Hiya Znod
Mate I hear your frustrations. I think its a scratch each others back situation as to having to employ an expert to help with security. Microsoft always wins in the end. Its nice to see that they got security conscious but I think they gave the job to a
paranoid schizophrenic
Lets take Symantec for instance. internet security 2006 was a dream. Internet security 2007 is a nightmare.
The earlier had an option to scan all folders for programs that had the ability to make an outbound request. The later doesn't. This frustrates me as I don't appreciate knowing that certain applications "Phone Home" without my permission. So I either have to add each application .exe to the firewall personally OR trust that the firewall will ASK my permission to allow a connection.
This is my final thoughts as to why things have changed.
I believe that Nortons/Microsoft/etc. have come to many agreements with many software companies to ALLOW a connection for license purposes. Meaning that "BACKDOORS" have been written inside firewalls for PAYING vendors to take advantage of.
Its a COnSPiRAcY
hahahaha
naaaa true it is!