eEye Digital Security

Product Name:        Blink Personal/Blink Neighborhood Watch
Updated Version:     3.1.1
Superseded Version:  3.1.0 BETA and earlier


Table of Contents.

1. What's New in this release
2. Known issues
3. General notes
4. Release availability
5. Current and historical issues resolved


1. What's New in 3.1.1
==================================================================

   - New simplified installer.
   - Improved Blink log viewer, search and filter capabilities.
   - Improved system-level protection.
   - Improved usability
     * Renamed 'Anti-Malware' to 'Virus and Spyware Protection'
   - Improved User Interface
     * 'Skip Wizard' option added for faster setup (available by
       clicking "Cancel" during initial setup wizard)
     * Multiple time/date format support
     * New administrator password change feature
     * Added Quarantine cleanup by age option
   - Improved Firewall Management
     * System firewall improved to support filtering by local IP.
     * Character limitation for Application Firewall Process Name
       removed
   - Improved product compatibility with:
     * AusLogics Disk Defragmenter
     * ICQ (Trillian)
     * Older Novell Clients
     * PGP
     * SimDesk
     * Skype 3.1
     * SUN Java Calendaring system
     * Panasonic Toughbooks
     * TrueCrypt
     * Various DNS proxy software
     * WebRoot SpySweeper
   - New compatibility detection feature prevents installation
     when an existing, incompatible software is detected on the
     host system. Blink looks for the following applications:
     * avast! Antivirus
     * BitDefender Antivirus
     * Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus
     * Kaspersky Antivirus
     * McAfee Personal Firewall or AOL Firewall (MpFirewall.sys)
     * McAfee Personal Firewall Plus
     * NOD32
     * Norman Antivirus
     * Prevx1
     * Sunbelt Personal Firewall (Kerio HIPS)
     * Sandboxie
     * TCPView Pro Driver (TDIMSYS.sys)
   - Error reporting improved to generate Windows Event logs
     when drivers fail to load.
   - Improved the eEye Diagnostics Tool
     * Progress bar added
     * Added more information tasks
     * Added additional debugging options
   - Improved AntiVirus OnAccess performance.
   - Support for installation on multiple domain controllers
   - Upgraded local vulnerability scanner to latest version of
     eEye Digital Security's Retina(R) product.


2. Known Issues
==================================================================

   - Windows Event Viewer displays the following error but,
     functionality, is not affected:
     "The RET55 NDIS Protocol Driver service failed to start..."
   - Files cannot be quarantined if the quarantine folder
     specified in Blink is on a separate partition or drive.


3. General Notes
====================================================================

   - NONE


4. Release Availability
=====================================================================

   - v3.1.1 is available from
     http://download.eeye.com/html/products/blink/personal/installer/blinkconsumersetup.exe

     The MD5 signature is:   79086d7d504a64aa9fff34fe56a50adc
     The SHA-1 signature is: 5d4d6bf96cf53cb4c5f69865ae18cead11a3a880


5. Issues Resolved/Added Features
=====================================================================
   3.1.1 (20 June 07)
   NEW FEATURES:
   - New simplified installer.
   - Improved Blink log viewer, search and filter capabilities.
   - Improved system-level protection.
   - Improved usability
     * Renamed 'Anti-Malware' to 'Virus and Spyware Protection'
   - Improved User Interface
     * 'Skip Wizard' option added for faster setup (available by
       clicking "Cancel" during initial setup wizard)
     * Multiple time/date format support
     * New administrator password change feature
     * Added Quarantine cleanup by age option
   - Improved Firewall Management
     * System firewall improved to support filtering by local IP.
     * Character limitation for Application Firewall Process Name
       removed
   - Improved product compatibility with:
     * AusLogics Disk Defragmenter
     * ICQ (Trillian)
     * Older Novell Clients
     * PGP
     * SimDesk
     * Skype 3.1
     * SUN Java Calendaring system
     * Panasonic Toughbooks
     * TrueCrypt
     * Various DNS proxy software
     * WebRoot SpySweeper
   - New compatibility detection feature prevents installation
     when an existing, incompatible software is detected on the
     host system. Blink looks for the following applications:
     * avast! Antivirus
     * BitDefender Antivirus
     * Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus
     * Kaspersky Antivirus
     * McAfee Personal Firewall or AOL Firewall (MpFirewall.sys)
     * McAfee Personal Firewall Plus
     * NOD32
     * Norman Antivirus
     * Prevx1
     * Sunbelt Personal Firewall (Kerio HIPS)
     * Sandboxie
     * TCPView Pro Driver (TDIMSYS.sys)
   - Error reporting improved to generate Windows Event logs
     when drivers fail to load.
   - Improved the eEye Diagnostics Tool
     * Progress bar added
     * Added more information tasks
     * Added additional debugging options
   - Improved AntiVirus OnAccess performance.
   - Support for installation on multiple domain controllers
   - Upgraded local vulnerability scanner to latest version of
     eEye Digital Security's Retina(R) product.

