Symantec Confirms Norton Antivirus Source Code Leak

Symantec has confirmed the authenticity of a segment of Norton AntiVirus 2006 source code leaked to the internet last week. The stolen code was leaked to The Pirate Bay as a part of retaliatory attack...
Symantec Confirms Norton Antivirus Source Code Leak
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  • Symantec has confirmed the authenticity of a segment of Norton AntiVirus 2006 source code leaked to the internet last week. The stolen code was leaked to The Pirate Bay as a part of retaliatory attacks by hackers affiliated with the Anonymous movement, following the arrest and indictment of several suspected hackers on Tuesday. The leak also coincided with the first celebration of Anonymous’s traditional “Fuck FBI Friday” attacks since the arrests.

    In a statement Friday evening, Symantec confirmed the code’s authenticity, but denied that the leak comprised any sort of security risk. “As we have already stated publicly, our analysis shows that due to the age of the exposed code and the fact that it is only a small subset of the complete code, Symantec antivirus or endpoint security consumer and business customers – including anyone running Norton products – should not be in any increased danger of cyber attacks resulting from this incident,” asserts the company’s blog.

    The digital security company also anticipates the release of additional code segments that it suspects Anonymous already possesses, including yet unreleased code for Norton Internet Security 2006. Other portions of code for Norton Utilities, pcAnywhere, and Norton Antivirus, have already been leaked online.

    Symantec concluded its confirmation of the leaks by again reiterating that consumers running up-to-date versions of Norton AntiVirus should have nothing to worry about. “Again, the code that has been exposed is so old that current out-of-the-box security settings will suffice against any possible threats that might materialize as a result of this incident,” claims the company.

    Stolen portions of Norton AntiVirus source code were the focus of an extortion attempt of Symantec in January.

    Also included in last week’s Anonymous hacks were police supplier New York Iron Works, the Australian Justice Department, Spanish infosec company Panda Security and the Vatican website.

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