Weird Wednesday: Klingon Anti-virus from Sophos
If you are the kind of person that simply loved the new Start Trek movie, like I did, then you will love this latest offering from security software developer Sophos: Klingon Anti-virus. The software, according to its developers, is capable of scanning PCs for viruses, spyware, adware, 0-day threats and other nasties one can expect to encounter online and all without negatively impacting the security solution you have installed on your machine. As a matter of fact, you need not uninstall or disable that security solution – Klingon Anti-virus will have no problems scanning while it is active.
“Now even Klingon speakers can scan their computers for security threats. Use Sophos's Klingon Anti-Virus to quickly perform an on-demand scan and find viruses, spyware, adware, zero-day threats, Betazoid sub-ether porn dialers and Tribbles that your existing protection might have missed. The software can be run without deactivating your current anti-virus software. Phasers can be left set to stun,” explains Sophos.
Here are the highlights of Klingon Anti-virus:
- You need not uninstall or disable your current security software solution.
- Works with Windows 2000, Windows 2003, XP and Vista. But you should be warned that it has “compatibility issues with the version of msxml4.dll used by cloaking devices on Romulan-modded D7-class battle cruisers. Installing this software on such vessels is punishable by ordeal of Ginst'a'Ed.”
- One scan detects all various types of security threats.
- It will be automatically updated every 30 “Galactic standard days.”
Why would Sophos roll out such a peculiar piece of software? Senior Technology Consultant with Sophos, Graham Cluley, provides an insight: “From time-to-time Sophos looks into creating bespoke software for particular groups, rather than make them available to the masses. We were asked by a potential customer to investigate whether it was possible to translate our software into Klingon, and Klingon Anti-Virus was produced as a test by our techies. Although the software is finished it wasn't supposed to have been made available to the world at large - some of you have noticed that of the text on the webpage was unfinished. We've fixed that now, and added some additional information.”
If you would like to get Klingon Anti-Virus, a download location is available here.
“Now even Klingon speakers can scan their computers for security threats. Use Sophos's Klingon Anti-Virus to quickly perform an on-demand scan and find viruses, spyware, adware, zero-day threats, Betazoid sub-ether porn dialers and Tribbles that your existing protection might have missed. The software can be run without deactivating your current anti-virus software. Phasers can be left set to stun,” explains Sophos.
Here are the highlights of Klingon Anti-virus:
- You need not uninstall or disable your current security software solution.
- Works with Windows 2000, Windows 2003, XP and Vista. But you should be warned that it has “compatibility issues with the version of msxml4.dll used by cloaking devices on Romulan-modded D7-class battle cruisers. Installing this software on such vessels is punishable by ordeal of Ginst'a'Ed.”
- One scan detects all various types of security threats.
- It will be automatically updated every 30 “Galactic standard days.”
Why would Sophos roll out such a peculiar piece of software? Senior Technology Consultant with Sophos, Graham Cluley, provides an insight: “From time-to-time Sophos looks into creating bespoke software for particular groups, rather than make them available to the masses. We were asked by a potential customer to investigate whether it was possible to translate our software into Klingon, and Klingon Anti-Virus was produced as a test by our techies. Although the software is finished it wasn't supposed to have been made available to the world at large - some of you have noticed that of the text on the webpage was unfinished. We've fixed that now, and added some additional information.”
If you would like to get Klingon Anti-Virus, a download location is available here.
