This past Monday (10), we reported here in Mundo Conectado the information that the security application Norton 360 installs an Ethereum miner. Now, it is the turn of Avira Antivirus, which belongs to NortonLifeLock, to also be criticized for presenting Avira Crypto with a similar mining scheme.
THE Avira Crypto is disabled by default and the user needs to activate it for mining to run. However, as in the case of Norton 360 there is the possibility of malware activating the feature without the user knowing.
According to the website specializing in security that released the information, KrebsonSecurity, A Avira has 500 million users around the world. As a free antivirus, the application’s reach is worldwide. Avira Crypto was announced in October 2021, shortly after the company was acquired by NortonLifeLock. Even if the user needs to activate mining manually, the details provided about the tool on the official Avira website are scarce.
The FAQ released by the company does not accurately state what percentage NortonLifeLock earns from mining Ethereum when using its hardware and electricity for mining. Another questionable problem lies in the fact that the tool Virustotal.com for Google to identify the antivirus mining file with the tag Trojan.Coinminer.
Similar to what is being implemented in the Norton 360 application, even if there is a need to activate mining manually, the file cannot be easily removed and malware could trigger its execution.
Vincente Pilette, CEO of NortonLifeLock claims that the mining feature featured in the company’s products is safe. At the time the Norton miner was announced, he stated that:
As the cryptocurrency-based economy continues to become a more important part of our customers’ lives, we want to empower them to mine cryptocurrencies with Norton, a brand they trust. Norton Crypto is yet another groundbreaking example of how we are expanding our Cybersecurity platform to protect our customers’ ever-evolving digital lives.
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Source: 3D Guru, KrebsonSecurity