Norton 360 is adding a crypto miner to its antivirus software because why the hell not

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Your computer’s security suite is about to get crypto mining capabilities if Norton has anything to say about it. The new product, Norton Crypto, is coming to the Norton 360 suite as early as this week, letting users mine for Ethereum while their PC isn’t being used for other tasks.

Yes, you read that correctly. You’re used to your security software removing crypto miners from your device, but Norton has decided that due to the popularity of mining, they’d rather you use their mining software instead of the “unvetted code” you may be tempted to install elsewhere.

I’m really conflicted here; while I’m a crypto fan, I’m not sure that preinstalling miners on consumer devices is a good play. I mean, aren’t security suites like Norton supposed to guard against cryptojacking?

READ MORE: Your Norton antivirus software can mine crypto for you, but Norton wants a 15% cut

It seems to me that all Norton has done here is opened the door to hackers, as now they don’t even have to install a crypto miner – just take over the one that’s already there.

Other outlets also voiced their concerns about this new feature. The Verge made a good point about how this opens the door for shady manufacturers to run the miner even when the PC is being used, making the computer slower overall.

Norton Crypto goes live today for “early adopters” and will be rolling out to everyone “in the coming weeks.” Or, you know, maybe they’ll see sense and abort this foolish initiative. We’ll keep you posted if anything changes.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.