Symantec Found Using Rootkit Feature

First Sony, now Symantec! Yeeesh, guys! What’s with setting up security holes in our Windows systems? They are unsecure enough as it is!

Symantec Found Using Rootkit Feature

I, personally, have never liked Symantec. For instance, Norton Antivirus is about as hard to remove from your system as a virus, itself! But this is a new low!

“The Norton Protected Recycle Bin feature adds a directory called NProtect, which stores temporary copies of files that users delete. The idea was to supplement the standard Windows Recycle Bin and enable users to recover files they removed accidentally.

However, hiding a directory from Windows can open the door to vulnerabilities, as the Sony DRM rootkit debacle exposed. Malware authors were able to write viruses and worms that hid in the cloaked directory, effectively preventing scanning software from discovering their existence on a PC.

Symantec notes that on-demand scanners, including Norton AntiVirus, would discover the malware when it is loaded it memory. Still, the company isn’t taking any chances after Sony’s PR disaster and has issued an update to make the NProtect directory visible in the Recycle Bin.”

2 comments

  • Norton has slowly been dying as a good company. Back in the mid-90s, I could swear by their antivirus suite. These days, open-source and free projects blow away their product line. It’s kind of sad where it’s gone since Symantec has always had a good reputation in the antivirus fight.

    Personally, I would have never associated myself with AOL. The AOL brand has always been associated with the dumbed down version of everything. Internet for Dummies.

  • Absolutely! Seeing an AOL address has always meant “noob” to worse “clueless” to me. I have a friend on AOL that has fought it for years, and is finally getting “real” Internet connectivity and breaking from AOL.

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