Avira Antivirus from the same parent company as Norton also contains cryptominer

In addition to Norton 360, Avira Antivirus now also comes with a cryptominer, Krebs On Security reports. That antivirus package is from the same parent company as Norton: NortonLifeLock. As with Norton 360, the miner is disabled by default.

According to Brian Krebs, Avira now has 500 million users worldwide. According to him, the service is largely due to the fact that the antivirus is offered in the form of a free variant. Avira Crypto was added to the software in October last year, but by September other antivirus products already started indicating the presence of a cryptominer in the Avira installer. Avira has been in the possession of the current owner since January 2021.

As with Norton 360, the cryptominer is an opt-in: it is not enabled by default. The miner mines Ethereum and, according to Krebs, the parent company is pocketing 15 percent of the crypto, but it doesn’t mention that in its support documentation. Furthermore, the miner only works at times when the computing power of the computer is not used for anything else.

Brian Krebs has requested NortonLifeLock for a response, but has not yet received one. NortonLifeLock was previously called Symantec. Another antivirus package from NortonLifeLock is the well-known Avast since August last year. It does not have a miner on board for the time being.

Avira Crypto – image via Brian Krebs