Trend Micro on newly purchased routers

[Wadadli]

Early this year I purchased an RT-AX88U. Since then I have upgraded firmware twice. First to ver. 5951 and yesterday to 6210. At no time have I consented to using Trend Micro due to privacy concerns.
Yesterday, however, I just happened to click on network protection, and noticed that Trend Micro was running. I immediately turned it off by disagreeing with it's license agreement.

So it would appear that Trend Micro runs on presumed consent when you buy a new router.
Heads up !

W

 

[VANT]

Your privacy....lol
You should also uninstall av software from your computers, delete operatiing system, sold your smart phone, and give back credit card etc......

 

[Wadadli]

Your privacy....lol
You should also uninstall av software from your computers, delete operatiing system, sold your smart phone, and give back credit card etc......

CORRECT.. I have never run anti virus, unfortunately the last 2 suggestions are not feasible.

W

 

[OzarkEdge]

Early this year I purchased an RT-AX88U. Since then I have upgraded firmware twice. First to ver. 5951 and yesterday to 6210. At no time have I consented to using Trend Micro due to privacy concerns.
Yesterday, however, I just happened to click on network protection, and noticed that Trend Micro was running. I immediately turned it off by disagreeing with it's license agreement.

So it would appear that Trend Micro runs on presumed consent when you buy a new router.
Heads up !

W

Trend Micro is invoked when using certain features on the router. Maybe you enabled such a feature without realizing it requires/enables Trend Micro.

OE

 

[COBOL-Coder]

Not to belittle your concern but, with the reality of todays world I'm pretty sure the benifits of utilizing the protections provided by running Trend Micro, a friendly, far outweighs the possible damages you become expposed to by not? Feel free to disagree.

 

[RMerlin]

So it would appear that Trend Micro runs on presumed consent when you buy a new router.

No it does not. The licence agreement should appear whenever you try to enable a feature that requires the Trend Micro engine for the first time, asking you to accept it. It's also the case with the Asus licensing agreement if you try to enable the Asus DDNS service, for instance.

If you weren't asked, then either your router did not come with factory default settings (open box/refurb?), or there is a bug with one specific feature that fails to ask it when enabled for the first time. Since you were allowed to reject the existing acceptance, then this is unlikely to be the case, as it would indicate that the flag WAS set that you (or someone else) had previously accepted the licensing terms.

Factory default definitely has the flag NOT set. Directly from the source code:

        { "TM_EULA",            "0", CKN_STR1, CKN_TYPE_DEFAULT, CKN_ACC_LEVEL_DEFAULT, CKN_ENC_DEFAULT, 0 },   // EULA of Trend Micro

That "0" field is the default value that gets applied after a factory default reset.

For me, it always asked for my acceptance of the licensing terms whenever I enabled a Trend Micro-backed feature for the first time.

 

[Wadadli]

Thanks Eric
I have no doubt about what you just posted. However, I stand with what I have stated. The router was new, not a refurb. Even if I had enabled something that required the Trend Micro engine, in my mind the license agreement should have popped up asking my permission first.

 

[JemTheWire]

My guess it did, but just got accepted in the excitement of getting a new toy to play with. It’s easily done.

Bottom line is some one clicked on accept knowingly or not.

 

[AndreiV]

Early this year I purchased an RT-AX88U. Since then I have upgraded firmware twice. First to ver. 5951 and yesterday to 6210. At no time have I consented to using Trend Micro due to privacy concerns.
Yesterday, however, I just happened to click on network protection, and noticed that Trend Micro was running. I immediately turned it off by disagreeing with it's license agreement.

So it would appear that Trend Micro runs on presumed consent when you buy a new router.
Heads up !

W

For TrendMicro to be "running" you would need to agree to the privacy policy AND turn on each AiProtection section individually .

 

[Wadadli]

Just as a sidenote in case there are any conspiracy theorists out there; the box says the factory firmware in the unit was 3.0.0.4.384_901G04F0-MX1G00
(I wonder what that is) The unit was mfg. in China.

 

[AndreiV]

Don't know what you are trying to prove , ASUS routers are made in China.

My 4 year old AC3200 was made in China as are 90% of computers/motherboards/phones/tablets .........

 

[ubimea]

Warning to new comers to this website (this post is July 1 2019).

You should never disable Asus Trend Micro AI protection on the Asus Router; whatever privacy risk you think may exist, there are far worse actors out there than Trend Micro (who is on your side!) ready and able to take advantage of you.

SEE HERE:

https://arstechnica.com/information...-the-worst-drive-by-attacks-in-recent-memory/

https://blog.trendmicro.com/trendla...-with-evolved-greenflash-sundown-exploit-kit/

Follow the advice of most of the seasoned posters here and enable the Trend Micro, and thank Asus and Merlin for supporting this basic level of protection.

Also, consider running a VPN for additional protection.

Best to all.

 

[Gregory Phillips]

Running the protection is akin to wearing your seatbelt when you ride in a car. You never know when you might need it and being proactive is better than the alternative.

 

[follower]

Trend Micro issue again? I don't like them. I don't use it. They give you a Free Security product and take your personal data. It's not free at all. I prefer to use a client side security app instead of a router side. Do you guys really think this small router can protect you from Hacking?
You better get a dedicated hardware firewall.
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/384-6-now-sharing-data-to-trend-micro.48202/page-7
https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/about/legal/privacy-policy-product.html

Known issue.
1. It can't protect your router against vulnerability.
2. You exchange your personal data for security products.
3. It creates a delay or lag.
4. You may have an IPTV issue.
5. You may have a VPN issue.

'It's ok' VS 'Go to hell Trend Micro'

Trend Micro
More than meets the eye
Trend Micro
Internet Security in disguise
Trend Micro

 

[JemTheWire]

Congratulations.

 

[Wadadli]

Yea ! I knew I was not alone on this. Thanks @follower
As for the seatbelt analogy, I bet he drives a Tesla; falls asleep at the wheel; and relies on the car to take him home.