Microsoft Anti-Spyware Removes Norton Anti-Virus
An anonymous reader writes "According to a story over at Washingtonpost.com, the latest definitions file for Microsoft's Anti-Spyware beta flags Symantec's Norton Antivirus products as a password-stealing trojan and prompts users to delete portions of the program. Users who follow the instructions hose their installation of Norton, requiring delicate Windows registry edits and a complete removal/reinstall of Norton. Microsoft's support forum is quickly filling up with complaints about this problem, many from businesses that have been pretty hard hit. This should be a cautionary tale about deploying beta products in production environments."
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Slashdot | Microsoft Anti-Spyware Removes Norton Anti-Virus
Re: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Removes Norton Anti-Virus
Quote:
This should be a cautionary tale about deploying beta products in production environments.
Except it has absolutely nothing to do with beta-ness. Just about every anti-malware app has issues with false positives on occasion -- that's why you normally review what it finds before blindly removing stuff.
Re: Re: Microsoft Anti-Spyware Removes Norton Anti-Virus
Quote:
Originally posted here by @tt!tud3
Except it has absolutely nothing to do with beta-ness. Just about every anti-malware app has issues with false positives on occasion -- that's why you normally review what it finds before blindly removing stuff.
But the average user doesn't review the results of a malware scan - after all, the results are malware because the program says so, right? I've heard that the average Microsoft admin isn't exactly a specialist either, so that's probably why the companies are complaining.
I agree with nihil though, because it is their fault for using a beta program in the first place - and even then not checking the results (for something like that) is just complacent. There are plently of stable malware scanners out there anyway...
Cheers,
-jk :)