12 replies to this topic

[djdanster]

Not an article, but more of a comment on Twitter from the person who has the Symantec Norton AntiVirus source code from 2006.

Symantec allegedly paid the Indian hacker, who goes by the name of Yamatough $50,000 to not release the code.



https://twitter.com/...835407261138944

So if this guy's right then it will get released tonight!

[remixedcat]

ha ha symantec needs thier **** shaken up. they are terrible and they continue to ignore thier legit users that spend top dollar for thier software. I've dealt with too many people with the "Yellow Plague" to know.

[+Lexcyn]

Err ... source code from 2006?

I'm pretty sure they have started from scratch since then ... their new AV products are nothing like they used to be.

[-Alex-]

Lexcyn, on 07 February 2012 - 19:13, said:

Err ... source code from 2006?

I'm pretty sure they have started from scratch since then ... their new AV products are nothing like they used to be.

They have. Symantec has said as much.

[+Rudy]

Lexcyn, on 07 February 2012 - 19:13, said:

Err ... source code from 2006?

I'm pretty sure they have started from scratch since then ... their new AV products are nothing like they used to be.

So you think that everything was written from scratch since then? You have no idea how much legacy code is probably in there still

[rippleman]

Rudy, on 08 February 2012 - 02:42, said:

So you think that everything was written from scratch since then? You have no idea how much legacy code is probably in there still

YOU don't know how much legacy code is in there either... could be none...

[+Rudy]

rippleman, on 08 February 2012 - 03:14, said:

YOU don't know how much legacy code is in there either... could be none.. could be

I didn't attempt to say how much there is. But as a professional developer who has seen his share of source code for large systems I would be willing to bet there's a lot

[Praetor]

is it out yet?

[Davo]

I don't think it being from 2006 is inconsequential for two reasons:

1.) Not everyone has the newest version of Norton since you have to pay for the product and the service
2.) I seriously doubt there isn't any legacy programming considering that's the year Vista came out and XP still had a giant userbase

[remixedcat]

Rudy, on 08 February 2012 - 03:18, said:

I didn't attempt to say how much there is. But as a professional developer who has seen his share of source code for large systems I would be willing to bet there's a lot

Photoshop still has legacy code.... This is why DEP goes haywire.

[P!P]

Lexcyn, on 07 February 2012 - 19:13, said:

I'm pretty sure they have started from scratch since then ... their new AV products are nothing like they used to be.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. I'm sure the code has changed quite a bit but there's no way a program as complex as Norton has been completely re-written since 2006. I doubt the source code will be too damaging but you never know. This should be interesting.

[-Alex-]

Praetor, on 08 February 2012 - 03:21, said:

is it out yet?

Symantec says the only customers possibly affected due to the leak are pcAnywhere customers, not NAV customers. As for the pcAnywhere source code, yes, it's out... on your favourite Swedish torrent tracker.

[+Frazell Thomas]

Rudy, on 08 February 2012 - 03:18, said:

I didn't attempt to say how much there is. But as a professional developer who has seen his share of source code for large systems I would be willing to bet there's a lot

Exactly, companies don't rewrite software for the hell of it. There are bound to be huge legacy blocks of code in Norton. Just as there is pieces of Windows 95 still present in Windows 7.

But we're both professional developers so we know this reality all to well.

Lexcyn, on 07 February 2012 - 19:13, said:

Err ... source code from 2006?

I'm pretty sure they have started from scratch since then ... their new AV products are nothing like they used to be.

Looks aren't everything. Windows 7 doesn't look a lick like Windows 95, but it shares a lot of code with it as well. Of course, there have been enhancements to Norton since 2006 and there may be parts that have been eliminated or new parts started, but it isn't a throw the baby out with the bathwater rewrite I can assure you. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been a Norton release for a LONG time.

Not to mention rewrites have been historically bad ideas. Take a look at what it did to Netscape, for instance.