Hacker threatens to release Norton AV source code!

Discussion in 'Frontpage news' started by Mufflore, Jan 15, 2012.

  1. sykozis

    sykozis Ancient Guru

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    I wasn't trying to imply that it's against the forum rules....but, the flaming is based on completely inaccurate or false information that does not benefit the forum in any way. I also wasn't asking for the thread to be shutdown. The OP did post valid news that may potentially effect someone that might read it. I'm not exactly a fan of Norton....quite the contrary, I prefer Avira.. Fact is, Norton is the least resource intensive AV on the market, as well as being 1 of the top 2 rated AV's in both detection and removal. I'm using Norton right now because Avira's "Web Guard" tends to cause every website I visit to time-out. If this was about AVG, I'd probably be more tolerant as they recently knowingly released their own scareware for WP7, claiming to be the first antivirus for the platform. MS removed it from their "app store" after several user complaints and research conducted by 3rd parties that declared the "antivirus" to be AVG produced and supported malware.

    Anyway...I was looking for more of an opinion than mod-action.
     
  2. HeavyHemi

    HeavyHemi Guest

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    I really don't understand the pro virus/malware stance of some.
     
  3. IcE

    IcE Don Snow

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    What do you mean by that?
     
  4. jbmcmillan

    jbmcmillan Guest

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    Norton has come a long way since about 2008 they have vastly improved their resource usage.I have found on client machines that I have worked on it does not slow anything down significantly and I find they have no higher incidence of infections than any other av out there.I do find that if anything it is still too intrusive/aggressive for my tastes but that is probably a good thing for a lot of casual users out there.
    Let go of the hate they actually listened to their customer base and improved.
     

  5. sykozis

    sykozis Ancient Guru

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    I don't understand the "pro hacker" stance of some.....

    I have no hate towards Symantec/Norton. They produce a good product that's effective at what it's designed to do. I, personally, don't find it to be intrusive at all. Avira's "web guard" is vastly more intrusive than any Norton product is.
     
    Last edited: Jan 15, 2012
  6. Year

    Year Ancient Guru

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    While i do not agree with the hackers threatning to release Norton source code, i wouldn't mind it either.

    i've always called Syman$hit AV "VIRUS ANTI-NORTON" cause the damn this is or was worse than a virus.

    admitted they tried to improve the products but didn't really succeed, nowdays free antiviruses, firewalls and antispyware are superior, less intrusive and don't hamper performance or cause issues.

    for instance Malware-Bytes is a fantastic antispyware product that i personally use, you then add any good free antivirus like AVG, Avira, Avast etc + W7 firewall or a good router and you got yourself a nice and secure pc.

    Mcafee, Norton and Zonealarm were great many years ago, once they started bloating their products, it all went down the drain, so here's what i say, thank god for the alternatives.

    it's true that the best things in life are for free. ;)
     
  7. Doug

    Doug Guest

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    ^ +1 Malwarebytes ftw.
     
  8. Veteran

    Veteran Ancient Guru

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    As ive said before in other threads a good while back more than once,ive tried practically all the security suites and all the Anti-virus software,ive tested them*ALL* extensively using a second laptop with malware puposefully put on it and Norton came thorough with a very high success rate of detecting the malware that i put on it.

    Norton has changed guys since the days of 2005,its been completed overhauled and redesigned,ive used it and i would use it again.

    Programs like AVG and Avast are not very good and didnt do very well when i tested them,there Signature detection is average at best,only Comodo did very well out of the Free Apps.

    Nod32 came out the worst happily letting malware through,i would never use that POS ever!Its also been reported on other forums to let malware through,people like it cause its light but its anti detection and anti port-scanning technology is bollocks,use it at your peril or be limited in your surfing:)

    Other Security software that did well was Bitdefender and Kaspersky,also Webroots Security suite is very good also(im gonna switch to this in March)

    I personally use Bitdefender and Malwarebytes,have done for years,i go anywhere on the internet,even sites that are full of malware,i get no problems,whats point of having the internet if you cant go "anywhere that you want".
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2012
  9. sykozis

    sykozis Ancient Guru

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    Instead of just blindly making claims....actually give it a try and read actual reviews based on CURRENT versions. As of this post, Norton was using 13mb of ram...compared to the 12mb that the nVidia drivers are using or 38mb that Malwarebyte's AntiMalware is using.

    As for AVG....keep promoting a spyware distributor.... AVG released the first and only piece of spyware in existance for Windows Phone 7 claiming it to be an antivirus....
     
  10. IcE

    IcE Don Snow

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    Not that I disagree with Norton being vastly improved, but your personal testing doesn't mean a whole lot.
     

