What is your security setup?

Bitdefender's admin have finally found out that their free offer is lackluster and can't compete.

Bitdefender Free will be retired on December 31, 2021 ghacks.net

 

Norton has a crypto miner for PCs that can’t be easily uninstalled digitaltrend.com | Jan 4, 2022

Norton Crypto does not run full-time in the background. Users can manually switch it on and off. The users are put into a pool with other Norton Crypto users to improve efficiency, and everyone shares the rewards of the mining. It is meant to be a simple and safe way to mine Ethereum.

However, according to mAxius and other users, there is no way to fully opt out of the program, and you actually have to dig into NCrypt.exe in your computer’s directory to delete it.

That may not seem like a big deal, but Norton has a rocky relationship with its user base, and the company has seen controversy in the past for poor transparency and not entirely deleting files when uninstalled.

Is this a joke? Or is this the new way to try compete with Microsofts own free AV software?

Yep, some security setups/software has to be avoided.

 

Antivirus becoming a paid virus.

 

And Microsoft offer adware/spyware. Today's tech in a nutshell.

See the statement from the editor Hilbert Hagedoorn at guru3d.com.... Norton does not have to do anything for this and you bear the costs. Our advice, uninstall Norton software and walk away from that brand, and never use their software again. It's the only way that companies will learn that what they are implementing, is wrong.
New version of Norton 360 installs a crypto miner on your PC by default

Users claim that Norton 360 antivirus installs a crypto miner on PCs


What a combination bro @Mr. Fox @Ashtrix

 

The only good security setup is between your ears and behind your eyes, and it's the one option that many people never use.

 

@ Mr. Fox

I think there's a name for that..... hmm... is it commonsense? That thing that isn't so common anymore. Well, in general not with most people when it comes to computers and people.

The internet would probably be a safer place if there were some 101 course required before connecting to the internet. I mean there's a requirement for a course to go hunting, driving, motorcycle, etc. Even for some forms of financing / grants for 1st time homeowners.

 

It seems the different AV software companies try so hard they can to help Microsoft increasin their market share for Windows Defender security. Can't they see this goes the wrong way?

Avira is adding a crypto miner to its products as well ghacks.net



Originally announced in October 2021, Avira Crypto was launched to help consumers "mine cryptocurrency more safely and easily, directly through the Avira platform".

Avira goes on to explain the ease of use of the integrated Crypto component in a blog post on the official Avira blog in October 2021.

With Avira Crypto, coinminers can now turn idle time on their PCs into an opportunity to earn digital currency. It is designed to be simple to use, secure and reliable, enabling customers to mine for cryptocurrency with just a few clicks and avoid the general barriers that might otherwise prevent their entry into the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

The company created a FAQ on its support site that provides a few additional details on the integration. According to the FAQ, Avira Crypto is mining Ethereum on systems and comes with a personal wallet.

Avira does not reveal how much, if any, of the mined currency it is taking for itself. Norton revealed last week that it is taking 15% of the earned currency from Norton Crypto users.

 

@ Papusan

Well, that's one way to keep your fans spinning 24/7. Seems to be a trend between of AV software mining. I wonder how much they siphon off the top for the privilege to help you mine. The increase electricity costs don't outweigh the mining production though. It's a losing battle.

 

I could understand if this was a proper implementation, where you enter your electricity costs, and it makes sure that you only mine if it's profitable. But obviously by taking 15% Norton is just ripping people off.

 

Double-dipping, too? Pay us for Norton 360, and give us 15% of all the crypto earnings. Sounds like a wonderful program... for Norton.

It will be interesting to find out how much of a cut Avira is going to stroke their users for.

 

Want to put money on either of them not explicitly presenting a screen to opt out?

 

You first have to opt in. And, you can opt out. https://support.avira.com/hc/en-us/articles/4407469485585-What-is-Avira-Crypto-

 

Why should they bother? They don't pay your electricity bill but want the profits. On top the Crypto value maybe reach th bottom Ethereum Drops 22% in Value Over the Past Week

People need to stop up and start use their head. If they can'd find the correct tool from the correct company to fix stupidity then use a universial tool like etc Antivirus Removal Tool 2022.01

 

@ Mr. Fox @ Papusan

I know living on the edge isn't for everyone but, I quit using AV long long ago just because it didn't seem to work 1/2 the time and the performance issues it caused. This junk has always been more of a hassle than a help.

You can fix stupid... Mac. The smart people switched to or never Windowed to begin with and used *nix based systems.

 

Mac ain't the holy grail. Mac ain't much better than use cancer AV software as Norton, Avast or Avira. Be into Apple Tims sick sick disgusting world with their proprietary HW and awful tacky OS aint for me. Same also for newer Win 10 versions or the much worse Win 11. No thanks. I'll continue use Eset paired with the older Win 10 LTSC 2019 and this is ok for me. I have never had problem with this combo. Have worked very well since 2018/19. No point change only for the change. On top to something even worse

 

I didn't say holy grail. It fixes stupid though in the sense they can't mess it up and break it easily. Plus not being windows it negates the AV need considerably with the *nix core. It's simple enough any idiot that can point / click can manage to do just about anything w/o inflicting damage to themselves but, the counterpoint is they pay $$$ for the "ease".

All AV programs have drawbacks in their ability to "protect" a system though. The heuristics are still human involved and there's always someone involved in making them i.e. human error. Simple steps like not clicking on random links and using a search engine instead solves a lot of the issues where these infections come from. Proper education would put these companies out of business when people realize they're burning $ for no reason. As networks / ISP's are implementing more DPI tings get caught before they even get to your machine in the first place.

If you look into most of the CVE's regarding different issues it's either aimed at the OS i.e. Windows or at the more basic level on the HW side itself to find flaws for exploitation. Most of the incidents though target bad programming that leave things exposed. Port triggers that get scanned by farms of machines on the internet to find targets. Easy solution to that is use a VPN to randomize the traffic in both directions.

There's a ton of ways to skin the cat though and just as many ways to F it up and get a data leak.

 

It was already "not worth it" before the loss in value. I hope the entire crypto industry (and other forms of "digital currency" crap) goes belly up so there is no longer any incentive for anyone to mine or own crypto. Good riddance. The whole notion that something intangible and non-existent would have value is totally absurd. Then maybe we can get back to a proper way of life. Plus, it would be amazing to utterly destroy the selling prices of both new and used GPUs and severely flood the market with so many affordable used GPUs that NVIDIA and AMD and their AIB partners have to sell their brand new GPUs for a very modest profit or match tanked used resale prices just to get rid of a rotting excess of inventory. That would be glorious and well-deserved justice.

Antivirus software is mostly a gimmick unless a person behaves in a very irresponsible, haphazard way. I ran Windows with no security software for 6 or 7 years and had fewer issues with malware (none to be exact) than I did when I was drinking the Kool-Aid and religiously running, updating and scanning with antivirus "solutions" bloatware. It make more sense for me to have an unobtrusive scan-on-demand option that doesn't run 24/7 and waste PC resources. Hackers and malware creators are getting more resourceful and starting to burn some calories on Mac and *nix systems. I think they are actually less secure than Winduhz is, but they haven't been a target before because their market share was and is mostly irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. It is like the difference between shooting fish in a barrel versus casting a line into a big lake that doesn't have very many fish in it.

When you eliminate bloat, it is a good thing. Compare the resources being sucked from the hardware on this optimized OS to a consumer slop bucket OS.

 

Norton Crypto. It's EVEN WORSE than you think....