Frequently Asked Questions
Due to the extremely high number of e-mails we receive, we would really appreciate if you first read our FAQ, and then contact us, thanks a lot! It was created with the idea to give you the answers even before mailing us, thus saving both our and your time. The FAQ will be regularly updated to ensure it includes the majority of questions we receive every day.
General questions about the site (site's features, sections, submissions etc.)
01. Where does the name of Astalavista come from?
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Remember the line "Astalavista baby" in the immortal Terminator 2? This is where the site got its name from.
02. When was Astalavista.com founded?
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Astalavista.com was founded in 1997, by a hacker computer enthusiast, since then it became one of the world's most popular computer security site.
03. Who's behind the site?
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A team of security and IT professionals, and a countless number of contributors from all over the world.
04. Is Astalavista.com crack-oriented?
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Of course not. Astalavista is a computer security site, providing its visitors with an up-to-date content and everything they might need as far as information security is concerned.
05. Is it true that the site is visited by script-kiddies and warez fans only?
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Absolutely not! The audience behind the site consists of home users, worldwide companies and corporations, educational and non-profit organizations, government and military institutions. All of these have been visiting the site on a daily basis for the past couple of years, contributing in various ways, or requesting services and information.
06. Astalavista.com is a hacking resource, am I right?
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Partly, although in 2004 the site slightly changed its mission and repositioned itself as an Information Security Portal with the idea to provide its visitors with an enormous and easy to navigate security resource, responding to the needs of our highly qualified audience. We believe that everyone should have his/her place at the site, that's what we are trying to accomplish.
07. I downloaded a file from the site and got infected with a virus, how come?
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We try to detect programs containing these, but sometimes the program is submitted as a virus/worm/trojan itself, so watch out if the program wasn't listed as one of the following, but it's infected, please let us know about it.
08. Will the site continue to be free, while it's still updated and well maintained?
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Yes, of course. Astalavista.com will always be free for the public, but for those interested in further security services and benefits, we've created Premium Memberships.
09. I have a security related question, although I'm sure you get thousands of e-mails per day, can you help me, please?
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Sure. We'll try to respond to your questions as soon possible, but indeed, we're getting thousands of e-mails per day, so please, be patient. Direct your security related questions to security @ astalavista.net
10. Honestly, how popular is the site?
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With over 250.000 page views per day, the site is one of the most popular in computer security, and it's getting better.
11. The Newsletter is just amazing, I'm interested how many are your subscribers?
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More than 246,000 subscribers from all over the world continue to be interested in our Security Newsletter.
12. After I submit my program/document, how long does it take to publish it online?
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It usually takes less than 48 hours, we receive all of your programs and documents, and we'll add them as soon as possible, so it's not necessary to mail us with questions regarding this issue, just keep visiting the site, you'll see it there.
13. I can't use a certain program I've downloaded from your site, can you help me?
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We don't provide support for any of the files at the site, you'd better contact its author, thanks for your understanding.
14. I can't find a program related to hacking/security, can you help me locate it?
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You'd better try locating it by using Google
15. I'm interested in contributing to the Astalavista's Security Newsletter, how can I do this?
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Contact us at info @ astalavista.com with a link to your article/program and with your recommendations, we will contact you in due time.
