Security firm Sophos has re-released its Threat Detection Test software designed with Klingons in mind. With all the hype surrounding the recently rebooted Star Trek franchise, it doesn't seem like coincidence that Sophos' Klingon Anti-Virus software has suddenly been thrown into the limelight. Believe it or not, the software is actually legitimate, based on the company's Threat Detection Test software. According to the company, potential customer originally approached Sophos, wanting to see if the software could be translated into the infamous Star Trek dialect. Sohpos claims that the Klingon Anti-Virus program was never meant to reach the general public, however users discovered its existence, spread the word, and thus propelled the tongue-in-cheek side project into a full-fledged product... which happens to coincide the release of the new Star Trek movie, of course. "I wish I could say we had (synced the release with the movie)," said Carole Theirault, a senior security consultant with Sophos. She said that downloads of the Klingon Anti-Virus software have been "through the roof," leaving the company shocked although the software is actually difficult to locate on the Sophos website. Indeed, it's not listed within the website directory, nor does the term "Klingon" bring up any reliable results in the search window. Needless to say, the program isn't heavily advertised, and perhaps for a good reason. According to Graham Cluley, another security analyst at Sophos, the company received a "rather hard-nosed communication from a certain party," more than likely Paramount and/or Bad Robot, in an attempt to "bully" the company into removing the Klingon Anti-Virus software from the website. "We think that's daft, so we won't be doing it." This type of corporate bullyism is not unheard of: Twentieth-Century Fox, Sony, Paramount and other big Hollywood production companies send out Internet hounds sniffing for copyright infringement scenarios on a daily basis. Although Sophos' software is free for the first eighteen months, the company eventually makes a profit, and without some kind of agreement to use the Klingon language, earning money from copyrighted material is a big no-no. "No copyright infringement is intended on our part for the Star Trek terminology and expressions that are held by Paramount, the estate of Gene Roddenberry or of any others," reads the website. Still, the software is both useful and humorous. According to Computerworld, the company hired on a Klingon translator--a member of the Klingon Language Institute no less--to convert the software's text from English to Klingon. The translator, a man from Dallas identified only as "naHQun," is prolific in more than just the Klingon language. "He translates all kinds of things," said Theirault. "He's done some Shakespeare plays, I believe. And his next project is the Kama Sutra. Really." Why did we translate it into Klingon? Our routine monitoring of sub-space transmissions alerted Sophos that the loss of the Klingon battlecruiser Klothos was not due to Romulan incursion into the Khitomer system, but a result of trying to remove VBS/PeachyPDF-A from the battle computer using M'swoN'kar after Commander Kor opened an attachment from the system S'cam-419. Immediately our Product Marketing away team embarked on a mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and flog them Network Access Control solutions. Sadly they chose Qo'noS as their first destination and when their severed heads were beamed back to Sophos, the engineering team created this software, not in a spontaneous display of gratitude to the Klingon race (as the Register would have you believe) but to honour their memory. http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Klingon-Anti-Virus-Software,news-3979.html ******************************************************************************************************** If you want a copy of the Klingon AV, you will need to click the link above and then click the link on the news site. You will need to do this soon before they take the link down due to Paramount pictures bullying..
