Download the Symantec Threat Monitor Screen Saver - We Want Your Feedback!

Hear4U's picture

Looking for a way to bring Symantec’s security expertise and global intelligence network to life?  Download the Symantec Threat Monitor, powered by DeepSight.   This free screen saver keeps you updated on the threat landscape using a feed* from Symantec’s Deep Sight monitoring service.  It regularly updates itself when you are connected to the web and keeps you up-to-date on the latest threats online.   You can also view the Symantec.com page here:

http://go.symantec.com/screensaver

*Note:  Data feed is delayed by 8-12 hours.

Please Provide Us With Your Feedback! 

Fatih Teke's picture

Perfect!

Thank you Mr Eric.
It's working and very good :)
I'll use it at home too i like it.
Have a nice day.
Fatih

------------------------------------------
Everything works better when everything works together.

shp's picture

Its very good... I have

Its very good...

I have installed in my pc.. Whoever coming near my pc, asking for setup file... Its really good.

Thanks Eric.

 

Regards,
Srinivas H.P.
HCL Infosystems Ltd

Linda Smith Munyan's picture

Glad you like it!

Eric -

Glad you like the screensaver - you can send your colleagues to http://go.symantec.com/screensaver to download.

Linda

Vikram Kumar-SAV to SEP's picture

Ohh...thats a real cool

Ohh...thats a real cool stuff.

Celebrating 2 years as a community member....

BigBadWilly's picture

Symantec Threat Monitor Screen Saver

Where is it? I looked in downloads and didn't see it.

Cycletech's picture

The links are listed in the

The links are listed in the original post at the top of this thread. See attachments for both Windows and Mac

Cheers,
thomas

jIT_Consultant's picture

 thanks just installed it. :)

 thanks just installed it. :)

Jeremy Dundon's picture

I have been running this for quite a while

It is interesting to note that on a dual monitor system the two displays often show different information. 

chenh's picture

Good idea, but please do not forget.....

Good idea, but please do not forget that there are lots of enterprise companies locking down screen saver via Microsoft GPO. I would prefer to make it as Gadgets addin so that people have options to move it to my desktop. 

Linda Smith Munyan's picture

 Thanks for your feedback on

 Thanks for your feedback on the screensaver.  The gadgets idea is a great one - thanks for the comments. 

Rick Bywalski's picture

Gadget or Wallpaper

Gadget or wall paper would be a great idea.  I have set this up on some of my lab machines that sit around my desk since my own machine rarely goes to screen saver.   I like it though. 

John_Prince's picture

I like it, thanks.

I like it, thanks.

Bijay.Swain's picture

i like it but does the data

i like it but does the data updates from internet or data remains as itis while installation.

Linda Smith Munyan's picture

Data updates

Bijay - Thanks for your note.  The data feed is delayed by 8-12 hours, so is not live.  If your PC is connected to the Internet, it pulls the latest feed into the screensaver.  Let me know if you have any questions.

dav's picture

Update Schedule

Can you tell us more about when it actually updates?  My PC has been on all day, connected to the Internet, and it still shows the last update as the morning of 9/30 (so, it didn't update once during that day, nor today).

It would be nice to add a schedule setting for the screensaver updates.

Hear4U's picture

Updates every 8-12 hours...

the screen will indicate the last time it updated the threat info.

Best,

Eric

Oh, that a man's reach should exceed his grasp

RickJDS's picture

I would like to have this as

I would like to have this as a wallpaper since we enforce a screensaver through GPO.

Linda Smith Munyan's picture

Wallpaper suggestion

 Rick - Thanks for your suggestion on the wallpaper.  We're collecting ideas for additional tools beyond the screensaver since there are some known restrictions on screensavers.  Let me know if you have any other questions/comments.

Hurricane Andrew's picture

Pretty nice.  Agree with the

Pretty nice.  Agree with the others as far as Screensaver GPO's go.  I had to edit the registry manually to change the screensaver, and the long name forces me to recall the old DOS 8.3 file naming convention to get it running.

I'd actually like to see this as a stand-alone app that can be run on demand.  We have a wall of computers monitoring various metrics, and this would fit nicely in that setup, or even in a window on a PC.

