Surprising to most, Norton 360 antivirus comes with a cryptocurrency miner. It is not activated by default but is automatically installed with the antivirus software. Most users don’t realize that it’s there.
Although crypto-miner was first available to some users in July 2021, it is now being offered to more people. Norton started a larger rollout in recent months. Some users are unhappy because the mining software comes with Norton 360. As such, the software prompts users to start mining.
You have to enable the feature and satisfy Norton’s strict system specifications (an NVIDIA graphics card with a minimum of 6GB memory will be the most important requirement). However, users are disappointed to learn that there isn’t an easy way to remove the crypto mining software.
Norton says that crypto mining software is made because it allows customers to mine Ethereum, a well-known cryptocurrency, more safely and during idle time. They will operate in a pool, consisting of Norton Crypto miners. This will provide greater efficiency and enable all users to reap the rewards.
Norton does not offer this mining service from its kindness. The company charges 15% extra on top, and charges an additional fee if you want to transfer your currency from one wallet to another. It stands to make decent profits with its mining tools.
It’s not malicious. However, users don’t love when software does one thing (in this instance, to protect their PCs) and adds another without permission. Norton is very open about this, but the company is technically not doing anything wrong, as long it’s not enabled by default.
