Symantec showers free software on bug-afflicted Chinese
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Con-pensation Chinese PC users whose machines were crippled by a dodgy software update from Symantec have two weeks to apply for compensation. The company has announced that the 50,000 users affected by the error are entitled to some free Norton anti-virus licenses.â¦
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Symantec is to stop classifying a software utility that enables Chinese surfers to view blocked websites as a Trojan horse. The reassessment follows stories earlier this week questioning the designation of
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Microsoft releases two free programs designed to help users keep PCs free of viruses and spyware.
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(InfoWorld) - Symantec declared itsÂ compensation offerÂ for Chinese users who saw their computers damaged by a bad software update a success Sunday, but declined to say how many users had accepted the deal. Symantec ran into trouble May 18, when the company issued a faulty software update for its Norton antivirus software that wrongly identified two system files in the Simplified Chinese edition of Windows XP as malware, and quarantined them. That blunder rendered an estimated 50,000 Chinese PCs unusable, Symantec said. The incident also provoked an angry outcry from Chinese users, who demanded compensation for the damage wrought on their systems by Symantec. At least two users filed lawsuits against Symantec over damage done to their PCs by the company. Five weeks after the bad update was released, Symantec offered free software to those Chinese users who were affected. The company offered Chinese consumers a 12-month Norton license extension and a copy of Norton Save & Restore 2.0. Corporate customers were offered Symantec Ghost Solution Suite licenses, depending on the number of PCs affected. Symantec did not extend Norton licenses for corporate customers affected by the bad update. The compensation offer, which was valid for two and a half weeks starting from June 27, ended Sunday night. However, the Web site created for users to apply for compensation remained up at the time of writing, on Monday morning. In an e-mail statement sent Sunday, Symantec declared the offer a success, saying the gesture had been "well received." But the company did not offer any information to back up that claim. Symantec's offer was widely criticizedÂ in the Chinese press when it was first announced. "Symantec's response to its Chinese consumers lacks seriousness and sincerity," Alamus, the deputy director of the China Electronic Commerce Association's committee on legal and policy issues, said at that time in a report by China Central Television (CCTV), the country's national TV broadcaster. While Symantec's compensation offer officially ended Sunday, the company is keeping the door open for users who missed the July 15 deadline. "After this date anyone who missed the registration date should contact Symantec Customer Support or email symantec.authorised.support.cn@clts.com and we will give consideration to extending the date for that individual customer," the company said. Â
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Symantec's identity-protection software is designed to make Web surfing safer.
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Software maker's first antispyware application is nearly ready for action. It could be released this week.
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Clearswift is giving existing customers a free Internet appliance offering spam, virus, and malware protection.
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A month after Symantec knocked out 50,000 Chinese PCs with bad software, the company is offering compensation.
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A new variant of the MyDoom virus is designed to launch a denial-of-service attack against antivirus software maker Symantec, according to security firm Sophos.
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(InfoWorld) - Symantec will kick off its annual Symantec Vision conference next week with the first public release of its next-generation corporate anti-virus software, Symantec Endpoint Protection 11.0. Under the code name Hamlet, the product has been available to a select group of beta testers since March, but next week it will be released in a public beta, according to Symantec. Company representatives declined to reveal Hamlet's official product name, but it's listed on the Vision conference Web site. Hamlet will be a follow-up to Symantec's AntiVirus Corporate Edition, version 10. The new software is a major advance for Symantec, which has been working for more than a year to integrate firewall, zero-day protection, and network access control features into its anti-virus product. "This is the next major version of the code base," said Brian Foster, senior director of product management with Symantec's endpoint security group. "With this release, we're really focused on changing the game for anti-virus." In addition to performance improvements, Hamlet will be easier to use and to manage, Foster said. Hamlet includes code from two recent Symantec acquisitions. It will include firewall capabilities based on the Sygate Enterprise Protection software Symantec acquired in 2005. Another new feature will be SONAR (Symantec Online Network for Advanced Response), based on code that Symantec acquired as part of its 2005 purchase of Whole Security. Although Hamlet is a step forward, anti-virus vendorsÂ such asÂ Symantec are playing catch-up in the fight against malware writers, who are increasingly evading detection with a large number of low-circulation variants of their code, said Andrew Jaquith, an analyst with Yankee Group. "They still have work to do," he said. "I don't think Symantec is quite cognizant of the degree to which these variants are making their [research] labs a lot less effective." Symantec needs to add "much more comprehensive behavior blocking" and possibly "herd intelligence" capabilities that would allow users to directly identify and share information on the latest threats, Jaquith said. "Most of theÂ [anti-virus] labs are like fishing boats with a drift net," he added. "They are good at catching the big fish, but the bad guys are basically flooding the ocean with little minnows that are going right through the net." Symantec competitor McAfee is planning to announce a rival product to Hamlet next week relating to the company's "Total Protection for Enterprise with ePolicy Orchestrator security management software," a McAfee spokesman said Thursday. He declined to offer further details on the announcement, however. The commercial version of Hamlet is expected to be available later this year. Pricing has not yet been released. Symantec Vision runs from Tuesday to Thursday next week at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.ADVERTISEMENTIBM Information On Demand 2006Industrial Industry Leaders, please join us at IBM's premier information management global event, IBM Information On Demand 2006, October 15-20, Anaheim, CA. More IBM business and technical solutions content in one place than ever before! Select from  over 800 sessions. Register today!
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Symantec&#39;s Security Response has issued a warning about three new &quot;serious&quot; vulnerabilities discovered in the Windows operating system.
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The Phel Trojan installs programs that can remotely control a user's system, according to Symantec.
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SecureMac has introduced a free Trojan Detection Tool for Mac OS X.
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Malicious software, spreading through OpenOffice documents, "can infect Windows, Linux and Mac OS X systems," Symantec says.
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Millions of Chinese computers may have been paralysed by a faulty anti-virus update from Symantec, the world&#39;s largest security software provider, state media reported Thursday.
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Symantec has admitted its flagship consumer security application, Norton AntiVirus 2005, has a security vulnerability that allows certain types of malicious script to infect a user&#39;s personal computer with a virus.
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Symantec says Chinese customers accepted its compensation for an upgrade glitch, but won't release numbers.