Railmaster v Norton

[RMurphy195]

My copy of Railmaster has just been removed by Norton due to a "threat" called "WS.Reputation.1" - with the commen that the file is untrustowrthy and not safe - its an "Insight Netwrok Threat" apparently!

Anyone else had this issue?

[RB51]

An IT "bod" will be along soon I'm sure, but they will tell you that Norton is very aggressive in its protection of your system. R-

[Howbi]

Hi RM................found this on tinternet..........WS.Reputation.1 is not a real virus but it does act like one. WS.Reputation.1 is adware which is bundled using custom installers and dropped on your computer during the installation process. Most users have no idea how this WS.Reputation.1 threat is installed on their computer and what it is, until their Antivirus or Anti-Malware software detects it as a malicious threat or virus............It seems that Norton is not to blame and you need to find a way to uninstall this stuff. Plenty of info on google search. HB.

[HornbyRailMasterSupport]

This is a most annoying feature within Norton which automatically assumes a program must be a virus simply becuase millions of users aren't using it.  There are complaints about this unhelpful norton feature all over the Internet and in fact Norton provide a means of disabling it (they obviously realise it is an annoying feature).  You can restore the program from Quarantine within Norton.

If you, along with anybody else who has seen this clear error in Norton submit the file to https://submit.symantec.com/dispute then they, in theory, will stop it being targetted.  We have submitted a report however the more people that do this the quicker Norton will remedy the situation.  Norton may remove this feature in future versions of their antivirus software as they seem to be getting many complaints about it.

It is due to overly aggressive antivirus systems like McAfee and Norton (on which there are many thousands of complaints on the Internet) that we wrote the Internet Security guide installed with RailMaster onto Windows desktops.

Hopefully this problem will go away once Norton have seen the light and received complaints from users.  An alternative is to install a more reliable antivirus system.  AVG, Avast, Avira and Vipre seem to be good packages with very high detection rates and low annoyance factors (other than the pop-up adverts on the free versions).

 There is an interesting article here: http://www.infoworld.com/article/2625591/security/epic-fail--auto-deleting-files-based-on-their--reputation-.html an another here http://www.mindworkshop.info/windows/the-norton-symantec-ws-reputation-1-false-positive/

 

 

[St1ngr4y]

Last week I bought a magazine called Computer Active, and in it I found a link to a website for downloading a program called FixWin10. I decided to take a chance, but Norton intercepted and quarantined it for this same reason - WS.Reputation.1. I emailed the editor of the magazine, who replied with a similar message to that of HRMS above.

Ray

[RMurphy195]

Found this, so I'll ive it a tryhttps://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiTydfvqfLJAhUFNhoKHQ-ZCRQQFgg3MAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.powerpos.com%2Frail-master%2Fsecurity_en.pdf&usg=AFQjCNEsPgTnrzkZ-cv23VyvD8nivRx3RA

[RMurphy195]

Found this, so I'll ive it a tryhttps://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiTydfvqfLJAhUFNhoKHQ-ZCRQQFgg3MAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.powerpos.com%2Frail-master%2Fsecurity_en.pdf&usg=AFQjCNEsPgTnrzkZ-cv23VyvD8nivRx3RA

... And it seems to work, though I had to re-install Railmaster 'cos Norton removed it for me!

[HornbyRailMasterSupport]

Norton have informed us that RailMaster will no longer be flagged up using their "Reputation" feature, however this does not guarantee that this won't happen again in the future with a different version of the program executable.

 

[PJ_model_trains]

Thank you for the update HRMS that is good news

 

I came off Norton a year ago but yesterday purchased Norton with backup, for use on 10 deviced for £34.95 and Free delivery.

 

After reading the above earlier today I thought OK I will have the same issue.

 

I think it is one of those situations where it is not easy to please everyone. As we know Norton work on number of downloads to suggest an item of software is trustworthy or not, this is helpful 'to them' in quickly assessing software to be installed on computers, 'worldwide', this check is done along with other safety precautions, it is not their only way to check software is safe. But, that said, this doesn't help the small software business like Hornby.

