I looked up Privitize VPN after a friend called me to tell me about getting infected by it, it was even in his, Manage Add-ons list. I couldn't get too far checking it out because when I googled PrivitizeVPN, and the list came up, as soon as I clicked the name to try and go to the Privitize VPN site, It was blocked by Avast as a Trojan Horse and a Malicious site.

  I you were unlucky enough to download and install this malicious software, here are some ways to remove it.

http://malwaretips.com/blogs/remove-privitize-vpn-virus/

An aquaintance rang me in a panic as he had his Google start page hi-jacked, and I found the information for a solution a few weeks ago at the site link below :-

I would like some advice on the usefulness as I don't have any nasties to use as a test.

http://www.im-infected.com/hijacker/search-conduit-com.html

Thanks,

Jon in Oz

I think AVG has some explaining to do, but DO NOT install the AVG Secure Search Toolbar.

Just recently however, I came across a title called "Start Menu 8" which I found really impressive.   Basically, it allows any Windows 8 machine to bypass the metro interface and see's a return of the Windows 7 style start menu which I thought would be great news for all those forced to be on W8.   However, I was soon to be disappointed when I realised it was from IObit.

So I got to thinking, all this theft nonsense was over 3 years ago now, surely this company have moved on since then but can they be trusted?.   Well, I did a great deal of digging around and surprisingly things seem to have gone particularly quiet about it all.   Sure, we have the usual threads about it which I've seen before, but no-one is really declaring where they stand on the issue anymore, or whether IObit can, in fact, now be trusted and have moved on!.   However, I have since noticed two large download sites (download.com and majorgeeks.com) supporting IObit rather substantially and while I would have expected nothing less from the likes of download.com I was somewhat surprised at majorgeeks.

I was probably surprised because somewhere in my mind I probably still associate IObit with guilt, and associated majorgeeks in the same light as ourselves, responsible, cautious and dependable - however, I have no reservations whatsoever that IObit were stealing this information from malwarebytes, the evidence and the way in which malwarebytes caught them is compelling and conclusive to say the least.   So, this is probably why I am surprised at majorgeeks openly and so publicly attaching themselves to IObit.   While I have no doubt IObit were guilty, I do believe mistakes are made and people (or in this case, companies) can potentially learn from their mistakes, move on and sometimes even become better people (or companies) ... but do I believe IObit have moved on, grown up and became a trustworthy company?.

Well I stumbled upon a few discussions over at the majorgeeks forums and the admins over there seem to defend IObit vigorously, with one thread even claiming that majorgeeks had approached both sides (IObit and malwarebytes), discussed the issue and concluded they were happy to continue supporting IObit.   Unfortunately, I could see no such thread detailing any such discussion or approach to IObit or malwarebytes.  I searched their forums and even googled for this info on their site but to no avail, and while I have no reason to doubt majorgeeks had done this, I'm still left wondering why this information can't be found or more details regarding this contact isn't readily available.   I know if it were me, I'd want to shout about it from the rooftops !!.  

I continued to read with interest those threads about IObit and my main issue was the level of interest from majorgeeks with IObit, especially when I see post's like "Top Freeware Picks by MajorGeeks!" on the IObit forum where they list 4 IObit titles as No.1 and a further IObit title as No.2.   Admittedly, and to their credit, they listed mbam as No.1 in "malware removal" and IObit malware fighter as No.2, but they then listed IOBit uninstaller No.1 in "Uninstallers" and Revo as No.2 - ooft !!.   With that level of interest and recommendations from a download site to one particular maker of software, I find it a little concerning and can't help but wonder what the motive is, because from my own experiences I've found IObits software particularly buggy in the past - maybe I/we should test drive their software again!.

At the same time, it's noted that malwarebytes themselves have went particularly quite about the matter, with no more being said on the subject other than a statement back in December 2009 ....

So, we know download.com will recommend just about anything which can be beneficial to them, majorgeeks obviously have some form of affinity with IObit, but the question is, can IObit still be trusted?.   I'm planning to download some of their titles over the coming weeks so I may return with surprising results or confirmation that IObit most certainly won't be relisted at FBB but if you have had any further dealings or experiences with any of their software, please do let us all know

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