----
"Hurricane" Andrew
Milford, Delaware

Cycletech's picture

Check this out: Using

Check this out:

Using screensavers inside the Windows Media Player

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/audio-video/SheepWMP.aspx

Cheers,
Thomas

jessek's picture

Snow Leopard

Does not work for me in Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6).  It installs fine, but when I try to select it as a screensaver I get the message:

You cannot use the ScreenTime Screen Saver Engine 3.6.2 screen saver on this computer.
Contact the developer of this screen saver for a newer version.

Jesse Kozikowski
Aspirus, Inc.

Linda Smith Munyan's picture

Support for Snow Leopard will follow

 Jesse - 

Thanks for your note.  The version for Snow Leopard will follow shortly and is noted as a known issue on the landing page and FAQ at http://go.symantec.com/screensaver

We'll post a note here when the Snow Leopard version is ready to go.

Thanks,

Linda

snekul's picture

Yeah, Snow Leopard broke just

Yeah, Snow Leopard broke just about every screensaver and menu helper application out there.

Eric C. Lukens
IT Security Policy and Risk Assessment Analyst
University of Northern Iowa

Rick Bywalski's picture

Im getting alot of comments from people

Alot of my coworkers are commenting on this when they saw it on one of my systems.  Thought it looked really cool and like something you would see in a spy movie showing hot spots.   One even said he wishes some of the apps he manages would do something similar.

Mithun Sanghavi's picture

Excellent one...

The Symantec Threat Monitor Screen Saver is for those who would like to keep a daily track on the World Security events.

Amazing Screensaver...just to let people know that

1) This Screensaver  uses Symantec Threat Monitor, powered by DeepSight
2) It uses internet to download updates from http://www.symantec.com/business/security_response/index.jsp 
3) Also since this updates every 8-12 hours would require a special permissions from your administrators as some companies are against keeping screensavers and the option is locked from GPO as they consider files with .srv extension as a Security Risks.

Thanks and Regards
-----------------------------------------------------
Mithun Sanghavi
Enterprise Product Support Analyst
Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator
Symantec Small Business Security Certified
Enterprise Technical Support
Sym

Bekir's picture

I somehow already had it

I somehow already had it before. So is this the customer version?

Thanks

Best regards,
Bekir Burak Durmaz

Linda Smith Munyan's picture

This is an updated version

 Bekir - 

This is an external version for customers - there was an internal only version for Symantec employees released earlier this year.  This one has some updates, so I suggest you uninstall the older version.

Best regards,

Linda

AravindKM's picture

Super

Super screen saver .Nice idea

umms_admin's picture

pretty slick looking screen

pretty slick looking screen saver, thx

Bijay.Swain's picture

good screen saver but doesn't

good screen saver but doesn't run without internet or with proxy internet connection

ShadowsPapa's picture

Good idea, but I must agree

Good idea, but I must agree with the others - needs to be a Vista hoochy-koo rather than screensaver. More companies and agencies than you realize lock down the screensaver, set intervals, what it is and more importantly, is NOT and so on.
A tray item would be cool for XP.
Been on vacation a few days so just saw this..........

Personal sites -> http://theamcpages.com and http://antique-engines.com
Shadow: Toy:

Linda Smith Munyan's picture

Thanks for feedback

 Shadow - 

Thanks for your comments - we are collecting feedback for future improvements and other tools for customers.  Let me know if you have any other feedback.

Thanks,

Linda

Linda Smith Munyan's picture

System Requirements for Screensaver

Hi there -

Here are the system requirements for the screensaver.  A special note to Mac users - an update for Snow Leopard will be available soon.

Thanks,

Linda

System Requirements


Hardware Requirements
:


Windows:

  • Intel Pentium II 450Mhz, AMD Athlon 600Mhz or faster processor (or equivalent)
  • 128MB of RAM or greater


Macintosh:

  • PowerPC G3 500Mhz or faster processor
  • Intel Core Duo 1.33Ghz of faster processor
  • 128MB or RAM or greater 


Supported Operating Systems:

  • Windows 98, Me, XP, Vista, Vista 64 and Windows 7 
  • Macintosh OSX 10.2 – 10.5
    (Note: An update of the screensaver for OSX 10.6 “Snow Leopard” will be available soon.)

 

Rick Bywalski's picture

Server 2003 or 2008

I have been using it on my image development server since it sits at a screen saver alot and have had no issues so far.

