ISP security scareware

I'm on record as advising never to download security programs from your ISP (free or paid). They are generally legitimate programs, but are often adapted to the needs of your ISP, and may not include support from the original vendor. And they often use scare tactics to entice you to download them.

This was re-inforced by recent nagging by my ISP to run a "Security Advisor" scan from their website  to determine if my PC was protected. My ISP is Rogers, one of the largest in my country. I was intrigued, and ran their scan on my XP system. It only took about a minute, and their analysis follows:

1)  It advised me my firewall was not working properly, and was turned off.  In fact I run Outpost Pro firewall, which is indeed turned on, and working normally.

2) It advised me my anti-virus was not functioning properly, suggested definitions were not up-to-date, and that several AVs were installed. In fact I have only one AV installed (MSE),  it is updated automatically, and is working well.

3) It advised me my spyware protection (SpywareBlaster) was not functioning properly, was not updated, and that multiple anti-spyware programs detected placed me at risk.  In fact SWB is up-to-date, and the only real-time anti-malware program I use (MBAM Pro) is also up-to-date, working well, and conflicts with none of my defenses.

It then suggested I switch to Rogers Online Protection, available for only $5.99/month! This appears to be a security suite from that security giant "Radialpoint" (the same vendor that installed the "Security Advisor" scanner).

"Who provides the security software in Rogers Online Protection?
Rogers Online Protection features customized security technology from Radialpoint. They are a Canadian company that offers powerful, easy to use protection incorporating some of the world's best Internet security technologies."
http://www.rogershelp.com/yahoo/article.php?id=10V-15

In short, my ISP uses scareware to entice me to download security from a company I never heard of. Their security scanner was frankly fraudulent scareware, IMHO.

Thinking that the above analysis of my XP system was due to its age, and possible old remnants of previous defensive programs installed, I ran the same scanner on my newest Win 7 system. It gave virtually identical results (it did acknowledge that my Windows Firewall was turned on). It said I had no AV installed (I have MSE), and gave the same warnings for my anti-spyware.

Don't trust your ISP when it comes to security.