Security solutions provider Norton is being criticized for including an Ethereum cryptocurrency miner in its Norton 360 security application. kind of thing doesn’t help.
Although the company has claimed that the miner is completely safe, its inclusion raises questions as to the reasons behind this. baptized as Norton Crypto, the Ethereum miner is disabled by default. Even so, Norton 360 users were annoyed that it was installed by the software and apparently it is not that easy to uninstall.
When the miner was originally announced last year, Vincent Pilette, CEO of NortonLifeLock, said at the time that “As the cryptocurrency-based economy continues to become a more important part of our customers’ lives, we want to enable them to mine cryptocurrencies with Norton, a brand they trust. Norton Crypto is yet another innovative example of how we are expanding our Cybersecurity platform to protect our customers’ ever-evolving digital lives”.
Reproduction/The Verge
When enabled, Norton Crypto makes use of the video card installed on the user’s computer to mine Ethereum, with the currency being transferred to a Norton wallet hosted in the cloud. Cryptocurrency mining has been criticized for its high energy consumption and possible harmful effects on the environment. In the case of Norton software, there is also the possibility of malware enabling the miner without the user’s knowledge.
Playback/NortonLifeLock
Another detail about Norton Crypto is that it will only run if the user’s PC meets the minimum requirements, such as a graphics card with an NVIDIA or AMD GPU with at least 6GB of memory. In addition, it charges a 15% commission – well above the 1 to 2% charged by other platforms. Including the cost of Ethereum transaction fees, it turns out to be difficult for the user to make a profit from it, not counting the increase in the electricity bill.
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Source: PC Gamer