Software maker Norton is under attack for adding an apparently hard-to-remove crypto mining software — Norton Crypto — to the Norton 360 antivirus software suite.
Norton added the tool last year, saying it was a way for customers to “mine for cryptocurrency with just a few clicks, avoiding many barriers to entry in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.”
But now the company is being criticized following the revelation that it its taking 15% of the mined digital currency, has total control over customer’s wallets, and force-installs the crypto mining tool on computers using a hard-to-uninistall program called NCrypt.exe.
Read more: Norton To Allow Crypto Mining On Its Platform
“This is f—ing wild,” Cory Doctorow, author and journalist, wrote on Twitter. “Norton ‘Antivirus’ now sneakily installs crypto mining software on your computer, and then SKIMS A COMMISSION.”
Added security research Chris Vickery: “Norton is pretty much amplifying energy consumption worldwide, costing their customers more in electricity use than the customer makes on the mining, yet allowing Norton to make a ton of profit. “It’s disgusting, gross, and brand-suicide.”
Norton is pretty much amplifying energy consumption worldwide, costing their customers more in electricity use than the customer makes on the mining, yet allowing Norton to make a ton of profit.
It’s disgusting, gross, and brand-suicide.
— Chris Vickery (@VickerySec) January 6, 2022
Norton issued a statement, published in PCMag, saying Norton Crypto is an “opt-in feature only,” and not enabled unless the user gives their permission.
“If users have turned on Norton Crypto but no longer wish to use the feature, it can be disabled through Norton 360. Additional information can be found on our Norton Crypto FAQ page.”
The magazine notes that Norton declined to say whether it will make it easier for customers to remove NCrypt.exe, the mining program.
Norton added the crypto mining feature in June 2021, saying it was a way to ease users into the practice, as they would otherwise have to disable their security and let unvetted codes onto their computers, which could siphon off their profits.