   FIXED ISSUES:
   - Uninstall fixed so administrator owns Blink directory.
   - Fixed scheduler to prevent it from stopping manually
     started tasks and to report when a new scheduled task cannot
     start due to an existing older task.
   - Fixed user interface issue in Log Viewer to only require 1
     click when existing and returning to Log Viewer.
   - Fixed various issues in IMAP Bam Analyzer.
   - Fixed reporting issue so Application firewall events now list
     TCP or UDP, as appropriate.
   - Fixed Blink startup issue.
   - Blink no longer creates a hardware device during installation.
   - Blink compatibility issues fixed for the following:
     * Panasonic Toughbooks
     * PGP
     * SUN java Calendaring system
   - Blink Authentication fixed to work on FAT32 volumes.
   - Eralink32 application no longer produces BAM errors.
   - Blink Rules fixed to prevent incorrect activation for Latest
     Messenger Live Client.
   - Blink no longer causes printing issues in windows environment.
   - Blink alert thresholds fixed to work correctly.
   - Blink will correctly use a Quarantine folder that is
     outside of Blink's product folder.

   3.0.10 -- (08 May 07)
   NEW FEATURES:
   - Added protection for Microsoft Security Bulletin MS07-029
      
   FIXED ISSUES:
   - Fixed error when uninstalling Blink agent that started
     at a version older than 2.5.0 and has been updated to
     3.0.0 or greater

   3.0.9 -- (19 April 07)
   NEW FEATURES:
   - Added protection for UPnP Memory Corruption Vulnerability
     (CVE-2007-1204)

   FIXED ISSUES:
   - Fixed incompatibility with various applications

 I've been using Blink Neighborhood Watch BETA.

Is the link provided  http://www.eeye.com/html/products/blink/personal/index.html  for both the personal and neighborhood watch versions?

or is the neighborhood watch somewhere else? I have not been able to locate it.  

Why can't Blink Personal v 3.1.0 beta be used to download v3.1.1?

Outside the US, the link http://www.eeye.com/html/products/blink/personal/index.html seems only to lead to your online store.

I have already bought a copy of Blink Personal, so how do I get v3.1.1?

I also see from your online store that

"Licensing Information Blink Personal Edition is sold as a one year subscription. The product will not function after the subscription period has ended. All licensed users may purchase additional subscription time via the eEye Customer Portal."

Is that really eEye's commercial position?? Or does it just mean that the product still functions after the subscription has elapsed, but updates cease?

Dottedqued, have a look here: http://forums.eeye.com/forums/p/149/584.aspx#584 

Best regards, 

Art 

Thanks Art.

I see that v3.1.1 objects to Kaspersky AV (part of ZoneAlarm Security Suite) and won't install until it's removed.

I guess it's time to dump Blink Personal ...

No reply from Blink yet but I upgraded to Neighborhood Watch V 3.1.1  from BETA this way.

from this link http://www.eeye.com/html/products/blink/personal/index.html

change it to http://www.eeye.com/html/products/blink/neighborhoodwatch/download/index.html

Fill out the form, Blink will then return a download link to your email address, download the file.

At some point around here there was a page with a serial number different from my original install.

(I printed it) Then opened the downloaded exe file. A pop up said to uninstall the prev version,

I answered yes, Pop up about settings, I answered No, Pop up about registration, I answered No,

Link to survey about uninstall. I completed the survey to state this was an uninstall required to

upgrade. The upgrade completed and did not ask me to use the new serial number.  

Help > About shows

Blink Neighborhood Watch Version 3.1.1, Rule version 1407
Vulnerability Scanner version 5.8.4, Audits version 1692

I'll report back later after running it for a while. But Start>Control Panel>User Accounts

Is no longer showing the Blink user that was an annoyance for me, thanks for correcting that.

I think the above links are correct, Neighborhood Watch is not easily found from the

main eEye page. 

