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> “Norton should be DETECTING and killing off crypto mining hijacking, not installing their own,” reads a Dec. 28 thread on Norton’s forum titled “Absolutely fu
by iszomer 5y ago
> “Norton should be DETECTING and killing off crypto mining hijacking, not installing their own,” reads a Dec. 28 thread on Norton’s forum titled “Absolutely furious.”
That is fucking infuriating. Imagine if the "my body, my choice" redirected to a "my computer, my choice" idea.
- LaunchAway1 5y agoI was going to say that you can choose to not install the antivirus but unfortunately this crap and similar come installed on so many laptops. If the HW is compatible I suggest to format the whole thing and install Linux.
- iszomer 5y agoI do use Linux. Even so, if you were required to install (or compile) a package that is a dependency on something you don't explicitly use but do for others, where do you draw the line on their acceptable tradeoffs?
- mensetmanusman 5y agoIf it is opt in, it is a choice. Would be interesting if you could throttle based on home temperature. I would much rather heat with useful computation than with electric heaters.
- kieloo 5y agoThe problem is that a lot of users will activate it without really knowing what it is. Lots of elderly people use Norton and Avira, for example.
- iszomer 5y agoWhich can be a separate technical support nightmare in of itself. My elderly folks may not be as flexible on the reasoning and troubleshooting aspect of it than I would be and convincing them to be more progressive in their approach often leads to more "lost in translation" moments as their user experiences are significantly different than my own.
- rosndo 5y ago> I would much rather heat with useful computation than with electric heaters. But why? An electric heat pump will be vastly more efficient.
- anonymousab 5y ago> If it is opt in, it is a choice But you know that it will be enabled by default by the packages they give to OEMs, or "accidentally" in every update or system restart, and will trick less informed or less technical users into enabling it and all sorts of shenanigans like that because that's how these av software companies have been operating for over a decade, at least in the home consumer space. The only right away to treat these companies is to assume the worst about everything they say and do. Unfortunately they seem to always find a way to do worse than those assumptions. When "they will make a lot of money and/or screw over a lot of users" is the outcome of their statement being a lie, then you should assume their statement is a lie.
- iszomer 5y agoA similarly related topic would be log4j debacle and the lack of common awareness of it's features before being used as a vector for exploitation.
- mlyle 5y ago
- scrps 5y agoYou really think the average non-technical user who leaves an AV preinstalled when they get a new system or are frightened into installing an AV is making a choice when a cryptominer is bundled with their AV even if it is opt-in to activate it? The imperitive word that person on the forum post you quoted used is "hijacking" not intentionally and knowingly installing mining software.
- klyrs 5y ago> Imagine if the "my body, my choice" redirected to a "my computer, my choice" idea. No need to imagine; that's the central tenet of RMS's ethos and he's been shouting it from the rooftops for decades.