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Microsoft Anti-Spyware Removes Norton Anti-Virus

Posted by Zonk on from the that's-a-big-oops dept.

An anonymous reader writes "According to a story over at Washingtonpost.com, the latest definitions file for Microsoft's Anti-Spyware beta flags Symantec's Norton Antivirus products as a password-stealing trojan and prompts users to delete portions of the program. Users who follow the instructions hose their installation of Norton, requiring delicate Windows registry edits and a complete removal/reinstall of Norton. Microsoft's support forum is quickly filling up with complaints about this problem, many from businesses that have been pretty hard hit. This should be a cautionary tale about deploying beta products in production environments."

6 of 496 comments (clear)

  1. What problem? by HillBilly · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Probably the best thing any user can have happen. The removal or norton anti-virus.

    --
    "Go into the hall of mirrors and have a bloody hard look at yourself" - HG Nelson
  2. Norton? by DirePickle · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Wait... Is not spyware? It's definitely malware.

  3. Re:Is it really worth the hassle? by MSFanBoi2 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They also want a fully supported environment where the corporate hardware and software they use are easy to get, support and continue using.

    Does most of the buiness apps in the office today run on Solaris or BSD? ESPECIALLY BSD? Hell no.

  4. Not a Beta Issue by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 5, Insightful
    This isn't really a beta issue, because the definition file will be constantly updated - as with most anti-virus products. It's always beta. I'd imagine that each definition file gets some testing, but not the same amount as a new software product.

    This also brings up some interesting possibilities. Is it possible to craft a virus to deliberately have similar signatures to a commercial product? An anti-virus company that doesn't have quite all commercial applications on hand to test against could be caught by that. Maybe not, but I'm sure someone will try now.

    I'm glad I run Linux, and when things like this happen, I wish everyone did.

    Bruce

    --
    Bruce Perens.
  5. Do you work for Norton by any chance? by hedronist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Excuse me? NAV is a steaming heap of complete crap.

    AVG does the job better, faster, and with far less resource consumption. Every time I have been called on to disinfect a machine which was running NAV, I recommned the owners switch to AVG. Without exception, they comment on how much more responsive their system is. I have little trouble convincing them to support Grisoft by getting the not-for-free version.

    The machine I am on right now is running (probably unnecessarily) a full AVG install. It checks my email, it checks my downloads, it checks all of the crud running on the system, and it does this while burning some fraction of 1% of the CPU and a tiny bit of memory.

    If you are currently running NAV, disable it (if you can) and try running AVG for a couple of days. I think you'll notice the difference.

  6. Re:Bye Microsoft. by mblase · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I thougt all Microsofts products was more or less beta.

    You're thinking of Google, who release great products but keep them in beta for years.

    This is easily confused with Microsoft, who release mediocre products instead of keeping them in beta for years.