Gary 

GaryCN,

We are phasing out Blink Neighborhood Watch; it is simply Personal without the Anti-Virus engine and possibly the Vulnerability Assessment Scanner (depends if you obtained your NHW serial before 3.0 was released).  Thanks for pointing out the URL which is still reachable when the exact path is known.  I'll inform our web admin of this.  We are simply no longer issuing any new Neighborhood Watch serials; however, for those such as yourself that might prefer the reduced feature-set, the installer for Blink Personal and Neighborhood Watch is the same and the version that is running after completing the initial configuration is controlled by the Serial Number.  So you can use the same installer:               

http://download.eeye.com/html/products/blink/personal/installer/blinkconsumersetup.exe 

Then, when prompted to do so, after you paste in your original serial number this will controls the features that will be available.  Of course, feel free to take advantage of the 1 year free Blink Personal promotion that is currently running.

dottedquad,

I've updated the link in the release notes; thanks for pointing this out.  The full installer can be downloaded directly from the following location:

http://download.eeye.com/html/products/blink/personal/installer/blinkconsumersetup.exe

It is currently only available as a full installer and not as an online update; however, we do support an over-install of the beta so you can keep your current configuration.  With the beta still running, simply double-click on the file downloaded above and follow the series of dialog boxes which will walk you through the upgrade.

As for running Kaspersky and Zone-Alarm along with Blink, in general it isn't suggested that security applications that have similar features run along-side each other for two main reasons:

1) Since Blink also includes an AntiVirus engine and overlaps on the same firewall fundamentals, as each compete for the same resources (drivers, memory, etc) instability can occur.

2) Running more than one firewall can complicate troubleshooting as the user must contend with multiple rulesets when trying to figure out why, for example, certain traffic is being blocked.

Thank you everyone for the feedback.

Can you just verify why we need the:

      The MD5 signature is:   79086d7d504a64aa9fff34fe56a50adc
     The SHA-1 signature is: 5d4d6bf96cf53cb4c5f69865ae18cead11a3a880

 Info and if we need to put that in somewhere...

Brent ,

You don't need to worry about the MD5 or the SHA-1 signatures. If you don't know what they are you don't need them. What they are for is  the total geeks among us and there are many is to verify a download as being legit. If you download the latest version from eEye you are fine. Theres no place in Blink that you need to enter that signature information...

 Hope this helps you out.

snharden

Well not knowing and wanting to know are two different things......

Its cryptographic hashing right?

My bigger question is why would someone not download it from a know legit source like Eeye directally - that just screams nightmarish possibilities...

Brent:

Its cryptographic hashing right?

      Yes.  A great free Hash Calculator that I use myself I would recommend trying is "HashCalc":  http://www.slavasoft.com/hashcalc/index.htm

Blue1978:

http://www.slavasoft.com/hashcalc/index.htm

www.slavasoft.com seems to be unavailable 

We certainly all have our favorite utilities that we use but another good one that is easy to use and is free (as in beer) is DigestIT 2004 which is available from downloads.com.  The current URL that it can be obtained from is as follows:

    http://www.download.com/DigestIT-2004/3000-2248_4-10387707.html?tag=lst-0-1

Its simplicity comes from being able to now right-click on any file and either calculate or verify the MD5 or SHA-1 hashes.  The program only exists as new actions in the Windows context-menu.  MD5 and SHA-1 are the only hashes this utility supports, but of course for file integrity verification, these are the more popular of the two used.

cimes:

www.slavasoft.com seems to be unavailable 

Weird, I just tried my link again and it worked fine. 

I'm very disappointed we can't use another anti virus product with this application. Honestly, I want blink for everything except the anti virus scanner, IMO It's a very very weak scanner. Rather than making the customer choose to use Blink only, or no Blink at all...Why don't you just disable the AntiVirus feature in Blink, if you detect NOD or Kaspersky or conflicting products.

 We have NOD32 at work and it is not an option to remove that. I current run Blink 3.0 without any problems. When I attempted to test Blink 3.1 beta it refused to install due to Kaspersky AntiVirus, which I don't even run or have installed.

At Home, I can part with Kaspersky and only use Blink, but it's not something I WANT to do at all. I just feel the antivirus part of Blink has a long ways to go, and is a little early on demanding removal of other proven products.

The good news is, I know Eeye will do the right thing!
 

     eEye chose Norman as its Antivirus choice for Blink because of its Sandboxing technology that virtualizes, runs, then checks files and so forth, not for pure signature detection % rates.  Blink was never meant to rely on "signatures" for most of its operational purpose as NOD32 and most every other Antivirus Solution out there is.  Blink's approach is proactive defense against vulnerabilities that exist in software and any "threat" (whether internal or external) that attempts to compromise your system via a particular protocol that you are allowing intentionally in or out of your system, (for example HTTP traffic via Port 80). 

     eEye realizes that most of the serious threats out there now are using these weaknesses known and unknown in software and the protocols being used to exploit you, not so much anymore a piece of malware that happens to get in.  The other protection layers of Blink that are transparent which are monitoring the changes in the system itself or through a particular protocol will deal with these forms of threats.  Blink is not waiting around until a "signature" is created so your able to find such threats that has already caused damage.

     If your looking for something that provides protection based on signatures and something that stops 9 out of 10 of this and that then Blink probably will not appeal to you.