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Symantec's Genesis to Usher in a New Age of Trust?
eldavojohn writes "Symantec has announced that they will be creating a massive security package called Genesis. Semantec has set their goal to 'Security 2.0' which is proposed to be
'a new age of trust on the Internet.' From the article: 'Symantec plans a one-stop software service tying together anti-virus, anti-spam, firewall and a host of other PC optimization technologies...' This is certainly something the common computer user could buy instead of having to fork over cash for every component. I don't think I'll be purchasing it though."
Let's hope it was designed intelligently then...
But seriously, I'd rather have the security problems fixed at the source, instead of having to add layers and layers of so called "security software".
Windows is like decaf - it tastes like the real thing, but it won't get you through the day.
Symantec and Norton antivirus and security packages (on machines I have experience with) use an absurd amount of memory and processor resources. Any hope that this will change someday?
Really, this doesn't seem all that revolutionary -- Symantec, like McAfee, like any other company serious in the business, ALREADY offers an integrated suite of tools (Internet Security) and no matter the advancement of interplay and integration I have a hard time believing that Genesis will come across to the average user as being so much more. Wait and see, I guess.
I have already left slavery for the promised land. Lots of those strange penguins around though...
DYWYPI?
Genesis? Sounds good.
Secure from malware at last!
So, is it Linux?
They may try and bring this in along with vista. The new age of windows OS is supposed to be better, faster, stronger, and more secure. With Microsofts deep pockets, do you think they may help syman. try and make things even more secure? Or maybe try to make it seem like it, give people a better hope of security. just an idea
Well if it isn't the leader of the wiener patrol, boning up on his nerd lesson...
So when did anti-virus, anti-spam, and a firewall become optimization technologies? My computer seems to run slower with these things installed.
Genesii (That's multiple Genesis to you and I) have a history of utter failure.
Genesis (Sega): Defeated by SNES
Genesis (STWoK): Stolen by Khan, and he damn dear destroyed the enterprise with it
Genesis (Band): Ushered in the era of HORRID 80's music
Please Symantec, can we call this something that has a history of goodness attached to it, like Campbells?
If it's similar at all to any of the Symantec home all in one AV type packages it will be an enormous mess. The last time I worked on this, a 256MB machine used 270 MB of memory with nothing but Windows XP home and the Norton package running. Worse, when I disabled things they didn't need, like the firewall or spam scanner, it didn't actually unload them from memory.
I stopped using Symantec for AV a while ago. But home users will still buy this for the same reason they buy a dishwasher with 19 different settings when all they ever use is the pots and pans setting.
Shouldn't we be able to trust them now? Oh wait, since it took them 2 weeks to get the definitions out for a keylogging virus...I guess the answer to that is no.
Personally, after seeing Symantec corp take 2 weeks to release the definitions for a keylogger a customers network had...All symantec products I have out there are going to go away.
My choices are getting narrowed down quickly. McAfee lost out a few years back with the Nimda virus and failing to return phone calls....at all, not just late by a few hours or even a few days, a week later I heard from them. By that time I had already moved on since more than half my customer base was infected the DAY of the outbreak, not a week later.
But then, both of those 2 are really good at annoying the ever loving crap out of a user, which inturn causes the user to ignore all those little popups. I've even been guilty of it because I see them like 80 times a day. JUST DO YOUR JOB! You don't have to tell us what a wonderful job you are doing, just tell us when you need us to do something.
that megalomania is still alive and well in the corporate boardroom
...in their own mind
all they need are the sharks with frickin' laser beams and some wagnerian operas playing in the background and symantec's domination of teh intarweb is complete
grandiose schemes like this should signal to someone that they need some medication
it's one thing to think big, it's another thing to think RIDICULOUSLY DRAMATICALLY HUGE! (cue gong)
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
With anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-spyware, intrusion prevention, firewall, PC optimization and maintenance elements all bundled togetherm this is gonna be one hell of a system performance issue.
"Both Genesis and the next versions of Norton's traditional security products will be designed to work on Vista, Microsoft's forthcoming operating system, due later this year, as well as Windows XP."
Well, seems this does not do linux. Only Windows XP. But looks like Microsoft already has OneCare which does the same stuff. So I guess this is too late a genesis for symantec.
I have seen more problems caused by Symantec's software then I could count. I feel that if you have to run Windows then any extra layers of protection that you would need can be provided by free applications online. For example: Ad-aware, Spy-Bot, AVG Anti-Virus, ZoneAlarm, and the best firewall protection, SmoothWall.
I have unyielding hate for Symantec. I've spent countless hours trying to get their products to properly allow connectivity for various programs for other people, and even more hours uninstalling it after it wouldn't listen to my yelling.
Nothing Symantec has is good, or can't be replaced by a free alternative.
Anti-Virus? AntiVir (If you want to pay, they have a premium version, too)
Firewall? SP2 comes with a moderate firewall that works well. There are a good deal of free firewall programs out there, not to mention that many routers now have some sort of firewall software on them.
Ad-aware and MAS have taken care of any spyware problems I've had to deal with (except for some of the really evil ones.)
Any and everything else can be taken care of by good judgement and learning some PC common sense. Don't arbitrarily accept downloads that IE pops up with. Don't open every attachment that claims to be a dancing Ronald McDonald. Don't listen to every e-mail propogated by the feces of the internet that various programs in your windows folder are viruses.
