[meteorite-list] [OT] Norton behind the Virus

From: John Gwilliam <jkg_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:07:00 2004
Message-ID: <4.2.0.58.20021012135127.009b5e50_at_pop3.norton.antivirus>

At 03:18 AM 10/12/02 -0400, geoking_at_notkin.net wrote:
>I realize this is more than a little OT and probably wasting some people's
>time -- so I apologize in advance -- but I just couldn't resist. Of all
>the weird things I've seen on the M-List (and there have been plenty),
>accusing Symantec of creating new viruses in order to sell their own
>products is one of the nuttiest . . . right up there with the Frass
>meteorite even!

Hello Geoff and List Members,

I have an associate that used to work as a security advisor for an
anti-virus software company other than Symantec. He told me that this
particular (and left nameless here) company had a policy of paying their
customers a $50.00 finders fee for every new virus they sent in for
recognition and analysis. It turned out that several of the companies
programers were creating new viruses in their spare time and turning them
in for the reward money.

 From the outside looking in, it might appear that some impropriety was
taking place, but it certainly wasn't the company itself that was creating
the problem. A software giant like Symantec would not risk their
reputation and their future by creating new viruses just to sell more of
their products.

John Gwilliam
Received on Sat 12 Oct 2002 05:02:42 PM PDT