@thetazman- I'm with you on this. When I said it's unfortunate and unacceptable I was talking about such a glaring whole in a piece of security software, Beta or otherwise. Having worked for a number of security hardware and software companies over the last 15 years, the key here is the software engineering group being able to plug this hole almost immediately. A workaround or a patch or a dot release, whatever. Let's hope we see a response from Symantec here that is definitive and effective.

At this point I don't see letting children use their PC or Mac in a closed room or solo environment. If we can neither prevent kids from disabling NSxxM nor rely on the messages saying "NSxxxM hase been disabled" to be correct (for months now by the way), then for sure we can't rely on this software. For now it's in the kitchen or family room I suppose, and back to trying to check the history logs in Chrome, Firefox and IE, although our kids are pretty good at purging those.

For any parent still worried about their kids & internet access - as it seems Norton/Symantec don't care about us (that can be duly seen by their speedy responses to this urgent issue!) - you can always use the following s/ware:

Blue Coat's K9 Web Protection (link below to their FREE software)

 K9Website

www.k9webprotection.com/

Their s/ware has been FREE for a number of years, and I was using it before NSM. NSM if Norton/Symantec actually did something - is FAR FAR superior - but it seems that the norton team didn't realise the s/ware was as useless as it is so are now burying their heads in the sand or are they crying for mama?

Sorry if people feel i am being rude to the developers but to be honest i don't care. They are using us as Beta testers, we've now found a MAJOR flaw in the s/ware which makes it un-workable. So do the developers get onto it & spk to the beta-testers to let them know they're on the case, NO! They just keep quiet

I am quite please now with the high listing in Google for anyone to find how to crack NSM. I've also informed my friends who were also using the s/ware and recommended they turn it off & use either Windows own (not very good - but better than NSM) parental controls or K9

I hope some of the other parents out there find K9 to be useful, they do update regularly & I never had too many issues with it before. Again it is possible to crack but its not as easy as NSM to hack into & disable.

I DO NOT work for K9, I'm an English parent who wants to make sure my kids surf the net in safety. Norton promised they would do this but they did not & are STILL NOT delivering. If NSM is really this bad and does not work - the reviews were excellent online for this s/ware - then how can i believe that i'm being protected with Norton Internet Security Suite 2010 (as it's the same developers is it not?)

Hi All, 

How about downloading the Add-on Pack V4. Is this any bette than the one downloaded from 'OnLineFamily.Norton(Norton Safety Minder). Let me know. Thanks to All.

Zaboo

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Zaboo wrote:

Hi All, 

How about downloading the Add-on Pack V4. Is this any bette than the one downloaded from 'OnLineFamily.Norton(Norton Safety Minder). Let me know. Thanks to All.

 

Zaboo

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thanks for that, just visited the following site to download the pack as you mentioned above:

http://www.symantec.com/norton/products/parental-controls/index.jsp

the file is called "AOPESDDownloader.exe" and is suitable for NIS2010, even 360 is covered

however the info on the site is quite lacking, and it seems this add-on is not a patch on the NSM we were hoping for. it does not seem to have online access (which is a big plus with NSM) also all users must have a running/current NIS a/c to use this s/ware. NSM is free (at the moment) for beta testing purposes

it only covers basic parental controls (ie web blocking & confidential info), ie it is about as good as Windows vista parental controls! so what is the point of this add-on? if it covered all the areas NSM did then it would be a valuable add-on (if NSM worked of-course)

i for one won't be installing this add-on as i do not see the need when i have vista parental controls setup & also now K9 protecting my kids [there is a workaround to block K9 also - but it is not as easy or simple as stopping NSM!]

the blurb below is what is on the symantec site for anyone interested ...

In Norton 360 Version 3.0, Norton Internet Security 2009 and Norton Internet Security 2010

• Parental Controls
• Confidential Information Blocking

KATIEQ a symantec e'ee - seems to be answering a number of NSM issues on this site but for some strange reason she hasn't answered the queries i noted down on this thread nor the ones noted down in pwscott61's thread?

What is symantec playing at can they not have the decency to sort out this major flaw in their s/ware. Instead of answering trivial qn's like it won't do this or that, why not answer the main question as to why it does NOT WORK?

Let's wait a few more days for a reply from someone at symantec ... Or is there a postal strike there too?

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thetazman wrote:
To hell with it, here's the idiots guide on "how to easily disable norton safety minder that even a 5 yr old could do" thanks go to dgardner for listing down the steps described in my 1st post above
... etc. ....

