“Microsoft’s Anti-Spyware program is causing troubles for people who also use Symantec’s Norton Anti-Virus software; apparently, a recent update to Microsoft’s anti-spyware application flags Norton as a password-stealing program and prompts users to remove it,” Brian Krebs reports for The Washington Post. “According to several different support threads over at Microsoft’s user groups forum, the latest definitions file from Microsoft ‘(version 5805, 5807) detects Symantec Antivirus files as PWS.Bancos.A (Password Stealer).'”
“When Microsoft Anti-Spyware users remove the flagged Norton file as prompted, Symantec’s product gets corrupted and no longer protects the user’s machine. The Norton user then has to go through the Windows registry and delete multiple entries (registry editing is always a dicey affair that can quickly hose a system if the user doesn’t know what he or she is doing) so that the program can be completely removed and re-installed,” Krebs reports.
Full article here.
[Thanks for MacDailyNews reader “Too Hot!” for the link.]
MacDailyNews Take: Just mixing a little levity in among the iPod lawsuit announcements.
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Mafiasoft? Microsoft to roll out anti-virus subscription protection racket – May 13, 2005
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Symantec cries wolf with misplaced Mac OS X ‘security’ warning – March 23, 2005
Symantec’s Mac OS X claims dismissed as nonsense, FUD – March 22, 2005
Symantec warns about Mac OS X security threat – March 21, 2005
The mac must somehow be responsible.
This fits right into a new program that MS is going to bring out on the market.
$50 bucks a year for a security program that protects you from the viruses out there.
$100 bucks a year for a program that fixes the other security programs that MS has screw up.
Nickel and diming you to Bill Gate’s pocket…what a laugh.
Microsoft is up to their old tricks.
http://musobs.blogspot.com/
This kinda stuff used to make me laugh. I’m a long time mac user (1985) and I always smile at these types of news, but this is getting out of hand. Windows is the backbone of a lot of important systems in our lives. These corporate dude have got to wake up, or Think Different.
For once Microsoft are doing something right. Although if they can somehow get Symantec products completely off the computer, they’ll really be doing the user a favour.
Symantec sucks!!! They are blood sucking ticks. If you use M$ there are lots of better and cheaper anti-virus programs. And never never ever put that Symantec crap on a Mac!!! Symantec is the only known Mac virus!!!
I think that Symantec creates half of the virus out there. Mr. Bill knows it too. Mr. Bill is going to get even like he always does.
Another case of M’soft creating an entire industry (internet insecurity) and now working towards cashing-in on the very monster they have created. I think Mary Shelley did this script already.
LOL+Mill
Although I love to know that MS screws up once again, I would prefer to hear about MAC news.
There is no news in the article that is Mac relevant.
MicroCrap users continue to use mshit, and I have no sympathy for them nor do I subscribe to MacDailyNews to hear about MicrosoftDailyNews.
Regardless how poorly Symantec works, Microsoft has established that it can write “security” software that will not allow non-Microsoft software to function as designed.
Perhaps Microsoft will allow Symantec and others to run their programs on a Windows PC if they pay a $50 per year “access fee”. Microsoft’s updates motto, “Your software ‘Plays for Sure.’ if you for pay for sure.”
“…..where mac news comes first”
I guess its a no-Mac-news Day.
All quiet on the home front and once again, no Mac viruses, spyware, no anti-Virus software updates, malware. We even have to time to peruse this list.
I thought the Circus had been seen off in most countries because of cruelty to animals? Why is the M$ circus still in town?
Didn’t they do any testing of this product, didn’t anyone notice that it would kill these types of programmes?
The OS has more gaps than a 10 year old kid and more bugs than a rain forest and now their software deletes one of the products their users need to keep the jungle fever from killing them. I just cannot believe this is happening in 2006!!!
Who writes their software and who tests it!
It would not have happened in my day!!!
Leo
LOL!
Now we all know why Symantic is trying to make OS X look like its very insecure and trying to convince that Mac users need their products!
With M$ in the windows security software market Symantic can say goodbye to their share of the market – just like all the other windows antivrius companies.
hehe… don’t you just love it when M$ fscks up a whole industry!
I installed Norton (latest version) on my mac running OS X 10.4.4 and it totally fscked up my user account just by installing it!
Thanks alot!!
Symantec deserve everything they aint gonna get (including losing their whole windows business).
You deal with the devil – you dance to his tune!
ONLY Norton worth mounting is an 850 Commando, maybe a 750 Atlas…
Ha ha! As funny as this is, M$ is correct that Symantec is malware. At least it is on the Mac (only known Trojan).
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But one wonders if M$ shouldn’t face another anti-competitive lawsuit over this?
LOL! I love reading about Microshaft’s “genius”! People never learn….
750 Commando was faster. I had one, and a friend had an 850. Nothing could keep up with my Norton.
I had a friend who was having a lot of problems with crashes with his beige G3 running OS 9.2, and I couldn’t get him to remove Norton’s System Works. I tried to explain to him about how Norton’s defragging was the problem, as when it moved files around it didn’t always change the file header accurately, so that when the CPU tried to access something and it wasn’t where the header said it was, crash city. Finally gave him a small drive with OS 10.2.8 already installed, and now he’s okay. Norton’s is the reason a lot of people thought OS 9 was unstable, a damnable lie. I use it every day at work, as scanner software I use doesn’t work in the OS X version yet, and it’s rock solid.
Finally! Microsoft does something right
Norton AV IS malware, Mac users should not install or use anything that requires admin password.
http://news.designtechnica.com/article9131.html
See here why
http://homepage.mac.com/hogfish/Personal21.html
21st post. Confused1, can your post drink? mine can.
This must be a simple mistake. MS’s business practices have always been above board, honest and forthright. LOL! Dang. I thought I could get through that with a straight face. Or it could just be Symantec’s semantics as the same antics.
Same old, same old … ::chuckles::