Microsoft Defender to start removing coercive "system cleaners"

Best news I've seen all day.  I see this kind of garbage software more than I do actual viruses.  They are snake oil:  offering much, providing little.  They claim to find hundreds or thousands of problems on the system but will only "fix" a few of them for free.

Here's Microsoft's new criteria :

Unwanted behaviors: coercive messaging

Programs must not display alarming or coercive messages or misleading content to pressure you into paying for additional services or performing superfluous actions.

Software that coerces users may display the following characteristics, among others:

  • Reports errors in an exaggerated or alarming manner about the user’s system and requires the user to pay for fixing the errors or issues monetarily or by performing other actions such as taking a survey, downloading a file, signing up for a newsletter, etc.
  • Suggests that no other actions will correct the reported errors or issues
  • Requires the user to act within a limited period of time to get the purported issue resolved

Let's hope more antivirus companies get on board with this.

Full story here at BleepingComputer

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