A Regular Guy’s Take on the Hate Norton Debate

It seems that everywhere you turn these days there is some highly-charged computer geek who is spouting out tons of internet jargon explaining the technical language in regards to the Hate Norton debate. Sadly – I don’t speak that language, so the message has pretty much gone lost in translation. 

However, the one language I do comprehend pretty well is the language of trust in regards to why I rely on a strong SSL Certificate to conduct my online shopping. Whether I’m shopping for Christmas presents for the family or trying to buy some cool products I can only get online, the most important thing to me is knowing that when I type in my private banking and personal information, there won’t be some hacker on the other end to steal my identity. 

That has happened to me before – and I can tell you that process of trying to rebuild your life after your identity and financial records are stolen sucks hardcore. So maybe I’m a little paranoid about SSL Security – but I am certain I am not alone. 

Here is my personal take on why people are ‘hating’ Norton and more importantly Symantec the parent company who recently made a really poor business and marketing decision in my opinion. 

Symantec owns both Norton and VeriSign SSL Certificate software programs which has dominated the online marketplace for years. And as an online consumer, I have had tremendous success shopping on websites which are secured by the trustworthy VeriSign SSL Checkmark of approval over the years. When I see a website that I intend on shopping, I look for that Checkmark to ensure that it supplies maximum protection. 

But after April 2012, that reliable Checkmark was gone – replaced by the inferior and less trustworthy Norton Secured Seal. To break it down in simple to understand terms, this was the equivalent of visiting the local pizza place because it had great food and finding out that they had new owners who had bad tasting pizza in the past are taking over with their brand name reputation. As a customer you couldn’t be certain if the pizza they made was the same quality as before – so you simply don’t give them a chance to figure it out.

Yup – that was smart business Symantec. 

The online marketplace is huge. Billions of dollars are spent each year online thanks in part to companies and brands like the VeriSign Checkmark providing that security blanket for lack of better terminology when we plan to make our purchases online. Now, that trust has been betrayed by Symantec thanks to their decision to brand their inferior product line. As a consumer, how am I to know which sites are protected with high-quality VeriSign software but showcase the Norton name or cheap and inferior Norton Software?

The answer is – I can’t; and neither can you. 

I don’t profess to have all the answers in life, but one thing seems very simple to me. When you rely on a company to deliver factual information in an industry that’s built on trust, how can you trust anything they do when they make the decision to deceive the public intentionally just to raise their brand name awareness? 

The answer to that question is – you can’t trust Symantec or any of their products any longer. And this is a sad state of affairs.