Filed under: Symantec

Nice try, Symantec! Cheesey video warns against free antivirus

by Lee Mathews Sep 29th 2009

Back in July, a Symantec exec predictably talked down free antivirus apps. This week, the cheeky devils behind Norton Antivirus have turned out a real tour de force. Seriously. It's a flippant look at the old adage "the best things in life are free."

The spot starts by mentioning love. Yeah, that's free, right? Sure, except for weddings says the straightman - those could cost as much as *gasp* $10,000! I'm not sure what year Symantec thinks it is, but I'm pretty sure many weddings run well in excess of three to five times that amount.

What about kids, those are great - and free! No, jackass, that's another bad call on your part. They're expensive too, says Unfunny Guy. Really? Thanks for pointing that out.

Tags: free-antivirus, norton, symantec

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Symantec, Commercial, Windows x64

Symantec release 2010 Norton security products

by Paul O'Brien Sep 14th 2009

Little in the Windows world seems to polarize opinion like a Symantec product, and in particular one from the Norton range. Seemingly equally loved and hated by users, Norton products in recent times have grown in both functionality and size, leading many to categorize the applications as 'bloated'.

Fanboys and haters sit up and take notice, Symantec have announced the release of their 2010 range of security products, including Norton Antivirus 2010 and Norton Internet Security 2010!

In the list of new features in the 2010 range, it does seem that Symantec have taken note of the concerns of users around the size and performance of the applications, as they state:

"Symantec has made an ongoing commitment to delivering security products that are fast and light. The Norton 2010 products have maintained an eye on performance, in spite of adding significant new protection technology to the release. Independent 3rd party test lab, PassMark Software was commissioned to benchmark Symantec and top security software competitors' performance impact on key metric."

Long story short: NIS 2010 is faster than previous versions and it's less resource-intense (idling at a reported 10Mb). The once painful install has been addressed as well -- NIS installs in about a minute. Test scans under NIS turned out solid results as well: 61 seconds on an HDD and 31 on an SSD.

Tags: Internet Security, InternetSecurity, NAV, Norton, Norton Antivirus, NortonAntivirus, Symantec

Filed under: Business, Security, Symantec, Freeware

Avast responds to Symantec's jaded criticisms of free antivirus

by Lee Mathews Aug 5th 2009

Last month, Symantec Product Manager David Hall ruffled some feathers when he blasted free antivirus software. Avast's Vincent Steckler has since had a look at the interview, and believes Hall "erroneously concludes that free products cannot be trusted, are not sufficient, etc."

He continues, "But then again why should a firm that makes a billion dollars a year off of paid anti-virus conclude that a free anti-virus product is good..." Many of you echoed that sentiment in the comments.

Steckler has plenty of good counterpoints, which you would expect from a guy that works for a free AV provider.

Hall slammed free programs for lacking targeted indentity theft protection. Not so fast, says Steckler. "Malware focused on stealing identity information is just malware." What about that "big gap" between the changing threat landscape and the defense provided by free apps? "[Hall] is wrongly assuming that antivirus products do the same as what they did 10 years ago," but they don't.

Yes, Mr. Symantec, Even free antivirus like Avast and AVG now use much more sophisticated methods to thwart potential threats.

Tags: avast, free-antivirus, malware, norton, propoganda, spyware

Filed under: Internet, Security, Symantec

Symantec's Hall says free antivirus is for chumps

by Lee Mathews Jul 4th 2009

In a discussion with tech.blorge.com, David Hall, who is Symantec's Product Manager for Asia-Pacific Consumer Products and Solutions, voices his concerns over the popularity of free antivirus programs.

"People tell me, 'oh well look I use free antivirus because it is free and it protects me from everything in those areas,' but when you compare that with what's really going on in the threat landscape, there is a very, very big gap between what antivirus does and the threats that are being delivered today."

He later continues, "[...] attackers are not necessarily only targeting the web browser. Think about all the plug-ins you have installed on your machine – RealPlayer, Flash, QuickTime – all of these have vulnerabilities too."

Yes, the threats we face on the Internet have changed over the years and In some respects, Hall is correct.

Like many of you, I no longer rely only on AV software. It's a starting point in keeping my systems protected. I also use a firewall, OpenDNS or a hosts file blocker, and browser addons like NoScript and NoFlash. For added protection, I'll use Sandboxie (and sometimes Windows SteadyState). All of these tools are totally free, and they've been doing the job quite nicely on my home systems.

Hall's quotes do help explain why I've seen several machines on my workbench running only Symantec's own Norton Antivirus that have fallen victim to drive-by attacks. Yes, Symantec, even users running your AV protection aren't totally safe. And it's not free. They paid for it.

In fact, they're still paying for it.

See what I did there?

