The company that claims it can keep you safe from all manner of threats and hackers was itself hacked. We find this telling and amusing. The self-proclaimed king of Internet security Symantec (the company that makes Norton products) must be red-faced today as a group of hackers posted the entire source code for Norton Anti-virus which was stolen from Norton’s own servers.
This makes us wonder: If they can’t protect themselves – how on Earth can they protect you. We’ve been telling our readers for years that Norton isn’t one of the best – but it is one of the most expensive. There are free anti-virus programs which rate more highly in system protection (according to two different independent testing labs) than Norton Anti-virus. Our question to our readers has always been: If you can use free anti-virus that protects better or at least as well as Norton – why would you pay for Norton? Norton isn’t the best. Norton is a resource hog. Norton is expensive. And today, Norton must be red-faced. Norton’s response to being hacked was aptly political: “It’s no big deal.” But you know heads must be rolling at Symantec today.
Our question today is: If Norton can’t protect itself, how well can it protect you?
The following is from Gismodo.com:
Last Saturday, a hacking group calling itself “The Lords of Dharmaraja” claimed that it had obtained the confidential source code of Norton AntiVirus and that it would release the full code on Tuesday (17 January 2012)…
You can read the rest at Gismodo. The article was published yesterday (16 January 2012).
I couldn’t have said it any better myself…although I have tried! 🙂
Hey, Craig Loundes, V8 racing car driver and Harvey Norman Computer Store, pushing Norton Anti-Virus in everyones’ face nearly every day, this will make you choke, I hope.
Hey, John in Oz, for a start get Craig’s Surname right and I also doubt, that he is responsible for the advertising on his Super V8 Race Car.
I don’t like Norton Products either but I don’t blame Craig LOWNDES or anyone else for advertising it. As the End Users, it is our decision to use or not to use any product.
I think at ont time Norton,s was good but they got to large and very expensive, I gave them up for MC AFee they also are not to good I am now with AVG!2 it is good and calso free. if some chaps have a better free one please pass it on.
Thank you
I have been trying to track down your article without much success regarding Viper. If you can help me find the InfoAve with that article or an update would be much obliged.
Thanks for your help.
Secondly, would like to have a condensed version of your new online computer repair service to forward. It sounds like a winner I think it will go well.
Again thanks and best regards,
Chet {:o)
Norton got hit by the same people back in 2006. Look it up! We are just now finding that out. Do you think security companies are going to tell you things like this unless they absolutely have to. Any of them…smiles. When a hacker/hackers goes after something long enough an it is a big enough prize, most of the time they get it. More people the better to. If the world governments and business community can’t keep them out, and they are all running different security programs I’m sure, what makes you think what you are running is any better. My point is how do you now what you are running that anti-virus company has not been comprised at sometime or another. Just because you have not heard it? We did not know about Norton in 2006 either. If someone tells you this has been the only anti virus company that has been compromised. I would walk away from that or tell them to prove it, and the only person can prove it is the company and they are not going to tell unless they have to.
Sorry unknown hackers in 2006.
Yeah, no big deal huh? Three days ago, while on Facebook with nothing open, I was hacked by a Trojan Keylogger virus that Norton support could not remove. I worked with it for three days and finally rmoved the virus myself. That is when I heard the news on the local channel about the hacked Norton files.
Norton played my issue off as no big deal, but all of my files were compromised along with passwords. After the three days of working on my computer without help form Norton, I removed the virus and recovered my files. Good-bye forever Norton.
Thank you for putting that back up what I said.
MORE proof that you need to use your OWN common sense as your best defense. Just another huge corporation, supported by those other huge corporations and so-called “experts”, who have a financial or “special perks” interest vested in the product/company they tout. They will tell you what you WANT to hear, or manipulate partial or false information to “scare” you into believing “you need us to protect you, and ONLY us”. The TRUTH, in so many areas of our lives, is increasingly non-existant in “mainstream” media. All of us MUST keep searching for the TRUTH and not be complacent when we have an opportunity to protect and secure access to it.
Thank you TC and EB for guiding us in all things re computers and the internet. Your integrity and fairness is irreplaceable to me.