 

As frustrating as it can be, I cannot help but try imagine the uproar if problems happened on peoples computers because this additional method of checking wasn't done, it is not the only check they do, just part of many to help keep our computer systems safe. We can argue Norton is aggressive but, they have a Company Name to look after, with so much competition for this type of protection, along with so much bad press of hacking, I think it is understandable they will aim to do everything they can and protect their position in the market. If a large amount of computers were hacked as a result of not carrying out certain procedures, no matter how aggressive they seem to us, they could lose a massive amount of business overnight. The bigger a company is the harder that company could fall.

 

Just my thought  ;o)

[Yelrow]

PJ and others, greetings. I have used norton, continuously for 22 years, and never had a problem. It is presently covering both our, and my sons machines. they have always been most helpful, even taking over my machine, as RM do, when we had a problem. I am delighted, HRMS, have sorted this glitch with them, it does seem to emphasise that they are on the ball, checking our machines, and keeping them virus free. john

[PJ_model_trains]

Greeting John, I came away from Norton when I fell for their automatic renewal which was at full price!!!

 

The Price I paid in PC World Sale above, 10 devices for £34.95 with Backup is excellent although I will probably not use their backup I have my own system for that. It is still good value.

 

I think the offer for 5 licences/devices without backup is £29.95 Free P&P

[Yelrow]

PJ, i dont automatic renew. Each year, i ring them, and haggle. john

[PJ_model_trains]

PJ and others, greetings.

 

Greetings John,

it is nice to receive a salutation in a message, another dying item in todays methods of communication.

[PJ_model_trains]

PJ, i dont automatic renew. Each year, i ring them, and haggle. john

 

I bet you learnt haggling on the markets in France ;o)

 

Were you happy as a bank manager when customers came in with a business plan and started haggling?   LOL

[PJ_model_trains]

PJ, i dont automatic renew. Each year, i ring them, and haggle. john

 

Hello John

I got caught out a few years back, as more and more companies popped up with Anti-Virus software, if you purchased Norton online it was automatic renewal a year later unless you ticked a box, the box wasn't clearly displayed!  You could log into the account and untick the auto renewal but who logs in when everything is working. I am sure they made money out of it but also lost customers.

 

[poliss]

How do you know you haven't had a problem John? I changed from Norton to AVG after their free trial was over and AVG picked up a trojan that had been on my puter for years.

[PJ_model_trains]

Greetings poliss

 

I have had three different AV software and each time it appears one picks up something another didn't.

 

I do wonder sometimes how much is actual security and how much is slightest change to a file. I appreciate there are some nasties out there and I really cannot get my head round why people get a kick out of creating them but there are also lots of make the software look good stuff included. I think  ;o)

 

Software is more than just AV these days.

[Augustus Caesar]

High praise indeed from two intrepid members for Norton software. However, this doesn't take away from the fact that this software remains far too aggressive for most people's liking. Sales have dropped dramatically, hence the low prices and PC World pushing it at half price for the last few years.

 

What you have to remember, or at least take into consideration, is the fact that ANY software will work well on some machines but not on others. this is simply due to the architecture of the hardware and other software installed on those machines. It is not simply down to having Windows 10 Pro instead of Windows 7 or anything remotely like it.

 

All antivirus software has definition files which contain strings of data that is checked against strings in viruses, Trojans, malware and spyware (none of which are the same thing) and it is simply those strings that match which identifies any suspicious software. Now that string does NOT have to be a full string of characters... it could be part thereof. This is why RailMaster and other software is highlighted as suspicious. These are actually called false positives in the business. Norton and the likes would have to write the string found in the likes of RailMaster into their own definition files (a small database of sorts in reality) where the software detecting said strings will mark it as safe. This is indeed what Norton have done according to HRMS which is perfect for the time being... until they rewrite their software when the issue will almost certainly reappear.

 

One more point which I have made several times before… NO paid for software is going to protect your system fully against all the unsafe items I list above. Norton’s, and any other paid for anti-virus product for that matter, will take care of most viruses, a lot of Trojans and little spyware or malware. This is why I always advocate the use of other software to take care of the latter two and some Trojans to boot. Malwarebytes and Spybot will both do those jobs and are free.

