Hey everyone, I just put together my first PC today! While I was setting it up, I noticed a warning from Windows Defender that I didn't catch right away. It popped up when an MSI prompt appeared, suggesting I download Norton. I hit 'snooze' on that, but now I'm wondering if that warning is something I should be worried about. I haven't actually downloaded any MSI software myself; it just came pre-installed. Do you think this is a false positive or something I should investigate further? I'll attach a screenshot of the Defender message in the replies. Thanks for any insight!
4 Answers
No, it's just a false positive. MSI has teamed up to offer Norton 360 with their driver installer as an optional add-on. The alert you saw, labeled as Win32/Malgent by MS Defender, is a generic name they give to potential threats that aren't necessarily harmful. If you’re uncertain about a specific file, you can always check it on VirusTotal for peace of mind. Personally, I just install MSI drivers and skip Norton since I prefer BitDefender.
Here’s the screenshot of the Defender alert for reference: https://preview.redd.it/ox2keedj1v2f1.jpeg?width=3023&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e6f0f65879eb6447301707339d1b6d6e6d4ee1eb
Wasn’t there a situation where Norton got hacked at some point? Just throwing it out there since it’s a security software.
That’s what I thought too! The timing of the alert matches when we were just booting the PC and installing drivers. I wanted to check it on VirusTotal, but I panicked and removed it right away. Is there another way to double-check for any potential virus?
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