Update: Symantec compensates for bad software update
28526
(InfoWorld) - More than a month after Symantec Corp. knocked out 50,000 Chinese PCs with a bad software update, the company is ready to offer compensation. But Chinese users eligible for the offer have to act fast; it's only good for a couple of weeks. Symantec's problems in China began on May 18, whenÂ it released a bad software update that caused its Norton antivirus software to wrongly identify two system files in the Simplified Chinese version of Windows XP as malware and quarantine them. That mistake, which Symantec blamed on "an automated process," left tens of thousands of PCs crippled and Internet bulletin boards full of angry posts. Chinese users who lost data because of Symantec's faulty update demanded compensation, and at least two lawsuits were filed against the company. But Symantec was slow to respond, saying earlier this month it was considering requests for compensation. After five weeks, Symantec is ready to make amends. The company is offering affected Chinese consumers a 12-month Norton license extension and a copy of Norton Save & Restore 2.0. Corporate customers are being offered Symantec Ghost Solution Suite licenses, depending on the number of PCs affected. Symantec is not offering to extend Norton licenses for corporate customers affected by the bad update. Symantec described its offer as "a gesture of our goodwill." Chinese users will have to move fast if they want to take Symantec up on the deal. The company is only accepting applications for compensation during a brief window of time: from June 27 to July 15. The company didn't say why the period is so short, but said it was a sufficient span of time. "We are offering more than two weeks for the registration period which we believe is a reasonable period of time for customers to register," said Catriona Turner, a Symantec spokeswoman in Australia, in an e-mail response to questions. "If there are legitimate reasons why a particular customer is unable to register by July 15, we will give consideration to extending the date for that customer." Turner said the terms and conditions of the compensation offer did not require users to forego the right to legal action over damage caused to their systems by Symantec's update. "We hope that our customers will recognize that we are offering this goodwill gesture in recognition of any inconvenience caused by this incident," she said. Users who want to take Symantec up on its offer must apply at a special Web site , which will validate their copies of Norton Antivirus to make sure they are licensed copies and eligible for the offer. "Customers will be asked to complete a series of questions during the validation process to help us ascertain that the customer was genuinely impacted," Turner said. Â
630915
InfoWorld - One day after SymantecÂ researchers discovered software that attacked a criticalÂ unpatched vulnerability in RealNetworks' media player, Real says that a fix for the issue is imminent.
247413
OS security fix is being rolled out to users who have enabled Automatic Updates.
620504
Symantec, a leading computer system security provider ahs warned its customers of some serious flaws in the Windows operating system.
698538
On Wednesday, Symantec released a beta of its new enterprise security product, Symantec Endpoint Protection 11.0, formerly codenamed Hamlet. The beta marks the company&#39;s most significant update to its enterprise security software in years.
149501
A malicious PDF document that exploits bugs in Adobe Systems' Reader and Acrobat software is on the loose, Symantec said, just hours after Adobe patched the programs.
515247
Symantec has released a patch for its Veritas NetBackup software, saying it had discovered a buffer overflow vulnerability in the application. The flaw exists in the web programming language PHP used within NetBackup.
409051
'Lacks seriousness and sincerity' We were skeptical on Monday when Symantec said it would atone for a bug that crippled the PCs of tens of thousands Chinese users by giving them free software. "Cockroach in your salad, sir? Have some free salad," was how we put it.â¦
693150
Software vendor mulls how to compensate Chinese comupter users effected by a buggy antivirus update last week.
641362
Symantec says Chinese customers accepted its compensation for an upgrade glitch, but won't release numbers.
595721
Symantec is taking heat in the mainstream Chinese media over its compensation offer for a destructive software update.
593786
Service Pack 1 fixes security flaws, updates individual applications.
37589
Symantec Corp. is leaving open the possibility that it may compensate Chinese computer users whose systems were crippled by a flawed antivirus update last week.
112634
Update Slammed for touting unavailable but unlicensed content
205194
KUALA LUMPUR: Symantec Malaysia recently announced the availability of the latest version of its system repair, antivirus and security products - Norton SystemWorks 2005, AntiVirus 2005, Personal Firewall 2005 and AntiSpam 2005.
133485
Users are urged to download version 8.1.2, which fixes undisclosed vulnerabilities.
763006
Update fixes crashes caused by incompatibility with hidden advertising app.