Norton crypto

[silentbogo]

Not sure why it hasn't made rounds on TPU news reel, but here we go:

Learn more about Norton Crypto

Learn about Norton Crypto and how to mine for digital currency using the idle time of your computer.

support.norton.com

I'm pro-crypto, but that's just the peak of marasm and total insanity... Crypto already has a bad wrap, especially when greedy sysadmins use company's hardware for mining, but this thing makes it so much easier....

Long story short, Norton has introduced a new "feature" in their security suite: a built-in Ethash & XMR miner! You thought your AV was slowing down your system? Wait 'till we, merry folks at Norton, force earnings upon you!

 

[weekendgeek]

I have no words. Well, maybe "Kill it with fire."

 

[QuietBob]

What in the actual...

Norton and crypto, I thought I'd never see these two in the same sentence! I have their previous product, Norton Security, installed on a number of my systems, as well as on friends'/relatives' PCs. And it does exactly that - it's a lightweight all-in-one cyber security solution. Been a regular user for many years and never had a reason to complain. Thankfully it hasn't been updated with this new "feature"

But when I see their current offerings, they look like a product from a completely different company. They're now selling services rather than a software package, and charge annual/monthly fees for them. Just look at all the BS in the "ID Theft Protection Service" section. Click on the plus signs and read the descriptions, unbelievable

Compare plans

"Million Dollar Protection Package™", seriously?

 

[Lenne]

But do they pay for increased electricity bills and the taxes from selling crypto?

 

[silentbogo]

But do they pay for increased electricity bills and the taxes from selling crypto?

What's funny, is that YOU have to pay extra for the privilege. It's not included in basic AV package, but comes bundled-in with 360 suite

 

[Lenne]

What's funny, is that YOU have to pay extra for the privilege. It's not included in basic AV package, but comes bundled-in with 360 suite

Good point there. To be honest, I'm not interested at crypto at all so probably I would have to do some research if I would put my GPU to make some profit. But that wouldn't mean that I'd pay for an easy solution.

 

[R-T-B]

I'm pro crypto as well, and this is still bonkers.

 

[ShiBDiB]

Honestly this is more telling on how unprofitable AV services have become. There's no reason to use anything besides the built in Microsoft AV suite. I'd guess 95% of Norton's userbase comes from bloatware installs that non tech savvy people don't disable, but those same people also ignore those subscription popups. So the only way for Norton to make money off them is this awful crypto idea

 

[micropage7]

wow, it looks i need to consider more crypto for further

 

[hat]

It doesn't seem malicious to me. Maybe they're thinking that it would help attract customers who might be interested in crypto, but are worried about all the shady shit associated with it.

 

[silentbogo]

It doesn't seem malicious to me.

Khm.. let's see... Fighting for years against mining software only to introduce their own? Having a feature not even remotely related to security? Getting a devfee off a paid customer as a perpetual source of income? I can go on for a few more pages as to why this is shady as f#$k. Don't be naïve.

EDIT:
Just for fun decided to find some info on how high is their devfee or pool fee, and almost lost my morning coffee when I saw this...

... from Norton's FAQ:

Are there charges or fee associated with coin mining?​

Norton Crypto is included as part of Norton 360 subscriptions. However, there are coin mining fees as well as transaction costs to transfer Ethereum.
The coin mining fee is currently 15% of the crypto allocated to the miner.
Transfers of cryptocurrencies may result in transaction fees (also known as "gas" fees) paid to the users of the cryptocurrency blockchain network who process the transaction. In addition, if you choose to exchange crypto for another currency, you may be required to pay fees to an exchange facilitating the transaction. Transaction fees fluctuate due to cryptocurrency market conditions and other factors. These fees are not set by Norton.

If you are not familiar with mining, here's a few numbers for perspective: a typical devfee is around 1% and in some cases is 0. Only exotic algos in some miners may have higher fees. A typical pool fee is usually no more than 2%, but for popular algos like Ethash it's usually lower cause pools are trying to be competitive. Pardon my french, but a 15% combined fee is without exaggeration - f@#$ing bonkers.

Plus, they[norton] "create a wallet for you", so before you run a withdrawal to your own wallet - you don't own that crypto, which in turn means that come this summer they'll also make a buck off PoS for holding onto it "securely" for you, or maybe even trade it on exchanges without letting you know. They'll own all the crypto off abandoned accounts as well (the ones that turned it off, or didn't even know it existed, or gave up before reaching minimum payout), or from people that got scared off withdrawal fees, since Norton runs transactions on native ETH network (most exchanges and online wallets give you options, like TRX network). Pretty sure they'll also skim off tx fees for good measure.

 

[Ferrum Master]

Fighting for years against mining software only to introduce their own?

Introduce? What if it was theirs from beginning. I support the the idea that most of viral/trojan codes was and is made by antivirus companies itself, especially Kaspersky.

 

[CallandorWoT]

we got two threads going here, im confused now

Norton 360 and Avira antivirus contain a crypto miner

If you are a user of the Norton 360 Security Suite or Avira Antivirus beware: your product contains a crypto miner which is enabled by default for some Norton users and opt-in (for now) on Avira. The miner mines ETH coin and you get to keep the mined coins, but there is a catch: Norton keeps 15%...

www.techpowerup.com

yours was first i believe

 

[silentbogo]

I support the the idea that most of viral/trojan codes was and is made by antivirus companies itself, especially Kaspersky.

I think you read too much Bloomberg... I do not deny that Russian govt. has their hands and brains in hacking scene, as do Americans and others, but everything they tried to pin on KAV was either outright lies, or severe distortion of truth.
From the past few years there were several prominent instances:
1) A curious case of pseudo-Petya. KAV got the blame only for publishing their research first, and aggravated even further after they saw an opportunity to capture a decent market share with a free version of their AV. I'm sure Norton and Intel were quite butthurt when their competitor's dwindling market share all of a sudden started to grow exponentially. I'm wondering where those stories of Eugene Kaspersky being Putin's bestie came from?
2) An epic saga of NSA's fuck-up with shady sub-contractors, pirated MS Office, and 0-day exploits lost to evil pirates. I did a few write-ups in related news threads, but it's more fun if you do the research yourself. Won't spoil the fun, but the whole story is hilarious. Even more hilarious than Bloomberg's supermicro-super-conspiracy story, which they haven't retracted 'till this day.

yours was first i believe

I guess who's first is the winner?

 

[Ferrum Master]

I think you read too much Bloomberg...

There's no such thing as an exKGB officer, and nobody would ever allow him to develop his company without the tight cooperation of internal organs... to say it in more precise vintage manner.

Kaspersky is banned for usage in our government organizations, as advised by MoD. Knowing the mentality it would be naïve to think otherwise.

 

[Splinterdog]

I dislike Norton even more now.

Here’s the truth about the crypto miner that comes with Norton Antivirus

Doesn’t go behind your back, does have a tax.

www.theverge.com