Aryeh Goretsky

Hello, As my colleagues @Marcos and @itman noted, the detection of EFI/CompuTrace is a legitimate one and not a false positive. It looks like the Lenovo ThinkPad P70 has a vulnerable version of that module present, which is what is being detected. I found a few discussions which might be of use: Lenovo Support Forum - ThinkCentre - How to disable CompuTrace Lenovo Support Forum - Absolute CompuTrace Agent Lenovo Support Forum - UEFI, Win 10 v1903 and Anti Virus Lenovo Support Forum - Lenovo Yoga 920 does not meet Microsoft's standard hardware security requirements Bill Morrow's ThinkPads.com Open Forum - What to do if CompuTrace is activated in your TP BIOS I would suggest that you contact Lenovo directly and see if (1) there is a BIOS (UEFI) firmware update that contains a newer version of CompuTrace that isn't vulnerable and install that; or (2) see if there is an option in the BIOS (UEFI) firmware to permanently disable and remove CompuTrace. Alternately, you can try contacting Absolute Software Corporation, the developer of CompuTrace, and see if they can disable it for you. If you purchased the Lenovo ThinkPad P70 second-hand, you may have to show them proof of ownership (e.g., a receipt from the seller, eBay and so forth). Regards, Aryeh Goretsky

Hello, Yes, you would just re-enter your existing license key into the new installation of the software. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky

Hello, The link to log in to the Partner Portal can be found here at the bottom of the Partner with ESET web page for U.S. partners. I believe you get credentials for it when you join the partner program. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky

Hello, If you wish to report a security vulnerability in an ESET product or service, you find out more information at https://www.eset.com/int/security-vulnerability-reporting/. You can find out what is both in and out of scope for reporting and a little bit about how we recognize security researchers for their efforts. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky

Hello, Given the age of that hardware (motherboard, CPU and GPU from 2014, SSD from 2013, etc.) are you 100% certain that you are not dealing with a hardware fault? I had a system which had the same type of problem with suddenly freezing at random times in random applications, and it turned out the power supply unit had begun to fail and was no longer delivering power inside its specifications. After I replaced the PSU, everything started working again as normal. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky

Hello, One thing to keep in mind is that Google's GMail has problems with period characters (".") in e-mail addresses. For example, there could be different email addresses registered with them such as: john.smith@ɡmaіl.соm johnsmith@ɡmail.сom j.ohnsmith@ɡmaіl.com And they can end up getting each other's email. It is also possible someone with one of the similar email addresses mis-typed their own email address (for example, leaving out the period). Regards, Aryeh Goretsky

Hello, The in-product message you saw was part of small survey being done by ESET. ESET periodically reaches out to small numbers of customers to get their feedback on existing technologies, as well as gauge their interest in future ones and so forth. In-product messaging can be toggled on and off in the Advanced Setup user interface options (open ESET GUI → press F5 key → select User Interface in left navigation pane → expand Alerts and Message Boxes in right pane → select (toggle) the Display marketing messages under In-product messaging in right pane) as noted in https://help.eset.com/eis/13/en-US/idh_config_alert.html. By default, this option shows up with a “?” question mark in the user interface, because the behavior of In-product messaging depends upon your regional settings and location, which are used to determine compliance for your location’s privacy requirements. These vary from region to region (e.g., GDPR for EU member states, CCPA for California residents and so forth). So, if you wish to allow or disallow in-product messaging, select the appropriate option in the user interface. You can always toggle this option at any time—it is not something that can only be set once and never changed. In the case of this particular survey, it was sent out only to customers who had purchased ESET’s software. The survey was not considered a marketing offer since no good or service was advertised, but rather a research activity to provide ESET with insight about future product directions. As such, it would be displayed even if in-product messaging were disabled by the customer. We are evaluating this approach based on customer feedback, and may fine-tune it should we need to survey customers in the future. If you have any further questions, please feel free to let me know. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky

Hello, There was some initial examination to determine if Windows on ARM (WoA) would even run the types of software that ESET develops, but please keep in mind that Microsoft's previous ventures into ARM devices, Windows RT and Windows Phone, were closed ecosystems that did not provide developers with the types of tools or allow the types of interfaces needed to perform tasks such as real-time scanning, on-access scanning, firewalls, and so forth. Additionally, neither of those operating systems were commercially successful and Microsoft ended up discontinuing them. So, the best response I can give is that ESET has nothing to announce at the current time. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky

Hello, Just to add to my colleague @Marcos suggestion, I would strongly recommend you back up any important information stored on the drive, as it sounds like it has begun to fail. SSD failure modes can be very problematic in terms of data recovery, so it is a very good idea to make sure any type of information you have on the drive which is valuable to y ou is saved in one (or more) backups. After you have gotten your important information backed up, check with the SSD manufacturer to see what diagnostic software they offer to check the drive, as that may provide you with additional information/insight into what is happening, as well as what options are available, such as replacing the drive under warranty, and so forth. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky

Hello, A list of removed programs can be found at https://support.eset.com/kb3527/#removable. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky

Hello, ESET is open to new ideas and suggestions. Just don't expect all of them to be implemented, especially if they offer little added benefit to ESET's customers. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky

Hello, I believe you'll find some of the requested functionality in various programs such as ESET SysInspector, ESET SysRescue Live CD, the ESET Rogue Applications Remover and various other malware removal tools. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky

Hello, ESET could improve its results in tests done by some testers by adding junk files that are damaged, non-executable, contain only data, are otherwise non-threatening, but are detected by other anti-malware programs. Would you like ESET to add detection of junk because those other vendors have included those files? Just because a plethora of companies are doing something doesn't make it right, or even that it offers a benefit to their customers, for that matter. Adding features for marketing reasons is not a path I would like to ESET go down, and I suspect at least some of our customers feel the same way. There are lots of features, enhancements and improvements that ESET has yet to make to its software, and some of those will come out of message threads like this one. So, I encourage you to keep asking and making recommendations. But, also keep in mind that ESET is takes its customers' security seriously and wants to develop technologies that do that, and not spend its time and efforts trying to win marketing battles with competitors. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky

Hello, Cookies are not malicious. While they may (or may not) represent privacy issues, they do not represent a threat to user security. Malicious advertisements are blocked all the time. If you want to block tracking, all ads, etc., I would suggest looking at what plugins are available for your web browser. HIPS updates occur as part of the regular updating of modules used by ESET Smart Security. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky

Hello, False alarms on a web site are a big deal. They affect: Whomever owns the web site. Whomever visits the web site. The credibility of the company which generated the the false positive alarm to begin with. It has been my experience that people who visit web sites do not always know when a report of a problem is a false alarm or not. They might assume it is, and it turns out to be a legitimate report and they get infected. Or, they may contact the site operator or their anti-malware solutions provider, creating a support burden. Just because eight, eighty or eight hundred anti-malware companies do something does not mean that ESET should follow them down the "me, too" path. ESET chooses to implement technologies when they provide a tangible benefit to the computing public. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky