Comodo Firewall and the ASK toolbar

As many of you know, I have been a big fan of Comodo's free firewalls, and particularly of Comodo Firewall Pro 3.x.

Unfortunately Comodo has recently chosen to bundle the ASK toolbar with its latest versions of CFP 3, under the alias of the "SafeSurf" toolbar. Even worse, it installs this toolbar by default unless you specifically choose to opt out during the installation.

The ASK toolbar is adware, has absolutely no security value, and is included with the firewall solely for the purpose of making money for the author. Many security apps will detect it as adware, which Comodo will say are false positives. I do not believe this for a minute. The risks of the ASK toolbar have been well documented.

I post this because my trust in Comodo has been seriously eroded. I still choose to use its 3.x Firewall because I think it is an excellent product. That said, I have a real problem recommending a product that has lost my trust by indulging in such tactics.

For new users still wishing to install this FW, I strongly recommend that you uncheck the following during installation:
1) Install COMODO Safesurf, I agree to the above terms
2) Make COMODO my default search provider
3) Make COMODO Search my homepage