Norton antivirus again under fire for crypto mining feature

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Security firm Norton is facing fresh criticism over its decision to bundle a crypto miner with its antivirus service.

The feature was introduced in June 2021, allowing Norton 360 subscribers to mine Ether, the cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network. At the time, the move was criticized as an opportunistic attempt to capitalize on the crypto boom, regardless of the environmental impact or financial risk to users.

Now Norton customers have taken to Twitter to complain that the crypto miner is much harder to uninstall than it should be. Others suggest that it shouldn’t be installed on machines in the first place without the user’s explicit consent.

Norton responds

The situation turned from bad to worse after Norton responded to the original tweet, pointing out that the crypto miner is “an activation-only feature” and is not activated without the user’s permission, which sparked a series of angry responses.

“If it’s an opt-in, why is it installed by default and not removable without getting rid of all the antivirus software?” A Twitter user asked. Others, meanwhile, took issue with the patronizing tone of the customer service response and suggested Norton should stick to its lane as a cybersecurity company.

In a statement provided to The Register, Norton again attempted to clear up the confusion:

“Norton Crypto is a registration-only feature and is not activated without user permission. If users have activated Norton Crypto but no longer wish to use the feature, it can be deactivated through Norton 360 by temporarily disabling “Tamper Protection” (which allows users to modify the installation of Norton) and removing NCrpyt.exe from your computer. “

TechRadar Pro asked Norton if they were considering making the crypto miner an optional component or making the uninstall process more accessible to customers with limited technical knowledge. The company only responded indirectly, with the same statement being provided to other outlets.

Via the register

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