After one of the last few product updates, none of my devices are transmitting data to Norton for the protection report, nor can they display the device security on each device’s product.
One new problem that correlates with this issue:
Ever since this Norton product update when the device security reports discontinued working, my firewall has been constantly receiving traffic from “HideMyAss”, and ONLY from the devices that have Norton installed (my PC’s and phones). Out of 60+ devices trafficked through the firewall, only the 9 devices with Norton 360 installed have been sending this traffic.
Is Norton now using HideMyAss for its products to transmit data to the Norton servers?
If I remove Norton from a device, the HideMyAss traffic is no longer being transmitted from the device and no longer logged on the firewall. I cannot find anywhere on the internet or Norton’s pages where HideMyAss is mentioned, and can only reasonably assume is it via their partnership with GenDigital, unless Norton is using HideMyAss on its own and not informing the customers, but why would Norton NOT use their own VPN service?
Can anyone provide any information on this? I have used Norton for a long time, but the service has become mainly marketing focused on everything else but security since the acquisition of Avast.
I am going to be up for renewal soon, and I cannot renew Norton if they are using HideMyAss or other anonymizers in their products, or worse, if my protection is subpar due to blocking HideMyAss via my firewall.
Thank you,
jayd691
Ta det rolig de laver meget om i 26.3 plus det er mening at 26.4 skal være
Komplet bugfix men det kan jo blive forsinket men 26.4 kommer ikke før alle fejl er væk
Plus ting i systemet bliver også rettet det er ikke kun bugs
Men det tror folk ikke på men det er 100% sandt
Hvis du vil ha info så sig til jeg kan sige meget selv om jeg er under nda da det her ikke er under nda så bare spørg løs da meget til 26.4 er sandt når den kommer er det norton 360 v2.0 plus mere de har sagt at software updateren er den ting de er sikker på at kunne nå det er alt sammen godkendt af norton men ingen tror på mig det er 100% det er er i årest big
Is Norton, or its partner, GenDigital, using HideMyAss, and if so, is it going to be removed? I cannot understand why an entity would NOT use their own VPN to transmit data. It is especially egregious as HideMyAss is not a great service and keeps logs which can be breached and data exposed.
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Norton arbejder på ny vpn update som jeg sagde de laver om på mange ting intern nok ca 25 rettelser inter så meget sker der de har allerede fixet 14 så som du kan se der skal ske meget
Men ingen tror det det er også vilde ting men det er store ting men de har alt for mange fejl lige nu så de har et projekt at fixe dem alle
Det er det 26.4 handler om
Grunden til at jeg ved det var at det var mit forslag til 26.4 det eneste jeg kom med som ønske var software opdatateren og det sagde de så ok til da de kunne se at det kunne de 100% nå udover alle de fejl ca 40 til 60 fejl de har det er derfor at 26.3 plus ser så underlig ud det er en mega bugfix patch plus de retter også ting intern
Vpn notificationer plus extra
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@jayd691 Filtering through all the non sense posts that don’t address your questions directly. I will escalate this thread to Norton forums Admins for review. Being we Guru’s are not Norton/Gen Digital employees we cannot say whether what you are seeing is by design on the part of Norton or isn’t. I will do my very best to get some direct answers for you.
@nivasraja Could you or your team please advise regarding the issue @jayd691 is having? This is a pretty big issue that needs a direct answer from Norton as we Guru’s don’t have that answer officially.
Regards,
SA
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de fjerner det bare rolig hvis det er der vpn bliver opgraderet plus de laver nogle opgraderinger af andre ting så tag det rolig ting i norton 360 bliver lavet total om som det du hader det kommer snart når 26.4 kommer er det en total
intern norton 360 2.0 da de kikker meget efter de vil bruge tid på hele norton 360 og opdatere alle ting så det er
smartere de vil nok ikke fjerne dem men gøre så det virker smartere plus fjerne alle de fejl de har i hele systemet som er ca 40 til 60 fejl de har nok taget ca 14 nu og der kommer mange flere
@jayd691 I had the free time to do some research for you and here are the results: **Please note that AI can make mistakes.
AI Overview
HMA (formerly HideMyAss!) is a well-established Virtual Private Network (VPN) service owned by Avast, designed to encrypt internet traffic, mask user IP addresses, and bypass geo-restrictions. It operates over 1,100 servers in 190+ countries, offering apps for major platforms, including Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Key Features of HMA VPN:
- Security & Privacy: Uses strong encryption and includes a built-in kill switch to protect data. While they now offer a no-log policy, HMA has historically complied with authorities in providing user data.
- Large Server Network: Offers one of the largest geographical selections of server locations, making it effective for bypassing regional restrictions.
- Streaming & P2P: Features specialized servers optimized for streaming and peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing.
- Unique Functionality: Includes an “IP Shuffle” feature, which changes your IP address at set intervals to enhance anonymity. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Service Offerings:
- VPN Application: A paid subscription service to secure all device traffic.
- Free Web Proxy: A free browser-based tool to quickly mask your IP address without installing software. [1, 2, 3]
HMA is known for its user-friendly interface and high-speed connections suitable for browsing and streaming
SA
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Hello @SoulAsylum - Thank you for tagging and bringing it to us!
Hello @jayd691 - Thank you for taking your time and reporting this unique experience! Will review this and get back.
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Hello @jayd691 ,
Thanks again for your patience while we continue to look into this!
