We were starting to get used to malware that tries to mine cryptocurrency without your knowledge. However, an antivirus that mines cryptocurrencies is unheard of, and even McAfee didn’t dare.
Mining ether (ETH) with your antivirus
As a rule, users rely on antivirus software to block malware, especially those that attempt to mine cryptocurrencies without their knowledge. For its part, Norton antivirus goes against the grain with a feature that is surprising, to say the least. Thus, starting June 3, Norton will allow mining cryptocurrencies directly from its antivirus.
Initially, this feature will be reserved for Norton users who are part of the early adoption program. Later, the feature will be open to all 13 million users of the software.
At its launch, the program will only allow the mining of Ethereum. Other cryptocurrencies deemed “reputable” will be added in the coming months.
According to official announcements, this feature was created to allow miners to mine while keeping antivirus protection.
“For years, many miners have had to take risks in their quest for cryptocurrencies, disabling their security in order to start mining and allowing unverified code on their machines that could steal their earnings or even introduce ransomware.”
Norton
In practice, earnings will be deposited and retrievable from a dedicated, cloud-based Norton wallet.
Mixed feedback
Although Norton made this feature to reach out to the crypto (and especially IT in a broader sense) community, the announcement seems to be getting a mixed reception. For example, the comment area of the Twitter post is full of skeptics of this new feature.
“In all honesty, there have been worse product decisions. It’s hard for me to think of what they could have been, but I’m sure there have been.”
“This is the kind of thing I want my antivirus to protect me from.”
Let’s hope Norton puts just as much work into detecting ransomware, one of the scourges of recent years. In 2020, more than 400 million dollars were stolen via ransomware.
