Symantec launches $15M piracy suit
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(InfoWorld) - Symantec Corp. has filed suit against an alleged software piracy ring, that has been in operation in North America since late 2003, the software vendor claims. The lawsuit, filed last month in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles seeks more than US$15 million in damages from a network of U.S. and Canadian businesses that are alleged to have sold counterfeit versions of Symantec's products, including Norton AntiVirus, pcAnywhere and Veritas Backup Exec. These companies and their affiliates run a global counterfeit organization that focuses on the U.S. and Canada, Symantec said. The businesses, which operated under eight different names, including Sili Inc., Advanced Sales Productivity Solutions Inc. and GT Micro, used spam and online advertising to offer Symantec's software at cut-rate prices, said Cris Paden, a Symantec spokesman. Customers who paid for the software would then be sent disks with Symantec's logo, wrapped in plain white sleeves. The disks, which came without documentation, would not install or work properly and could also include malicious software that would then be used to steal sensitive information from the purchaser's computer, Paden said. Symantec began investigating the matter in early 2004, when it started receiving complaints from customers who had bought the bad software, Paden added. "The people who bought these disks thinking they were from Symantec would come to our customer service," he said. One of the Sili Web sites named in Symantec's complaint, Sle-business.com, http://www.sle-business.com/Product%20List.htm Norton AntiVirus 2006. That product typically sells for about $20. Sle-business.com's Web site also offers software from McAfee Inc., Intuit Inc., Corel Corp. and Webroot Software Inc., among others. Sili representatives could not be reached immediately for comment. Symantec has worked with police to seize more than 100,000 copies of counterfeit disks, but Paden did not know if criminal charges would be forthcoming in the case. "We are working with law enforcement," he said. "I can't tell you who because if I did that would tip our hands to the extent of our investigation." Like many other vendors, Symantec has become more aggressive in its fight against unauthorized copying. In 2002, Symantec was losing about $500 million per year to software piracy, but it has now reduced those losses to less than $50 million per year, he said. Customers who are worried that they may be buying phony software online should make sure they are actually giving their credit-card information over a secure Web site, Paden said. That means that when they are asked to enter a credit-card number, the Web address should begin with https://, and there should be a locked padlock displayed near the address to indicate that the browser is visiting a secure site. "That's the smoking gun as to whether you're dealing with a legitimate outfit or not," Paden said. "99 percent of the time these guys don't use this."ADVERTISEMENTNEW IT SERVICES FROM IBM: EASIER TO BUY AND IMPLEMENTDiscover a simpler, more cost-effective way to get the solutions your company needs to grow more flexible and efficient.
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Antivirus software company Symantec Corp. said on Wednesday that it joined a group devoted to fighting online identity theft attacks known as "phishing scams."
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A worm was released recently designed to break into corporate computers running Symantec Corp's security software and make them part of its botnet.
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While thousands of Veritas software users may be experiencing slow license renewals due to Symantec's new online licensing portal, the security software company's CIO said the wait is worth it compared with using pirated software.
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- Security software maker Symantec Corp.   said it sued a large network of distributors selling  counterfeit Symantec software, and sought over $15 million in  damages.
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Computer lawsuit   A lawyer yesterday sued the Symantec Corporation, the world's largest security software provider, because his computer allegedly crashed after receiving a faulty anti-virus update from the company.
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Continuing itsÂ worldwide assault on software piracy, Microsoft has filed 20 lawsuits against resellers accused of distributing unauthorized copies of its software.
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SEPTEMBER 13, 2004 (IDG NEWS SERVICE) - Symantec Corp. is fishing for dollars with a new service designed to help companies combat the ongoing epidemic of online identity theft, or &quot;phishing,&quot; scams.
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(InfoWorld) - Symantec's new identity protection software, Norton Confidential,Â is set to ship on Monday. The product is designed to make Web surfing more secure by thwarting phishing and pharming attacks and disabling "crimeware or malicious applications that are designed to steal your confidential information," said Bill Rosenkrantz, director of product management with Symantec. Norton Confidential will warn users when they are visiting suspected phishing sites and will verify that legitimate Web sites are trustworthy by displaying a "Trust Mark" icon on the browser's toolbar. It also detects keystroke loggers and prevents password information from being sent to unauthorized Web sites. The product will be of particular interest to people who have already been the targets of identity theft, said Chris Swenson, director of software industry analysis with the NPD Group Inc. "If an identity thief captures their personal information while they're shopping online or enters their PC because they don't have a firewall, this limits that type of abuse," he said. "What it doesn't protect the customer from is the bank or the university whose server gets compromised." A subset of the Norton Confidential product has been shipping in Symantec's Norton Internet Security 2007 product, and it will be also be built into the upcoming Norton 360 security suite. Norton Confidential has a list price of $49.99 for a one-year subscription, but it can be purchased from Symantec's Web site for $34.99 per year. A shrink-wrapped version of the product will ship in November.
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Symantec is warning users of the RealPlayer media software to be extra careful while surfing the Web.
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Antivirus vendor may pay $13 billion for the storage software company.
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"Big Yellow" hits systems running Symantec's corporate antivirus tools, warns eEye Digital Security. Symantec says attacks are limited.
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Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) today announced that Symantec Security Response in conjunction with the Indiana University School of Informatics has uncovered a significant new security threat.
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SHENZHEN, China  - Pirated software worth $500  million, including counterfeit Microsoft and Symantec products,  has been seized in a long-running joint probe by Chinese police  and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, officials from  both countries said on Tuesday.
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Merger mania found its way back into the software space today, asvsecurity firm Symantec said it would pay US$13.5 billion to acquire Veritas Software.
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A lawyer for an anonymous bidder acquired a set of patents covering important aspects of commercial Internet transactions for $15.5 million.
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SAN FRANCISCO: Computer security giant Symantec is buying storage and backup program maker Veritas Software in a $13.5 billion deal that will create the world&#39;s fourth largest software company.