Symantec Corp. has fessed up to using a rootkit-type feature in Norton SystemWorks that could provide the perfect hiding place for attackers to place malicious files on computers.
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I’ve always said that in certain ways, spyware and virus blockers are like viruses in and of themselves in the way that they can stop programs from working and cause trouble for the system. This story practically confirms that theory.
Symantec the antivirus company… How ironic.
I use ewido (spelling?) AV prog – scans active memory, active virtual memory, registry, as well as disk drives and all that…
If ya’ll get a good hardware-based firewall you wont need to keep those memory hogs running in the background
You mean someone actually installed Norton Systemworks?
I use Antivir and it works. (http://www.free-av.de/)
But at office, my boss is mad about norton Internet Security.
ok. let him. But for a while it got me mad. It would stop me from sending files and print or receive file on my network PCs. I had to configure it to work on my own local network…Its nuts.
And the anti spam thing blocks a lot of genuine mail, so I have to browse my spam folder anyway, thus negating the use of antispam….
And sometimes it pops up saying there´s a sudden peril lurking around the corner (an outbreak) and I need to update. Then it tells me I just avoided a major threat, or, instead, that there´s no cure for that particular threat yet… It´s like terrorizing you into the feeling that you´re not safe at any time…
I think it´s BS… It´s Mob tactics. Fright you into paying for protection…
I´m not paying a cent for anti (virus, spam, spy, etc.) software anymore.
A friend of mine is having problems with Norton Protection in this version of Systemworks on his company laptop. I sent him a link to the article, as I think this is the cause of his problem.
Norton has evolved to become one of the worst anti-virus and firewall products imaginable. It’s such a hodge-podge but they are large, and long ago secured corporate business at and have space on store shelf.
They are the General Motors of anti-virus software. Their product sucks but they coast along on longevity and marketing.
Funny, PC Magazine always gives them “5 stars” as do most sites that review their products. But the user ratings on sites that have those, it’s usually closer to 2.5 stars with a ton of user complaints.
Go figure!
I have to agree with Steve about McAfee. I recently bought a new laptop from Dell that included a one-year subscription to McAfee. That program was so intrusive and annoying I dumped it after two weeks. I downloaded Avast! for free and have not regretted it.
I gave up on Symantec’s bloatware two years ago.
Our office has three computers, one a laptop that comes and goes, a wireless network, a couple of networked applications and Zone Alarm with Anti-Virus. It’s about half the price and after an initial settling in period does the job it’s supposed to with little or no fuss. It’s been in place nearly two years, we keep the subscription up to date, keep the network tweaked as far as limiting MAC addreses, etc, and use the Firefox browser. Before these measures were instituted the network was spotty, at best, and operating systems and applications were regularly being reinstalled. The only recurring problem I have is that for some reason the router will occasionally change the port settings on the networked printer, and that’s easy to fix.
I uninstalled Norton systemworks about a year ago. Is the rootkit feature still on my pc? I got away from Norton before Symantec bought it and for some reason was talked back into it. Of course it didn’t take long to see what resource hog it (still) was.
I like how Symantec thanks Systeminternals and F-secure for working with them on this. Does the work embarass ring a bell?
I gave up on Norton two years ago. For some reason my version wouldn’t update itself. After a month’s worth of back and forth emails, with me continually explaining the problem to someone in Bombay (my guess) I gave up. I let them keep the last three months I had paid for and have been with AVG ever since. That is three computers in our house no longer running Norton. And I am very happy with AVG and full heartedly recommend it.
What I have not seen mentioned in any of the news items on this issue, and that I think deserves broader play, is the fact that Symantec’s fix is only for the 2004 through 2006 versions of their utility suite. 2003 and earlier suffers from the same problem but if you want to fix that, you are out of luck. First you have to pay for an upgrade and then apply the patch. But I have a better idea. Out of curiosity, I downloaded Zone Alarm’s antivirus suite and scanned with it. I found 8 infections that Norton had let past, 6 of them hiding in the NPROTECT folder. This is curious since I have never used Norton Protection for my recycle bin. Apparently, it is installed whether you want it or not and all you can do is toggle whether or not it is actually used. So let’s see the score: Norton is slipshod about preventing infections, it provides a cozy hiding place for them that they are now using, and if you want to destroy that hiding place, you have to pay money to Symantec for the priviledge. I think uninstalling the whole damn thing is a far better idea.