Linda Smith Munyan's picture

Thanks for the feedback

 Rick - 

Thanks for the feedback.  Good to know!  

Linda

Linda Smith Munyan's picture

Glad it works on 2003 or 2008

Rick -

Thanks for letting us know about how it works on a server.  Appreciate the input!

Linda

Rick Bywalski's picture

Intreresting Windows Gadget I just found

I just found this gadget that may help some people out.  Too small for it to help me out but see if it helps any of you

http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=e321409b-231a-4da0-905c-0580c732223e

Linda Smith Munyan's picture

We'll check out this gadget!

 Thanks for the link, Rick.  We'll check out the link!

Bekir's picture

yes, I have uninstalled the

yes, I have uninstalled the old one, this one works smoother :) thanks again.

Best regards,
Bekir Burak Durmaz

mon_raralio's picture

Looks good, with the

Looks good, with the revolving world. It looks like a menu for some world war strategy game or something.
I'm not sure what it would look like with Internet connection since we're using a proxy and it times out or disconnects when idle for a while and we need to log in again.
We're basically getting some world statistics.

Ramji Iyyer's picture

Ya kool

Yes I liked the new one !!!

Uninstalled the old one !!!

Thanks... Mr.Hear4u

Regards...

ScoobySNAC's picture

Thanks!

 Looks good on PC!  For some reason I can't get it to work on Snow Leopard...

“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life... as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.” --Booker T. Washington

ScoobySNAC's picture

 just read Linda's comments

 just read Linda's comments :P :

  • (Note: An update of the screensaver for OSX 10.6 “Snow Leopard” will be available soon.)

 

“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life... as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.” --Booker T. Washington

Sandeep Cheema's picture

Intelligent SCR. I would

Intelligent SCR.

I would recommend making the package(the bundled exe) by inluding flash version 10.0.32.18(or latest). The version(10.0.22.87) that's packed within is vulnerable (CVE-2009-1862)

Sandeep Cheema's picture

And also, probably a small

And also, probably a small bug to be fixed with the upcoming version.

1) It does not understand <ALT>
2) It does not understand <TAB>
3) <ALT><TAB> makes it lose keystroke focus.

POC:

Open cmd(and not Run dialogue box,  for 3) point), launch "C:\WINDOWS\system32\Symantec Threat Monitor, Powered By DeepSight.scr"
Press <ALT>, No response.
Press <TAB>, No response.
Press <ALT><TAB>, Focus is lost. Whatever you type is sent to the other application. If it's cmd, you would see your characters being typed there. Mouse still works though.

Linda Smith Munyan's picture

Thanks, Sandeep

Sandeep -

Thanks for the feedback.  I'll pass this along to our developers. 

Linda

Sandeep Cheema's picture

Sweet. Thanks......

Sweet. Thanks......

Captain Benjamin's picture

No Linux version?

No Linux or BSD version? *shrug*

Rajesh Kumar-SEP's picture

Much detailed information required.

HI,

The screensaver looks really good and lot's of data and numbers. Do we have any  file, which will describe in detail about the data shown on the screen saver.

Linda Smith Munyan's picture

There's an FAQ that explains the data feeds

Rajesh -

You can take a look at the FAQ at http://go.symantec.com/screensaver to learn more about the data feeds.  Let me know if you have any question after reviewing it.

Linda

LyNeTtE-sKi23's picture

Cool!!! :)

I'll try it at home. Rick, thanks for the link! :)

Thanks and Regards
Lynelle

Rob374's picture

I like

I like the screensaver heaps

The only little moan is i dont like it when it zooms into the countries

Symantec World's picture

Re

Hi Eric,

This is fine but we are using internet through proxy and when screensaver starts its ask username and password again and again when we enter the same.

What information its polling from Internet?

And can we setup a proxy settings internally in the screen saver setting?

Regards,
M.R

bgorbet's picture

 

 

ShadowsPapa's picture

OK, here's my feedback. It's

OK, here's my feedback.
It's cool, but not really useful as the only time I see it is when I'm not here and not using my computer
HAHA - because it's a screensaver, it comes on only after I leave - OR if I'm gone for 10 minutes. But then, after a few more minutes the screen goes black anyway. (policies and all)
So I have to be away from or not using the computer for it to be seen, meaning I won't ever see it.
Now if it was a gadget or some background or other piece, cool. Maybe someting I could load in a browser in my second monitor so if I'm just using one monitor (not too often but it happens) it would be there.
As a screen saver, only the cleaning folks will see it.............
Otherwise, I like the concept, it works well, is stable and cool.
(I use two computers full-time, each with 2 monitors, then I have 3 test desktops that share a screen, and 2 test notebooks.)