There is absolutely no need to pay $100 for Symantec's horrible piece of crap. People would be better off without it.
I honestly hope I'm proven wrong, but I just don't see "a new age of Internet trust" happening.. ever. To even put a dent in the mal-ware industry, this new software will have to use up every last bit of resources the Vista-generation computers might have. Even then, there will always be a way around it! Any/every new feature this new software might introduce will also introduce, along with it, a new flaw; another vulnerability which will have to be patched. Thus, the circle will continue, only in another location: Vista.
A proud provider of services through the Microsoft Reboot Engineer Certification since 1997!
Symantec and McAfee are about as effective at problem solving as the Bush administration. These are two products that render a machine useless by loading hundreds of megs of unnecessary graphics and who-knows-what while simultaneously blocking network communication, and popping up every four seconds to tell you about the "attack" so narrowly averted thanks to it. Every so often it asks you for more money.
I went red and started recommending Kaspersky, but my clients have trouble getting it installed thanks to its ridiculous registration system. Instead of a stream-lined system, you have to download a key file and 'show Kaspersky your papers,' if you catch my drift.
Now I just install the free version of Avast. No problems so far.
The first one of you to write software that blocks terra attacks from the inner-web is not going to have any trouble paying off that student loan. Promise.
I wonder if this is going to have another spyware-ridden root kit in it too!
If the guys at Symantec/Norton think I'm EVER going to install/recommend ANY of their products EVER again, they're still smoking the same stuff that they were smoking when they thought that root-kitting all their customers was a good idea in the first place.
Hey Symantec - PUT THE CRACK PIPE DOWN AND BACK AWAY SLOWLY!!!!
2 cents,
Queen B
HDGary secures my bank
The assumption appears to be that we trust Symantec...
If it ever is included in Windows as a standard part of the OS, it's going to be the first target of opportunity. I mean, what malware writer wouldn't love to have a security-utility monoculture in which to amply hide his program? Once you root a machine, you can have an anti-virus scanner, firewall, or whatever lie all you want to an unsuspecting user.
Security through diversity. Remember that.
If Symantec is trying to teach people to "trust" the Internet, they're doing people a disservice. The Internet is a way for people to communicate with other people; any communication includes the possibility of lies and fraud. Yes, the Internet introduces new technical types of ways for people to cheat and attack each other (phishing, OS vulnerabilities, viruses, trojan horses, etc.) but even if you solve all the technical issues, you still fundamentally have people communicating with each other. Strangers should not blindly trust each other regardless of context.
If Jane AOLer meets Joe MSNer on IRC, even if she has "Genesis" and "Leviticus" too, should she trust him any more than if she met him in real life? No. If Jane AOLer shops at FuzzySlippersOnline, should she trust them any more than she trusts her local brick and mortar CoolBootsEmporium? Of course not. The online world is not to be trusted, any more than the big blue room outside is to be trusted.
This is Symantec's big push... in the wrong direction.
I hope they make a Mac version for my new 20 inch Dual Core, so I can protect it from all those vir... uh... nevermind.
...and sell Trend Micro Internet Security instead?
I've been using Trend Micro for the last couple of years. It's already got the full meal deal Symantec is promising, and it's actually updated in near-real-time (every three hours).
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In my experience over the past couple of years, there are few PC 'optimizations' as effective as uninstalling Symantec antivirus, firewall, spamfilter and associated applications..
It is absolutely *astounding* the percentage of techsupport calls coming in at an ISP helpdesk are the direct result of a malfunctioning Symantec application. Especially Norton Antivirus -- after a while, you almost start to suspect that Symantec released that program as a practical joke.
McAfee is a distant second, while AVG and Avast rarely cause any problems. It's amazing how many problems, lock-ups and corrupted email problems magically disappear simply by uninstalling Norton Antivirus and installing the free version of AVG instead.
Somehow, I am rather sceptical that things will get better by them slapping their entire product line in a single box, and trying to cram in a pony on top of it. Jack of all trades, master of none.
Want a firewall? www.jetico.com - "Jetico Personal Firewall" *freeware*.
Don't be put off by the "personal" bit. It's actually rather close to iptabls et al in the Windows world--rulesets, various logging levels, lots of different protocols, etc. It *will* confuse you initially (UI in particular), but then again, I did say it was like iptables... Both are rather unpatronising.
Want a cheap (not free, but try it--I paid for it), fast, small anti-virus? www.nod32.com. Works, no fluff or animated 3D logos, un-installs without ripping out your computers nervous system. Very small memory foot-print.
That is all.
Why wait?
Norton stuff seems to be king of the "We'll change your computer all around just for our software and it will run slower" manufacturers.
Over the years, I've developed best-of-breed for myself. You probably have others you like:
1) Firewall - Sygate. Doesn't try to do too much which is good because its small, fast, and it's easy to reconfigure to do pretty much anything. Oh, it's free, too. I can see why Symantec bought it and killed it.
2) Anti-Virus - AVG is the only virus protection I've used that doesn't bog down the computer. And it's cheaper than Symantec too. I think the only reason it doesn't get rated higher by magazines is they like suites that throw in the kitchen sink. I like small utilities that work well.
3) Anti-spyware - Webroot Spysweeper. It has worked consistently well for 2-3 years now.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
I have the best anti-badware known to man: Common sense.
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