Tags: free-antivirus, norton-antivirus, symantec

Filed under: Security, Utilities, Windows, Symantec, Freeware, Troubleshooting

5 Windows tools to remove damaged antivirus programs

by Lee Mathews Nov 11th 2008

One frustrating problem I have to fight with on customer computers is damaged antivirus and internet security program installs. Much of the time there's no simple way to get rid of them once something has gone wrong, and they can cause all kinds of headaches.

Fortunately, some of the companies are good enough to provide uninstall tools to help us out.

McAfee: MCPR
While I was putting this post together, their web site starter throwing random errors at me. You should be able to download the remover from this page. If not, get it directly from McAffee or Softpedia.

Norton: Norton Removal Tool
Back when I first used SymNRT (the old name for this app), it did a pretty good job of cleaning things up. I'll warn you in advance: Norton Removal Tool will probably miss some files, folders, and registry keys. Still, it will at least get the program out of your way. It's availble through this Symantec article, or directly from the Symantec FTP or MajorGeeks. [download] and run a quick registry sweep to tidy up.

Tags: antivirus, malware, removal, uninstall

Filed under: Security, Windows, Symantec, Beta

Symantec releases beta of Norton 360 version 2.0

by Simon Kerbel Feb 6th 2008

Symantec has just released a beta version of Norton 360 version 2.0, the latest update of the all-in-one protection suite for the PC.

Norton 360 version 2.0 claims a host of new and updated features:

Faster performance of virus scans
Faster boot times
New browser protections
New identity protections to manage passwords and sensitive information
Support for new backup destinations including HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, and even iPods
Comes in three flavors: apple, cherry, and tutti-frutti (okay, so we made this one up; just making sure you're paying attention out there)

The beta site has been refreshed with all the necessary information. You'll even see some fresh new fonts, Symantec's attempt at connecting with our hipster generation.

If you want to be a beta tester, no problem: the Norton 360 beta is available to all. You'll want to uninstall all previous Norton Antivirus solutions prior to installing the beta. And you know this already, but we'll say it anyway: Windows only.

Tags: antivirus, beta, norton 360, Norton360

Filed under: News, Microsoft, Symantec

Officials seize $500 million worth of counterfeit software in China

by Brad Linder Jul 24th 2007

The FBI and Chinese officials have seized more than 290,000 CDs with pirated software in a crackdown on groups in China and the US who were making and distributing the discs around the world. 25 people were arrested in the sting.

The CDs have an estimated value of $500 million, with software titles from companies including Microsoft and Symantec. Of course, if you do the math, officials are estimating that the the average disc was worth $1724.13, which just goes to show that the numbers are often somewhat inflated in these operations.

And of course the "retail value" of the software is often based on estimated losses from the companies who make the software, not on how much the bootleg versions will sell for. Sure, some of those who purchase pirated software would buy the legal version if bootleg discs weren't available, but that's not true for everyone.

This is not an endorsement of piracy. Those who create useful or fun software deserve to be compensated for it. All we're saying is you have to take these numbers with a grain of salt.

Tags: bootleg, china, fbi, piracy

Filed under: Business, Developer, Internet, Security, Web services, Symantec

Symantec to release Online Backup Service

by Chris Gilmer Apr 18th 2007

A large expense, and head scratching issue many businesses face is data backup. Should they pony up the cash to develop an internal solution, or do they hunt out external solutions. Symantec, the well known protection company, has opened a solution for small to mid-sized businesses.

Symantec has released its Online Backup Service for beta testing, with a full release later this year. The system is aimed at businesses that have been facing challenges with data protection, offering them an affordable solution with a name they can trust. Symantec's data recovery and backup system would sync critical data to Symantec's data centers under a high level of security and backup systems.

There is no word yet on the cost of the Online Backup Service, but with Symantec's track record at protecting users and businesses, we can guess its going to be a great (if pricey) offering.

[via informationWeek]

Tags: backup, business, data, online backup, online backup service, OnlineBackup, OnlineBackupService, security, servers, small, symantec, sync

Filed under: OS Updates, Security, News, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Apple, Microsoft, Red Hat, Symantec

Windows named most secure OS by Symantec

by Grant Robertson Mar 22nd 2007

Symantec, usually no fan of Microsoft, recently released their 11th Internet Security Threat Report, in which they found, "Windows had the fewest number of patches and the shortest average patch development time of the five operating systems it monitored in the last six months of 2006."

It took Microsoft an average of 21 days to roll out a patches for 39 security holes in Windows (a more than 100% increase in vulnerabilities over the same period in 2006), beating #2 ranked Red Hat Linux which required an average of 58 days to fix 208 security issues. Of course, of those 208 holes in Red Hat, only 2 were high-severity and 76 were considered low-risk.

Apple, for it's part, needed an average of 66 days to fix 43 vulnerabilities. (I guess the Cupertino kids were busy working on that iPhone hotness).