Our engineering team would like to review diagnostics from one of the affected devices to understand both the HideMyAss-related traffic you’re seeing and why your devices stopped contributing to the Protection Report.
Please use the following KB articles to gather logs from the respective platforms
Windows: Send Norton product debug logs with Norton Support Tool (Share the File ID once the logs is completed)
Mobile: Collecting debug logs if Norton 360 app encounters an error on your mobile device
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I am running the support tool to send logs (if it finishes). I have attached a snippet of the firewall logs while the Norton Support Tool is running.
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ZDQFR - File ID for Support Tool Debug Logs
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Hello @jayd691 ,
Thank you for gathering the logs and sharing the screenshot of the firewall logs!
We’ve checked on our side, and we were unable to find the corresponding diagnostic bundle yet in our systems.
When you get a chance, could you please rerun the Norton Support Tool and submit the logs once more, then share the new File ID here in the thread?
If you’d prefer, we can also work with you directly: with your permission, we can reach out to you via the email address associated with your Norton account and help you collect fresh logs from both an affected Windows PC and your mobile device step by step. Kindly let us know.
Once we have those diagnostics, we’ll be in a much better position to understand both the HideMyAss-related traffic you’re seeing and why the Protection Report data collection stopped, and continue the investigation from there.
I have the zip file from the Norton Support Tool. I tried twice to upload it but it failed both times due to the HideMyAss blocked at firewall. I did verify that only the devices with Norton Security installed are sending HideMyAss traffic. Also, one new device did not send HideMyAss traffic to the firewall until I installed Norton 360 on it. Once I installed Norton, the HideMyAss traffic started coming from that device too.
Finally, the destination ip addresses with the HideMyAss comes back to Google Cloud customers.
Norton is not going to address their hidden use of HMA? I have cancelled my auto renewal and will be switching providers very shortly. There cannot be trust with an entity when they secretively use hma vpn without informing customers, especially when Norton has their own vpn they can use. Cannot verify protection reports due to the hma issue.
I have removed Norton from one machine for a few days, and instantly no more hidemyass traffic from that ip address was hitting the firewall. I will try another AV provider that is less marketing focused, does not sell as much data, and does not give false results in an attempt to sell other products like the anti-tracker.
Thank you to everyone for attempting to look into this.
Did you ever look into @nivasraja 's suggestion above to work with you via email?
I believe you just need to confirm here that you are willing to try.
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FWIW!! I’m not justifying ANY company and how they provide their services. Just making a factual statement to that with the below statements from AI. HMA IS the Norton VPN service.
AI Overview
HMA (formerly known as HideMyAss) is a commercial Virtual Private Network (VPN) service that encrypts your internet connection and masks your IP address by routing your data through remote servers. It is known for its massive global server network and user-friendly apps. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Key Features
- Massive Server Network: Offers servers in over 290 locations across more than 190 countries.
- IP Shuffler: Periodically and automatically changes your IP address while connected to keep trackers guessing.
- Device Compatibility: Supports Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux, allowing multiple simultaneous connections.
- Built-in Kill Switch: Instantly blocks your internet traffic if the VPN connection drops, preventing your real IP from leaking. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Popular Uses
- Bypassing Restrictions: Lets you access geo-blocked websites or content from restrictive regions.
- Public Wi-Fi Security: Encrypts your data on unsecured public networks to protect you from hackers.
- Privacy: Prevents internet service providers (ISPs) and third-party trackers from seeing your browsing habits. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Privacy & Controversy Considerations
While HMA is a legitimate, widely used tool for privacy, it has a history of logging some connection data. Notably, the company has cooperated with authorities in the past, handing over user logs in 2011 and 2017.
Conversely: HMA is owned by GenDigital per this AI search:
AI Overview
HMA (HideMyAss!) is an independent VPN service owned by Gen Digital (formerly the Avast Group). It operates on its own server infrastructure and does not act as a “white-label” VPN provider for other major corporate networks. [1, 2]
However, Gen Digital also owns other security-focused VPN products that share the same backend, including: [1, 2]
- Avast SecureLine VPN
- AVG Secure VPN [1, 2]
If you are a consumer or business looking for a VPN service, you can learn more or subscribe directly through the HMA VPN Homepage. [1]
SA
Hello @jayd691 ,
Sorry for my delayed response.
We do want to get this reviewed properly by engineering, but I do not want to speculate on the traffic behavior until the team verifies it from diagnostics.
Since the tool upload is failing in your environment, the best next step is for us to work with you directly through the email address associated with your Norton account so we can help collect fresh diagnostics from an affected Windows device.
If you are okay with that, please confirm here that you give permission for us to contact you by email, and we will take it forward from there.
Thank you again for your patience and for documenting the behavior so clearly.
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Hi @nivasraja, I did some more testing on a backup machine and when Norton is removed, the traffic stops. I used the Norton removal tool and then cleaned up all leftover files, reg entries, etc. Since I knew it was related to Norton only, I tried to enable the VPN and, sure enough, it looks like Norton has switched over its vpn service to use the HMA obtained during the acquisition as I could not get an ip address and firewall logs kept coming as I tried the vpn. I am guessing Norton is also using this to transmit the data, although it still does not update on the my account page. Unless there is something else you would like assistance with, I am confident this is the problem I have, and also will not be able to use VPN service as I will not allow HMA through my firewall. I would say that Norton should look into why there is so much traffic constantly going out from the security products however. It is sending a lot of traffic and almost acting like a small ddos as it is eating up cpu on the firewall blocking and logging from 9 devices.
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