Posted on 12/23/2005 9:05:03 AM PST by george76
A critical software bug has been discovered in several of the most widely used anti-virus programs. It could be exploited to take control of a computer or to steal information, according to an analysis produced by the independent security analyst who made the discovery.
The glitch affects 39 different Symantec products - including both home and enterprise versions of its anti-virus software. It resides within the Symantec anti-virus library, which is used by all of the packages.
The analyst, Alex Wheeler, discovered that a critical error occurs when the Symantec anti-virus library decompresses files from "RAR" format for analysis
Symantec has confirmed the problem and produced an advisory of its own. It is currently working on a permanent fix but has released an update so that computers running its anti-virus software should automatically detect and block attempts to exploit the bug.
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
I use Trend Micro. A much "leaner" program that catches things Norton does not, and it doesn't try to take over your computer.
I don't use anti-virus software at all. It's for n00bs.
I switched from Norton to Nod32 and I love it.
"A critical software bug has been discovered in several of the most widely used anti-virus programs. It could be exploited to take control of a computer or to steal information..."
Irony works in mysterious ways.
What do you think of AVG?
I use it and near as I can tell, it works well.
I dumped Norton for McAfee earlier this year and have found it superior in virus/spyware detection and does not slow my computer down...Norton failed on both counts.
norton software turned to crap when peter sold out to symantec
I punt Norton/Symantec off every system I'm responsible for. AVG and Sophos do a much better job.
This just reinforces my experience with and low opinion of their products.
I have been using Zone Alarm Security Suite.
I've had great results, the program errs on the side of peranoid which i'm greatful for. I got away from Noron/Symantec because for some reason i always felt it didn't do enough to protect my system.
I would like some feedback from the rest of you if you know how Zone Alarm rates, also if you know of a better product i would be interested in upgrading. Zone Alarm was a top rated program when i was looking around at the time, i haven't kept up on the A/V news lately because i've been happy with what i got. No i don't work for Zone Alarm.
I'm now also looking for a "vault" program that i can use to easily "lock" and "encrypt" my files so if my laptop gets stolen, or hacked, they won't be able to access certain personal data files. Your recommendations would be greatly appreciated :) ** When i say "your opinion" i mean any Freepers :) Thanks!
See also:
Symantec, McAfee Battle Flaws
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1545631/posts
Symantec is junk. While it has a nice library and catches a lot of viruses, dware and spyware when it runs, the simplest adware can disable the thing and make reinstallation an nours long project.
As a result it doesn't work when you need it too.
I've been using Grisoft AVG on three WinXP Pro computers for a good long while now without any problems. I'd recommend the purchased version of it, though. The free version gives you updates from an overused server, so they are slow to download, and sometimes the download isn't available.
If you buy it, you get your updates from servers that respond quickly without a problem.
Discussed here too
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1545631/posts
You mean that this isn't the united state of symantec?
Went from McAfee to AVG and have never looked back.
McAfee allowed a trojan in on my home PC and I gave up on it after that.
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