NortonLifeLock is facing complaints for bundling a hard-to-delete cryptocurrency mining tool into its antivirus software.
The company announced the cryptocurrency miner in June as a useful way for Norton 360 users to earn extra cash from their idle graphics card. The tool, dubbed Norton Crypto, mines Ethereum and gives users an 85% cut. The rest goes to NortonLifeLock.
However, the cryptocurrency miner is now facing backlash after a few Twitter users noticed that the Norton 360 software force-installs the mining tool on PCs through a program called NCrypt.exe, which is difficult to uninstall.
The tweets triggered some users to condemn the company for installing the alleged bloatware. Meanwhile, others are wondering why NortonLifeLock is encouraging users to waste electricity through the Ethereum mining.
“Norton is pretty much amplifying energy consumption worldwide, costing their customers more in electricity use than the customer makes on the mining, yet allowing Norton to make a ton of profit,” tweeted security researcher Chris Vickery.
In a statement, NortonLifeLock notes the tool is off by default. “Norton Crypto is an opt-in feature only and is not enabled without user permission,” a company spokesperson told PCMag. “If users have turned on Norton Crypto but no longer wish to use the feature, it can be disabled through Norton 360. Additional information can be found on our Norton Crypto FAQ page."
It’s also important to note the cryptocurrency miner only works on PCs with AMD or Nvidia graphics cards and at least 6GB of video memory.
Nevertheless, NortonLifeLock declined to say whether the company will make it easier to remove the NCrypt.exe program for customer systems. In the meantime, a company employee posted a workaround that involves disabling the “Norton Tamper Protection” function in the antivirus program’s settings, after which you can delete the NCrypt.exe program.