Did A Google Earth Mistake Cause A Couple's Brutal Murder?
Redditor Shamed After Girl Finds His Request For Her 'Porn…
False positive by Norton forces some Firefox users to reinstall after 3.6.6 update
Today's offender is Symantec, whose Antivirus and Internet Security products decided to push the panic button on a trio of files delivered to Firefox users who recently updated to version 3.6.6. The problem was reported to Symantec and has been fixed in new virus definitions, and the problem appears to have arisen because of the cloud analysis features in a newer version of the Norton products.
If the detection happened to nuke your Firefox install, just force a definition update and then reinstall your browser.
The H notes that even a simple 'hello world' script can set things off if it hasn't been detected previously. Call me crazy, but that seems like a bit of a problem...
Comments
13
Subscribe to commentsAnthonyJun 30th 2010 8:22PM
Oh, and, DLS? Why not switch to the comment system that Engadget now uses? It's much better.
emmzeeJun 30th 2010 2:12PM
Back in the DOS days, Norton software was decent. In the last ten years or so, it just seems bloated and can cause more problems than it solves.
kojo87Jun 30th 2010 2:15PM
a few years ago i had Norton Enterprise (i think) on my newly built computer with XP. everything was fine until Norton decided that every single EXE file i had on my HDD was a virus and deleted them without asking me. never again will i use Norton. Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes for me.
Thomas JespersenJun 30th 2010 2:37PM
I tried the Beta of Symantec/Norton's suite recently since I heard good about it.
Since installing it, it automatically removed executables I know for certain were not infected (since I know the programmer of said applications). The programmer thought it was due to him "packing" the executables. Apparently several antiviruses consider packing to be some kind of malware. I since removed Symantec Antivirus and installed MSE instead.
bswenso2Jun 30th 2010 2:56PM
I had that issue as well, but there is a way to turn that feature off and Norton won't complain about it being turned off either.
5hRreDDyJun 30th 2010 2:52PM
Love the graphic!
ericloeweJun 30th 2010 4:05PM
I'm getting sick on security suites messing up stuff even more than some malware I've seen. Seriously.
Just this year it's been:
Norton
McAfee
BitDefender (Backups saved my life on this one)
I've also had big-time issues with Panda, thus leaving as the sole retail option where I live Kaspersky, which always worked without a hitch. Either that or MSE for me when my BitDefender license expires.
Donald EversonJun 30th 2010 4:44PM
I got tired of Nortors, MeAfees. and others which used more cpu then the programs i was running. Along with the frequest oopsie's. I switched ti VIPRE 2 years ago and couldn't be happier. Updates 3-4 times a day and not 1 virus or malware since. it capture every try. may cost $39 a year or whatever it is now but in my opioion there is none better,
ZackBoeJun 30th 2010 5:52PM
I still can't believe people think Norton does anything good.
JonnyJun 30th 2010 6:29PM
People still use Norton?
Teresa McGurkJun 30th 2010 7:37PM
Oh, come on -- the Hulk wasn't THAT bad.
AnthonyJun 30th 2010 8:20PM
@Teresa McGurk I see what you did there...
Anyways, I haven't used Norton AV since 2004. Prior to that, I had used SystemWorks 2000 and 2002 without many problems. 2004 killed it. It made my computer slow and unresponsive. Then, McAfee was doing their free Security Center thing for AOL (even free, like me) subscribers, so I switched to that. It was still a little bit of a resource hog, but it was better than Norton. Finally, I got sick of both and used AVG. Now that AVG runs like a behemoth, I've used MSE and have not looked back. I liked Kaspersky, but it made some computers run slowly. And, why pay for AV software if there is something out there that is free, isn't a resource hog, and works without a hitch?
TheHubJul 1st 2010 8:08AM
Call me old fasioned (not just old !!!) but AVGfree does it for me. I tried MSE, but that gave me false positives and was dreadfully slow on my Win XP machine