Norton 360 installs and enables crypto miner without user knowledge

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If you are a user of Norton 360 antivirus, then you might want to uninstall the software immediatly. Starting last year they have been installing a crypto miner along with the software suite, which is enabled by default. And they are doing this without asking or warning the user (you).

On social platforms users are posting about the new feature which has nothing to do with the core functionality of the software, being anti-virus. If you read up on the explanation from Norton, the miner is mining Ethereum. Norton says they store the crypto on their servers and take their 15% share.

Unfortunately, this is once again, one of the many examples where a company goes wrong. Meanwhile, end-users are now complaining that they cannot seem to disable the miner. If yo want to use Norton but disable the crypto mining, you should first navigate to the Norton 360 admin settings page and disable Norton Product Tamper Protection. NCrypt.exe can be uninstalled only after it has been disabled.

Norton has explained in thier faq that the service is activated only with user permission. Additionally, users can disable the service through the Norton Crypto dashboard. They make no explanation in the faq as to why the miner is now installed automatically. If you add up the energy cost and hardware costs, you will see that you are at a loss and Norton is making a profit.

Norton does not have to do anything for this and you bear the costs and they gain 15%. We recommend that you uninstall Norton software and use another brand, ESET is good among others.