 

There is absolutely no need whatsoever to pay for products to protect your laptop or PC. I deal with clients all the time, including business, and only their servers are protected with specialist versions of software whilst all clients are protected with free programs. They have little or no bother at all.

 

Ultimately the choice is yours of course but advice from myself and other techies will be virtually the same.

[Fishmanoz]

Will be interested to see if AC has a view?

[Augustus Caesar]

It's above you Fishy... posted at the same time! Cool.... :-)

[PJ_model_trains]

High praise indeed from two intrepid members for Norton software. However, this doesn't take away from the fact that this software remains far too aggressive for most people's liking. Sales have dropped dramatically, hence the low prices and PC World pushing it at half price for the last few years.

 

Sales have dropped dramaticaaly AC but, not just for the reason you state. There used to be a couple of big players, now there is a lot of choice. Free programs were also very small in  number and the big players made them sound risky. More choice, more option, more competition, again a big reason for price reductions.

 

All antivirus software has definition files which contain strings of data that is checked against strings in viruses, Trojans, malware and spyware (none of which are the same thing) and it is simply those strings that match which identifies any suspicious software.

 

A database of strings AC but I wouldn't say a small database  ;o)

 

Now that string does NOT have to be a full string of characters... it could be part thereof. This is why RailMaster and other software is highlighted as suspicious. These are actually called false positives in the business. Norton and the likes would have to write the string found in the likes of RailMaster into their own definition files (a small database of sorts in reality) where the software detecting said strings will mark it as safe. This is indeed what Norton have done according to HRMS which is perfect for the time being... until they rewrite their software when the issue will almost certainly reappear.

 

Hornby may have a string now but I am sure they will have explained the continuous upgrading of the software. Upgrading of software is common, companies do it regularly, Hornby probably do it more than some at this time, I am sure they will have asked Norton if there is anything they should do, or do a certain way to minimise this. Good point though AC, we will no doubt see what happens.  ;o)

 

Anti-virus, Trojans, spyware or malware. Are you Phishing AC

 

Malwarebytes and Spybot will both do those jobs and are free.

 

Good software well worth installing. Do you know if Norton is aggressive to such software?

 

 

 

 

[Fishmanoz]

The product I have made by Trend insists Spybot be removed before it will install.  So I do as it asks, remove Spybot, install Trend, then replace Spybot.  It has no such qualms about Malwarebytes.

[Fishmanoz]

Chris, you should talk to AC about getting posts online quicker. On page 2, he managed to get his long post up 30 seconds before my short one wondering what his reply would be (tongue a little in cheek, I knew exactly what he would be saying, just refrained from putting words in his mouth).

[Augustus Caesar]

The reason why so many anti AV, spyware and malware products ask you to uninstall competitive software is not really because it is competitive or whatever... it is simply because no two similar products should be installed at the same time because one will read the other's definition files and could take their content to be virus strings which means possible detection of something that is actually harmless.

 

Malwarebytes seems impervious to this however which is one reason it is so good at its job. Trend doesn't like Spybot but I have not known, so far, Spybot to whinge about anything... again it does its job.

 

Those pieces of software that DO whinge I don't use because it is precisely those detection routines that find stuff they aren't supposed to and create those false positives I mentioned earlier.

 

Everyone has their favourite programs and I am open to others as opposed to those I always seem to list here but I don't particularly find any that's better. So I stick with the usual ones until I find something better. I used to swear by AVG at point but went away from it because it has become bloated and cannot get past a day without finding something to cry about with those false positives. The big problem with some of these is that they don't often tell you they are deleting stuff when an FP is found... it just deletes it!!

 

It is to Hornby's credit that they try and contact these firms who write this stuff to ask them to amend their product to stop getting those false positives and fair play to them. However, it is up to the vendors of AV software and their likes to keep their wares away from this kind of detection from the start and not have to rely on the likes of Hornby to ask this kind of stuff. This is why some of these programs are way too aggressive for most users... maybe they just try too hard... :-)

[PJ_model_trains]

It is to Hornby's credit that they try and contact these firms who write this stuff to ask them to amend their product to stop getting those false positives and fair play to them.

 

Well said AC  ;o)