  11. sykozis

    sykozis Ancient Guru

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    Unfortunately, i have to agree. It's impossible to get a real sense for the effectiveness of a security solution from other users' tests. I've found the best way for me to test an antivirus is to install it....use it for a few days with absolutely no change in usage patterns (you know....visit the same sites, play the same games, run the same applications you usually would). In my case, I disable the real-time scanner for Malwarebyte's AntiMalware and browse known dodgy sites. If the security solution doesn't alert me to potential infections....I immediately dump it and start on the next.

    My testing method won't work for everyone, obviously, and I wouldn't recommend it for everyone either. In MY case, Norton and Avira have provided the best solution for security....unfortunately, Avira's web guard is too intrusive and at this time deters me from using their products. Also, I own 3 computers....which makes Avira the more expensive at $90USD per year compared to Norton's $70USD.
     
  12. IcE

    IcE Don Snow

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    I used nothing for a long time, except on demand occasionally with Malwarebytes. But now that I have all this computing horsepower and memory I stuck Avast on as a "why not" precaution. It's literally invisible most of the time and uses practically no memory. And it's always rated pretty well by AV comparatives, doesn't suck like AVG, and doesn't have the annoying popups of Avira free. Certainly not going to pay for an AV though.
     
  13. sykozis

    sykozis Ancient Guru

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    I used Avast "back in the day" when it was the most resource intensive A/V on the market. I stopped using it when I got a virus it couldn't remove, but the Avast BART!CD could.....unfortunately, since BART CD isn't available to the general public, I was forced to format and reinstall everything. I lost faith in Avast at that point. I considered AVG, but based on their willingness to release spyware for WP7, I can't recommend their "antivirus" software with a clear conscience.... They defend their actions claiming that it was necessary to "provide superior security protection"....but I fail to see how collecting personally identifiable information about the phone and it's owner is needed to provide security. The actions of AVG on WP7 are only taken for malicious purposes.

    I have no problem paying for software that's worth it's cost.... I fully believe in the ideal "you get what you pay for"....and on several occassions, AV-comparatives has shown this to still be the case with most "free antivirus" solutions.
     
  14. IcE

    IcE Don Snow

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    Free is certainly better than nothing though, you have to admit. Plus it's not like I'm adopting the foolish "I have an AV, I'm invincible" internet browsing strategy.
     
  15. sykozis

    sykozis Ancient Guru

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    I'm not arguing with you. Free is definitely better than nothing. I just advise using caution and thoroughly researching any free solutions prior to downloading and installing, for obvious reasons. I personally suffer from a bit of paranoia when it comes to the security of my computer. My usage habits are far from dangerous being that I frequent only known safe sites (guru3d, THG, TPU, CRN, and hardware maker websites), watch only movies I own, obtain my music through legal channels and play legally acquired games. For some reason, free solutions just don't take care of my paranoia...
     

  16. Passion Fruit

    Passion Fruit Guest

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    Norton is the most troublesome AV i work on from clients.

    Upon uninstalling, it often renders the network drivers disabled or corrupts them (causing a BSOD on bootup) which are two of the most common problems i get when a client claims his internet is no longer connecting (wired or wireless). The latter is less common but does come in a lot over the course of 3 months.

    Maybe it isn't intrusive, but to the average user who doesn't know about the removal tools, or to fix their drivers after they uninstall the product, or the BSOD you can also get as a result, it's pretty damaging...
     
  17. sykozis

    sykozis Ancient Guru

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    I haven't had a single issue related to uninstalling Norton....ever... McAfee on the other hand....I've had systems left unbootable from uninstalling...
     
  18. Passion Fruit

    Passion Fruit Guest

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    Most of the time the problem stems from the customer running the uninstaller from add/remove programs.

    I see this issue quite a lot. The BSOD is less common but it's a problem which a normal user definately wouldn't be able to solve on his own. The drivers usually aren't either, hence why they bring it on to me.

    Unfortunately, this is an issue i've been seeing for the last couple of years.

    The Norton Uninstaller usually fixes the driver issue, but the BSOD takes a good 5 or 10 minutes more.
     
  19. HeavyHemi

    HeavyHemi Guest

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    You more or less address that in post #8
     
  20. sykozis

    sykozis Ancient Guru

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    I've always gone to Add/Remove programs....and as I said, no issues yet. The only antivirus app I've ever had issues with uninstalling was McAfee...of course, that was back when McAfee product quality first started to deteriorate. Now I wouldn't risk a Windows install to test McAfee.
     

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