Security Software Wars

We've warned you in the past not to run two antivirus products. Now the same advice may apply to antispyware apps.

Symantec's Norton Internet Security 2007 recommends that users uninstall antispyware competitors such as Safer Networking's Spybot-Search & Destroy and Webroot's Spy Sweeper. Safer Networking has cried unfair competition, but Symantec says that its recommendation was prompted by software conflicts among apps with real-time protection. Spybot issues warnings about Registry changes made by Symantec's suite; and Spy Sweeper warns users about a Symantec Browser Helper Object (BHO) that, if declined, disables Symantec's phishing protection.

The fix may come in the form of software updates. Both Safer Networking and Webroot plan to release patches that will add Norton Internet Security 2007 to a whitelist.

Narasu Rebbapragada