Personal sites -> http://theamcpages.com and http://antique-engines.com
Shadow: Toy:

Kenneth Apurillo's picture

Nice

Wow. It is great. Ill use this at home..Ü Thanks!

Best Regards,
______________________________
Kenneth Apurillo

Symantec CustomerCare
Licensing and Serialization Department

www.symantec.com

Bekir's picture

I'am experiencing something.

I'am experiencing something. I have an HP laptop and the fan goes up to the maximum speed when this screen saver starts running. And as soon as I close it, fan slow down. Anybody realized anything similar?

Regards,

Best regards,
Bekir Burak Durmaz

Linda Smith Munyan's picture

Bekir - We've posted an

Bekir -

We've posted an FAQ at http://go.symantec.com/screensaver that addresses performance issues.  There are potential performance issues if your video drivers aren't updated.

Let me know if you continue to have any issues.

Thanks,

Linda

Paul Mapacpac's picture

Hi

bekidur, are you sure you have the updated drivers for your video card?

Btw, I like the screensaver, it brings me back in college when I am playing Red Alert. Hehehehe

mon_raralio's picture

I was about to post but

I was about to post but ShadowsPapa already said what is also on my mind.
I don't mind having a desktop widget as long as it is not a Yahoo widget. It's resource consuming and is blocked by some companies.

Linda Smith Munyan's picture

Yahoo widget - thanks for the heads up

Good to know about the Yahoo widget restrictions.

Thanks for the feedback!

Linda

ShadowsPapa's picture

Agree - no yahoo "stuff".

Agree - no yahoo "stuff". Make it your own. We don't allow YAHOO, AOL or GOOGLE software installed after some bad episodes with some of them  - for example, GOOGLE desktop search on some of our computers here was hammering on ITE's servers and they got a bit upset over it.

Personal sites -> http://theamcpages.com and http://antique-engines.com
Shadow: Toy:

mon_raralio's picture

Testing so far

The screensaver hasn't had much problems so far on our WinXP Pro SP3 on a P4 2.40GHz, 512 MB RAM.

But as far as screen "saving" goes. Some parts of the screen aren't refreshed. Like the Symantec Logo. Perhaps add a simple scrolling diagonal white line to make it look like it's shimmering. Same goes with the other purple lines. :D

And when there is no Internet connection, it doesn't display any information. Saving the last data to display might be a good idea although this might be too much for a screen saver admins rarely see. Just to impress any passersby.
 

Sandeep Cheema's picture

Change the value from 0 to 1

Change the value from 0 to 1 for  "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Screentime\Symantec Threat Monitor, Powered By DeepSight\Ping.txt" and  make the file as "Read Only" This way it would display the cached data if there is no internet connection.

spiderboy's picture

Very nice

Had to do a bit of tweaking to get past the GP that has the screensaver locked down. Once I did that, it works very well. I have been using it for a week or two and a few comments.

The first item is that in the last few days the secondary monitor doesn't activate the screensaver. It just shows the locked desktop backgound screen.

Second item is I would love to see newer content scrolling at the bottom of the window.

Otherwise I love the look of it and is very cool in a geeky way.

MaxStr's picture

Excellent idea! However, one

Excellent idea! However, one suggestiion: The feed is delayed 8-12 hours? These days, that's a lifetime! Can't this be updated more frequently, like... once an hour?

Also, can you create dual monitor support?

Thanks

jgill's picture

Needs to support password lock

For corporate PC's the screen saver needs to support using "On Resume, display logon screen".  

Can't use a screen saver that does not support a screen lock function.   Other that that its pretty cool.   With out the lock funciton, it could be used as a browers app, or wallpaper background.

  

ShadowsPapa's picture

Interesting - here, it pops

Interesting - here, it pops into screen saver mode, and after 10 or 15 minutes, true, it doesn't lock like it should (here it's state policy, lock after 10 minutes) but I find that eventually the screen goes dark and then the computer is locked. Must be going to sleep. Willhave to try a different computer. They aren't supposed to sleep or put the monitor off or in standby.