Tags: security

Filed under: Internet, Security, News, Symantec

Most hack attacks originate in the US says report

by Grant Robertson Mar 20th 2007

More hack attacks originate from inside the US than from anywhere else on earth and, increasingly they're coming from more organized and focused groups. Those are the findings of a report released yesterday by security firm Symantec.

The US was the source for 31 percent of attacks, with China following a distant second at 10 percent according to the report. To make matters worse, thanks to this vibrant underground run-amok, your credit card info can be purchased for as little as $1 US, and full sets of identification credentials (name, address, mother's maiden, etc) can be had for only $14 bucks. Yikes!

In unrelated news, my name will be Robert Paulsen from here on out. I got a sweet deal too!

Tags: hack, hack attacks, hack statistics, HackAttacks, hacker, hackers, HackStatistics, security, statistics

Filed under: Developer, Internet, Utilities, Productivity, Web services, Symantec

Symantec bug exploits

by Chris Gilmer Nov 29th 2006

Symantec has collected evidence of an attack in progress from a new bot that is exploiting multiple bugs that have been around for a few months. Including a bug in Symantec's very own antivirus scanning engine. There have been seven exploits for seven different vulnerabilities from Spybot.acyr that were found in Microsoft Windows and in Symantec's antivirus application. The vulnerability has been around since May 2006, and customers that have updated their applications since then will remain unaffected. Symantec is monitoring a spike in traffic recently with activity mainly lying in .edu domains. Symantec is asking that all customers update their products to the latest available security updates to prevent against any possible attacks.

Tags: antivirus, bot, bugs, microsoft, spybot, symantec

Filed under: OS Updates, Security, News, Microsoft, Symantec, Commercial

Microsoft is being cooperative, Kaspersky says

by Ryan Carter Oct 9th 2006

McAfee and Symantec, among others have accused Microsoft of not cooperating with them by giving them access to Windows Vista's core so it can be tested and new products created to help secure it from the third party vendors. Microsoft's stigma is always that they are involved in anti-trust activities, which McAfee and Symantec could be trying to exploit here. Anti-Virus company Kaspersky doesn't think so. McAfee's open letter to Microsoft pretty much accuses them of wanting world domination over both the computing and security markets, but Kaspersky says Microsoft has remained cooperative despite McAfee and Symantec's whining. I don't doubt Microsoft's desire for maniacal dominance of the world, but every other company starts out wanting the same thing, so this is nothing new. Are they cooperating or not?

Tags: Kaspersky, McAfee, Microsoft, Symantec

Filed under: Security, Windows, Microsoft, Symantec

Windows Vista's new network code vulnerable?

by Jordan Running Jul 18th 2006

One of the many Windows Vista features Microsoft is eagerly touting is its networking code, which has been re-built from the ground up and promises superior performance to XP networking. Considering all the legacy cruft in Microsoft's products, fresh new code seems like something the be happy about, but according to CNet, Symantec feels otherwise. According to the networking company, scrapping the old "tried and tested code" and writing it anew has introduced fresh vulnerabilities and instabilities which its researches have observed in beta versions of the operating system. Microsoft calls Symantec's analysis is premature and that it does not accurate reflect the maturity of the product when it finally ships.

Tags: bugs, microsoft, networking, security, stability, symantec, vista, windows, windowsvista

Filed under: Security, Windows, Symantec

Symantec patches AntiVirus vulnerability

by Jordan Running May 31st 2006

Symantec moved quickly to squash a security vulnerability in its AntiVirus Corporate Edition which was disclosed by eEye Digital Security last week, and according to CRN Australia an official fix is now being rolled out in the form of an IPS signature update. An unnamed executive from another security vendor, however, says they are "scratching their heads in disbelief" regarding the choice, because hackers could reverse-engineer the signatures and get "a blueprint of the vulnerability." It seems to me that any fix released could likewise be reverse-engineered, but it may be true that an IPS signature is easier to dissect. Let's just hope all of those Corporate users have their AntiVirus set to keep those signatures up-to-date.

Tags: antivirus, fix, patch, security, symantec, vulnerability

Filed under: Security, Windows, Symantec

Security flaw puts Symantec AntiVirus users at risk

by Jordan Running May 26th 2006

According to eEye Digital Security, the latest version of Symantec AntiVirus contains a security flaw that could be used to take control of the victim's PC "without any user action." eEye spokesperson Mike Puterbaugh describes the hole as "definitely wormable," i.e. malicious software could gain access to a machine, change or delete files at will, and spread itself to other machines. Symantec says they "are evaluating the issue now and, if necessary, will provide a prompt response and solution." Puterbaugh says no proof-of-concept code has been released, but warns that hackers may already know about the flaw.

Tags: antivirus, flaw, security, symantec, vulnerability, worm

Graveyard Shift - zombie-busting Time Waster

With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet. They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...

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