# My fun filled chat with A Norton 360 Anti Virus tech - "If it's real it's not malware" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 14, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-fun-filled-chat-with-a-norton-360-anti-virus-tech-if-its-real-its-not-malware/637712 "2012-10-14T19:07:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-fun-filled-chat-with-a-norton-360-anti-virus-tech-if-its-real-its-not-malware/637712/21 "2012-10-17T04:35:42Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > How is Avast annoying? We’ve been using AVG for a few years and also were using Online Armor for firewall; those ran into conflicts. Online Armor simply _quit working_ when the year was up, vs. continuing but not updating any more, and it was preventing me from updating AVG, so we just turned on Windows firewall (better than nothing). My son had Avast pre-installed on his new laptop and it seemed to be behaving, so we ponied up for that on his laptop. He hasn’t complained. The last time I had Avast on my system it would constantly scare the shit out of me with a “VIRUS DATABASE HAS BEEN UPDATED” message, then it began prompting all the time for upgrades and the like. This was years ago and they may well have changed their tactics. I do run Avast on my phone, but the PC version from long ago annoyed me enough to remove it. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-fun-filled-chat-with-a-norton-360-anti-virus-tech-if-its-real-its-not-malware/637712/22 "2012-10-17T04:41:14Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I bought a Kaspersky license when I got my new computer a year or so ago; when it started yapping at me that I had to renew, I looked into the scan reports and found that in an entire year, it had not detected nor removed a single thing, so I let it lapse. How often did it scan and what version was it? Admittedly, I’ve only used their trial software, and the times I did have to use it, it found some pretty nasty stuff. It’s possible that you didn’t have any really serious threats during that time. Rootkits and the like are rare, yet debilitating. If you had other anti-vir software running, and Kaspersky running often, then you likely either didn’t get an infection, or your other software found and killed it first. I’m just guessing. There’s a big difference between having an identifiable infection that an anti-vir does not detect, and having no infections for it to detect at all. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-fun-filled-chat-with-a-norton-360-anti-virus-tech-if-its-real-its-not-malware/637712/23 "2012-10-17T05:03:36Z")
[QUOTE=Astro] Eliminates deeply embedded and difficult to remove crimeware that traditional virus scanning doesn’t always detect. [/QUOTE] Dude are you serious? First of all any claim made about being an end all, be all protection or removal system is just outright fallacious. Second, “Crimeware”? This literally sounds like a joke amongst the IT people. I have never in my life seen that term used online. Ever. I’m glad you’re issue was resolved but making Norton out to be the hero here is IMO a bit misguided. Besides, this OP was about Norton failing to fix your problem which it should have done automatically if it worked as claimed. People can stay with their one program system and may be fine for a long time, but when something comes along that it can’t detect or remove, guess what? You need another program or method of removal to get the job done. It’s not nearly as simple as installing Norton or MacAfee and being done with malware forever. It’s also not as simple as installing the top ten anti-vir programs and just running them one by one. It takes experience and more in-depth knowledge to remove the really tough ones. I’m talking about the ones where you lose permission to task manager, anti-vir programs are actively denied, and you can’t boot into windows or ever P.O.S.T. correctly. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-fun-filled-chat-with-a-norton-360-anti-virus-tech-if-its-real-its-not-malware/637712/24 "2012-10-17T05:22:14Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > Dude are you serious? First of all any claim made about being an end all, be all protection or removal system is just outright fallacious. > Second, “Crimeware”? This literally sounds like a joke amongst the IT people. I have never in my life seen that term used online. Ever. > > I’m glad you’re issue was resolved but making Norton out to be the hero here is IMO a bit misguided. > Besides, this OP was about Norton failing to fix your problem which it should have done automatically if it worked as claimed. > > People can stay with their one program system and may be fine for a long time, but when something comes along that it can’t detect or remove, guess what? > You need another program or method of removal to get the job done. > > It’s not nearly as simple as installing Norton or MacAfee and being done with malware forever. > It’s also not as simple as installing the top ten anti-vir programs and just running them one by one. > > It takes experience and more in-depth knowledge to remove the really tough ones. > I’m talking about the ones where you lose permission to task manager, anti-vir programs are actively denied, and you can’t boot into windows or ever P.O.S.T. correctly. This is a lot or negative drama for something which is free scanner and worked perfectly. My problem was with Norton tech support not the AV program itself which has stopped many other malware attacks. Norton may have issues but it’s a[top rated AV program.](http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2101117,00.asp) “Crimeware” is an apt description of some malware. I got a bug the other day that locked my system and acted like the FBI was coming to get me if I didn’t pony up a credit card number right away. That’s “crimeware” to me. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-fun-filled-chat-with-a-norton-360-anti-virus-tech-if-its-real-its-not-malware/637712/25 "2012-10-18T06:47:56Z")
> [@astro](#): > > This is a lot or negative drama for something which is free scanner and worked perfectly. My problem was with Norton tech support not the AV program itself which has stopped many other malware attacks. Norton may have issues but it’s a[top rated AV program.](http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2101117,00.asp) > > “Crimeware” is an apt description of some malware. I got a bug the other day that locked my system and acted like the FBI was coming to get me if I didn’t pony up a credit card number right away. That’s “crimeware” to me. I admit that I was over-reacting, and I apologize for that. If it worked perfectly, when even call tech support? For that matter, why ever call tech support ever for something you can fix yourself easily and for free? The link you posted costs $80 and needs to be renewed yearly. > [@](#): > > This is a suite you can install on Granny’s computer without finding yourself promoted to permanent personal-support technician. As long as someone pays for the annual fee. A "Top Rated"program means little to nothing. Who paid who for which tests? Download numbers and satisfaction ratings by the millions are a better guide for what really works. > [@](#): > > I got a bug the other day that locked my system and acted like the FBI was coming to get me if I didn’t pony up a credit card number right away. That’s “crimeware” to me You got infected. To me that says that you don’t have any firewall (the one I use is free), you may not be using MSE (free), you likely don’t have any browser immunization going (mine are free), and you may or may not have clicked on a bad link or let a program run that caused you to get infected. It’s also possible that you became infected through no action of your own. While the term “crimeware” may be apt, that doesn’t mean it has a place in the lexicon of anti-malware programs. If you seem to get infected often, you need help, no one program can do it all, as I’ve said ad-nauseum. I can provide remote support if you need it. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-fun-filled-chat-with-a-norton-360-anti-virus-tech-if-its-real-its-not-malware/637712/26 "2012-10-18T13:55:20Z")
I loosely define malware as anything that takes over or slows down my computer. A lot of anti-malware software qualifies as malware as such. Norton, McAfee, and AVG used to be great but started taking over my computer. I use Malwarebytes and Spybot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-fun-filled-chat-with-a-norton-360-anti-virus-tech-if-its-real-its-not-malware/637712.md?page=1)