London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 23, 2025

Popular antivirus maker force-installs cryptominer on devices

Popular antivirus maker force-installs cryptominer on devices

NortonLifeLock appears to be living up to its name
The anti-virus giant Norton is facing a barrage of online criticism for automatically installing the Ethereum crafter on users’ devices, which has turned out to be pretty useless and also really difficult to uninstall.

Norton has come under fire after several users expressed their annoyance on Twitter and Reddit at how difficult it is to rid their system of the bundled tool called Norton Crypto.

Their concerns were rapidly echoed by other users, who claim the feature costs customers more in electricity use than they make on the mining, yet allows the developer to make a ton of profit.

An experiment carried out by media outlet The Verge confirmed this, showing that a night of mining netted $0.66-worth of Ethereum but cost $0.66 in off-peak electricity.

The claims that the antivirus developer “sneakily installs cryptomining software” in computers and skims a commission on profits were soon disseminated by technology-focused media outlets, including PCMag, Krebs on Security, and Digital Trends.

Commenting on the backlash, a spokesperson for NortonLifeLock told The Verge that users can completely remove Norton Crypto by temporarily turning off Norton’s tamper protection feature and then deleting the executable file.

The new cloud-based feature was launched in July 2021 to allow users to maintain a private cryptocurrency wallet and take away 85% of what their devices mine, with Norton earning a 15% commission. Back then, NortonLifeLock said it was opt-in-only and had to be enabled.

According to the system requirements, the crypto-mining option can be activated an Nvidia or AMD cards with at least 6GB of memory. The process reportedly runs via a mining pool that combines every user’s computing power to increase the chances of mining a block. Thus, those contributing power get a share of the reward, from which Norton takes its cut.

However, even pooled power and cheaper electricity can’t turn the everyday user into a crypto-millionaire, it seems, as the process of withdrawing one’s earnings from a Norton wallet, minus Norton’s commission, is not that easy. The only way to use the mined crypto or exchange it for fiat currency is to transfer it to a Coinbase account, and that, in turn, incurs a transaction fee charged by the Ethereum network.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×