Broly
02-12-2006, 02:18 AM
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.
The Washington Post article (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2006/02/microsoft_antispyware_deleting_1.html)
Source (http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/11/2259232&from=rss)
That's an incredibly clever ploy by one or a few Microsoft developers. What better way to promote your company than by hurting the reputation of another? I really don't think there's a way something like that could have been an accident. But yet they blame it on the poor, poor beta. I agree that many individuals take the "beta" warning as a synonym for "not yet complete, but still 100% safe." However, had no one outside of Microsoft detected this, no one would have ever been the wiser.
Symantec and their Norton services are only slightly better at pulling this off than the Big M. My antivirus program constantly detects false positives, mainly programs or files that are used to override various controls on various devices. Just earlier today, the stupid thing deleted a framebuffer modifier that would have been used to downgrade a PSP's firmware. Small things like that deter people from using that software, who say Symantec is more trustworthy than some unnamed developer. In some cases this may be true, but in this instance, it's just someone who wanted everyone to be able to use their hardware to its full potential.
Since this could turn into a mindless rant at any moment, I shall conclude with this:
All is fair in Love and War.
The Washington Post article (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2006/02/microsoft_antispyware_deleting_1.html)
Source (http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/11/2259232&from=rss)
That's an incredibly clever ploy by one or a few Microsoft developers. What better way to promote your company than by hurting the reputation of another? I really don't think there's a way something like that could have been an accident. But yet they blame it on the poor, poor beta. I agree that many individuals take the "beta" warning as a synonym for "not yet complete, but still 100% safe." However, had no one outside of Microsoft detected this, no one would have ever been the wiser.
Symantec and their Norton services are only slightly better at pulling this off than the Big M. My antivirus program constantly detects false positives, mainly programs or files that are used to override various controls on various devices. Just earlier today, the stupid thing deleted a framebuffer modifier that would have been used to downgrade a PSP's firmware. Small things like that deter people from using that software, who say Symantec is more trustworthy than some unnamed developer. In some cases this may be true, but in this instance, it's just someone who wanted everyone to be able to use their hardware to its full potential.
Since this could turn into a mindless rant at any moment, I shall conclude with this:
All is fair in Love and War.