Personal sites -> http://theamcpages.com and http://antique-engines.com
Shadow: Toy:

Sandeep Cheema's picture

CPU utilization is way too

CPU utilization is way too much. There is no throttling, if any other application is running, the cycle is stolen away.

POC:

1) Launch an application that generally requires high CPU usgage.
2) Launch procexp and then quickly "C:\WINDOWS\system32\Symantec Threat Monitor, Powered By DeepSight.scr". I did it through the cmd with arrow keys for quick toggling.
3) Once the SCR has been launched, hit <ALT><TAB> for getting to procexp. You can use all the keys that you want to diagnose(including the mouse, if you stay within the window) within procexp since the focus has been shifted away.
5) Notice that the CPU usage would rise to >90% for "Symantec Threat Monitor, Powered By DeepSight" and toggles between 85 % - 90%

ShadowsPapa's picture

I've not noticed any impact

I've not noticed any impact on performance. Granted, if I'm not working, neither is the computer, save for the SEP console and some other stuff, Word, Outlook and so on. I never do any compiling or database sorts, etc. - but it sure doesn't slow this computer one bit. And this computer is very sensative to anyything that requires horsepower. It may be 64bit raid and so on, but with Vista, if an app wants power, this thing generally pukes. Not so with the screensaver. It's very responsive. If the screensaver is kicked in, a simple touch of the mouse and I've got 100% full control back in an instant.

Personal sites -> http://theamcpages.com and http://antique-engines.com
Shadow: Toy:

Sandeep Cheema's picture

Of course when you touch it,

Of course when you touch it, you get back the control, that's what screensavers are about.
Did you try the POC? It's a pretty simple one.

Bekir's picture

why do I get 50 notifications

why do I get 50 notifications for this post a day? :)

Best regards,
Bekir Burak Durmaz

Sandeep Cheema's picture

At the bottom, Click on

At the bottom, Click on Notifications and check that button over there.

Bekir's picture

it's not working sandeep

it's not working sandeep :)
this is notification madnessssss :D

Best regards,
Bekir Burak Durmaz

NickF's picture

Got it, installed it, can't

Got it, installed it, can't use it.

Says I'm not connected to the internet, when I am.

I am behind an NTLM authenticating proxy - does it work with those?

Mithun Sanghavi's picture

Might not work...

Hi,

You surely would be connected to internet, but NTLM authenticating proxy might be blocking the download.

Check with your Proxy Admin, if there are is anything which blocks the downloads.

I am sure ..you would have something which is blocking the Download.

Thanks and Regards
-----------------------------------------------------
Mithun Sanghavi
Enterprise Product Support Analyst
Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator
Symantec Small Business Security Certified
Enterprise Technical Support
Sym

Ajitjha's picture

Its good. i m currently using

Its good. i m currently using it on my PC

Regards'
Ajit Jha
TechSuport Engineer
STS

sandryzm's picture

Great is very cool

Great is very cool

ncoday's picture

Not sure if it is possible,

Not sure if it is possible, but for those who have dual monitor setups, is it possible to have different content displayed on the second display?

Linda Smith Munyan's picture

Want positive votes? Send ideas for next version of screensaver!

There have been some great suggestions already on how to improve upon the screensaver, but we want more!  We'll give positive votes to the best ideas we see.

For example: 

  • What other content or information would you like to see in the screensaver?
  • Are there other features or functionality that would make it more useful?
  • Any additional OS support you'd like to have?
  • Anything else??

Let the brainstorming begin!

Post your ideas here:  https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/idea/symantec-threat-monitor-screensaver-how-can-we-make-it-better

aulia's picture

Yup..it's run on 7

Yup..it's run on 7

Davinci_uk's picture

Works find through Proxy

Works find through Proxy (ISA) without getting prompted.

NickF's picture

It doesn't work fine through

It doesn't work fine through a Proxy (ISA) that requires NTLM authentication (at least it doesn't work through mine)....

aspen's picture

At last!

Finally a REAL reason to put a screensaver on a server. Honestly, I never thought the day would come when I would approve of using a nonstandard screensaver on a server but here it is. This is going on my AV server first thing.