Symantec Caught in Norton 'Rootkit' Flap

[Nomad559]

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1910077,00.asp

Symantec Corp. has fessed up to using a rootkit-type feature in Norton SystemWorks that could provide the perfect hiding place for attackers to place malicious files on computers.

The anti-virus vendor acknowledged that it was deliberately hiding a directory from Windows APIs as a feature to stop customers from accidentally deleting files but, prompted by warnings from security experts, the company shipped a SystemWorks update to eliminate the risk.

Symantec, of Cupertino, Calif., is the second commercial company caught in the flap over the use of rootkit-type techniques to hide files on computers. Rootkits are programs that are used to give a remote user access to a compromised system while avoiding detection from security scanners.

[babylonsister]

1. Should we be worried? I use Symantec and don't have a clue

what a rootkit-type feature is.

[Deja Q]

2. That company has gone downhill since John W Thompson took it over.

He's the guy who ditched IBM once it became clear that OS/2, the product he managed and marketed over, wasn't being bought by anybody becuase he didn't know how to market it and because OS/2 itself was unmanageable... :puke: (nice ideas, poorly realized... and, yes, I know microsoft's involvement in it too... JWT isn't alone...)