpensive or free utilities to protect you computer, but I think this seems to be a reasonable package for the market that SBC is targeting at this time, mostly new DSL users who may not be particularly computer literate. |
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tonydi
Premium,MVM
join:2001-05-11
San Jose, CA
| I'm not sure why you're getting those "Not Installed" entries. I downloaded and installed the whole package on a virgin XP SP2 installation in Virtual PC. This setup had no anti-virus or pop-up blocker installed.
When I went to download the package it had check marks next to each of the pieces but if I wanted to I could uncheck any of them and presumably stop them from being downloaded and installed.
It appears as though they all work without the need for the SBC-Yahoo broswer as the browser is nowhere to be found and I have all of the components installed and activated. You do have to go to the Parental Controls page and set it up before that grey/bar icon will turn to a green checkmark.
And you're right, the mail protection is simply what we now get through SBC-Yahoo email. |
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jmorlan
Crescit Eundo
join:2001-02-05
Pacifica, CA
·Pacific Bell - SBC
| It's not a problem with the product. They are listed "not installed" because I chose not to install them when I downloaded it for testing. I already have an anti-virus and pop-up blocker and didn't want the SBC version, nor did I have need for parental controls.
The Pop-up Blocker does require either the Yahoo browser or the Yahoo toolbar and I assume is identical to what was included in the toolbar. I use neither the toolbar nor the browser.
The anti-virus requires that you uninstall any existing anti-virus software before it will allow you to install the Yahoo branded version. I opted not to do that for now. Incidentally it looked like the AV may be really free with no subscription charge. At least I could find no mention of any charges. Seems like a good deal for anybody without a current AV product.
I have since removed yop.exe /autostart from startup, so I no longer have the annoying icon and am basically left with a free version of Pest Patrol which I can use stand-alone.
I'm pretty sure earlier versions of Yahoo Anti-spy were part of the the Yahoo browser. At least that was the case the last time I looked into it. |
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David
Last man standing
Premium,VIP
join:2002-05-30
Granite City, IL
clubs:
 ·magicjack.com
·AT&T Midwest
| reply to JTM1051
Well I took the plunge and put it on one of my computers at the house, so far (for a windows98SE machine) rather impressive. Seems to do the job at hand so far, no real bloat behind it. Note: I just installed the yahoo anti-spy toolbar and the antivirus. I did not get into parental controls and all that jazz. I think for a basic virus scanner (even for free) so far it has not slowed that PII 300Mhz machine with 512MB of memory down at all. It does freeze my machine for a brief (3 sec.) moment but that could be from all the stuff I load on boot. Another thing to keep in mind this machine only gets rebooted once a month.
--
If you have a topic in the direct forum please reply to it or a post of mine, I get a notification when you do this. Koetting Ford, Granite City, illinois... YOU'RE FIRED!! |
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hskrfan23
join:2004-03-18
West Sacramento, CA | reply to bobup
go to sbc.yahoo.com/protection..it doesnt load sbc yahoo browser or anything but the online protection |
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madquest
Premium
join:2001-03-16
Hayward, CA | reply to JTM1051
Go to add/remove software. Remove all SBC Applications. restart computer. Go to Http://sbc.software.yahoo.com to try and download the suite again. |
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garyvand
join:2002-07-24
Napa, CA
| reply to JTM1051
said by JTM1051 :So I'm now looking for a new AV. eTrust EZ Antivirus is basically a good AV and have been using it since it was free from SBC Yahoo!. But there's no way I would pay $29.95 eTrust EZ Antivirus eTrust EZ Antivirus is available for free to anyone for 12 months:
»my-etrust.com/microsoft |
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elvey
Spamassassin
join:2001-02-17
San Francisco, CA | The anti-spy is just rebranded Pest Patrol (a good product!). What are the other things?
BTW, did I not post the above info to this thread before? It looks like my post has gone missing. |
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