I was astonished that such a simple loophole has not been discovered before. I can't help wondering whether any of the seemingly harmless times I have seen the disabled message were really times in which my kids were wandering the internet unmonitored.

 

David

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I discovered this myself when I was trying to extend my daughter's time and we lost the wireless connection.

At the time, I considered this a useful failsafe.  Why have a locked-up computer is NSM whenever unable to verify parental intervention?  The worst case might result in having to restore the entire system - that would be awful.

There needs, however, to be a better failsafe than that crude method.  Perhaps it consist of an alternative password for when the internet cannot be reached.  The verification password would be encrypted and stored locally.

It's a hard call.  The scenario I see that is probably on the mind of Symantec engineers would be something like this:

a.  The computer can really connect to the internet, but

b.  NSM can't reach it because of a programming glitch.

c.  The owner needs to reach the internet on the machine in question in order to fix the problem.

d.  Unfortunately, the programming glitch extends to the password, so the owner is blocked by NSM from getting to the solution that would fix the problem.

Any exit from the loop up would also be a potential door for violating security.  I'm glad I don't have to think this one through myself.  

mijcar thanks for the comments.

But i feel that NSM should never be disabled for whatever reason. If you lose the password or can't remember it contacting symantec should get you the code. if NSM can't log-on onto the internet then typing in any password/email should not allow the program to be disabled.

In-fact it should log each attempt & when internet connection is restored should then relay this info (ie the attempted hijacking of the s/ware by your kids) to the parent! The parent can then restrict their internet or computer habits even further if necessary, a bit draconian I know but there is SO much harmful stuff out their online, we parents need something to protect our kids.

mijcar when you found this loophole did you not notify Symantec about the issue so they could resolve it, as if you'd had this problem a while back & someone with your long-standing on this forum they may have listened & resolved it? at this time it seems Symantec is losing faith in the product or with me maybe & not bothering to help

It IS a shame as there is SO much potential in this s/ware & over a minor glitch it has caused such a major flaw within the program! Pls symantec do something about this ...

The add-on another member mentioned is similar to one i use at the moment with Kapersky's Internet Suite 2010, they too offer as a free element within the program (not a seperate download). Yet I had always felt NIS 2010 was better, but maybe it isn't anymore? If this loophole exists within NSM what lurks within NIS?

Its now been 2 days approx since i posted the original thread still NO word from Norton! Thanks for showing us you care about us beta-testers/parents!!!

Hi marianmerritt thank you for taking the time to post & share the views of norton to us members (me only being a short-lived member of this forum)

From your comments it is quite apparent that this "loophole" or "major flaw" as a number of users would describe is part of the way norton operates. Is this the same for Norton Internet Security Suite or similar program, should children be allowed or able to adjust major component elements within the s/ware with no repurcussions.

As I now realise this FAULT within the s/ware is not going to be fixed by Norton, getting a msg to the pc to say NSM has been disabled is a valuable element for a discussion to be had between parent & child. BUT during this time they are able to visit unsavoury websites & use the pc for areas they were not originally entitled to do.But Norton says don't worry about it Mr or Mrs Parent your kids need a good talking too, then once that's finished with you can enable NSM again & let them do what they please ...

Thank you for being so honest and letting me know that this flaw is going to remain as its an important element within NSM's security to allow kids as young as 5 to view pornographic, violent, racist websites. At least i now know what Norton stands for, so thank you ... But i can chat to them afterwards to say don't worry kid those pictures or images you saw try & forget about the, don't worry ...

As stated by you NSM is NOT a parental control application software, i presume therefore it will not be distributed within the UK on the basis that it is! As it quite plainly is not a method to control internet or other pc activities by the child. All other parental control s/ware on the market BLOCKS websites that are unsuitable for children, but NSM doesn't care what a child views as they can just disable it at their leisure! Thanks NSM ...

Your comment as to will i be moving to another product, the answer to that is quite simply yes! And i am sure a number of parents visiting this site will also do likewise!

@thetazman (sorry about previous mistyping) you make an important point about me having provided an easily googleable step-by-step guide to disabling.  I just wanted to make it easy for others on this forum to verify the procedure. My intention was not to make it too easy for kids but they are very smart and they will work it out and news will get around. To make it slightly less easy for my kids I have included the URL of this forum as a blocked site in NSM for my kids but that is probably a weak defence.

I hope the development team for NSM comes up with a quick fix as I like this software and was devasted when you revealed how easy it is to crack.