Operations Center Operations Center "Virus"

[kevinmdavis2010 0]

Hi everyone,

I purchased the 737-700 Expansion Pack a couple days ago, and I'm having trouble installing it.  I need the latest Operations Center, which the notification section claims is v1.20.8465.  However, when I select, "Install Update," from the dropdown menu, it doesn't apply the update.  I my current version is 1.17.  The catch here, however, is that my Antivirus software, Norton 360, has blocked the downloader multiple times, calling it a, "Heuristic Virus  The name and location of said, "Virus," is c\users\kevin\appdata\roaming\pmdg\pmdg operations center\product updates\pmdg_updater_738_xse.exe 

 

The Operations Center never gave me an option of where to put the updater.  Has anyone else had this issue before?  I temporarily turned off Norton to see if that would resolve the issue, but it didn't.  Any help anyone can provide is appreciated!

 

Regards,

Kevin Davis    

Norton Log

Filename: pmdg_updater_738_xse.exe
Threat name: Heur.AdvML.BFull Path: c:\users\kevin\appdata\roaming\pmdg\pmdg operations center\product updates\pmdg_updater_738_xse.exe

____________________________

____________________________

On computers as of 
12/3/2017 at 12:45:40 AM

Last Used 
12/3/2017 at 12:45:40 AM

Startup Item 
No

Launched 
No

Threat type: Heuristic Virus. Detection of a threat based on malware heuristics.

____________________________

pmdg_updater_738_xse.exe Threat name: Heur.AdvML.B
Locate

Few Users
Hundreds of users in the Norton Community have used this file.

Mature
This file was released 3 months ago.

High
This file risk is high.

____________________________

http://downloads.pmdg.com/produpdate/xse/updater/PMDG_Updater_738_XSE.exe
Downloaded File  from pmdg.com
Source: External Media

____________________________

File Actions

File: c:\users\kevin\appdata\roaming\pmdg\pmdg operations center\product updates\ pmdg_updater_738_xse.exe Blocked
____________________________

File Thumbprint - SHA:
Not available
File Thumbprint - MD5:
Not available

[scandinavian13 5,192]

27 minutes ago, kevinmdavis2010 said:

Few Users
Hundreds of users in the Norton Community have used this file.

Here's your problem.

Norton is absolute garbage, and the reasoning is this thread (among just about everything else about the program). Aftermarket AV programs cost money and literally add no value. In fact, they arguably subtract value by getting in the way all the time.

Back the in the day, they were there to keep you safe. Now, they're essentially that aggressive stay-at-home cat that runs out and kills things you don't want it to kill, to give to you as a present that you don't want. Get rid of it, or set an exclusion. It's getting bent out of shape that the updater is coded to download things. Yes, that might come across as a Trojan to a program that is written poorly (thanks Norton, I appreciate you), but that isn't the case here. You are clearly telling the program to download something.

So...remove it (I cannot recommend this enough - and I say that as someone who worked in information security, so I don't take the recommendation lightly), or at the very least, make sure you reign it in so it stops getting in the way.

[richjb2 195]

1 hour ago, scandinavian13 said:

Here's your problem.

Norton is absolute garbage, and the reasoning is this thread (among just about everything else about the program). Aftermarket AV programs cost money and literally add no value. In fact, they arguably subtract value by getting in the way all the time.

Back the in the day, they were there to keep you safe. Now, they're essentially that aggressive stay-at-home cat that runs out and kills things you don't want it to kill, to give to you as a present that you don't want. Get rid of it, or set an exclusion. It's getting bent out of shape that the updater is coded to download things. Yes, that might come across as a Trojan to a program that is written poorly (thanks Norton, I appreciate you), but that isn't the case here. You are clearly telling the program to download something.

So...remove it (I cannot recommend this enough - and I say that as someone who worked in information security, so I don't take the recommendation lightly), or at the very least, make sure you reign it in so it stops getting in the way.

Kyle,

Thank you for the recommendation on Norton.  For me, removal of the AV is not an option.  I've picked up too many viruses and malware over the years from sources unknown to forego protection, even if that protection acts like the preverbal "bull in a china shop". 

I had to reinstall PMDG this week because of an upgrade to a SSD drive.  Norton caught the Ops Center update.  My question is what is the proper way to exclude Ops Center from AV scans?  If I know the folder's location on and where it downloads/runs its files, I can exclude it.   I've gotten better at using Norton File Insight to "Trust" programs I download before I run them to avoid Norton AV tagging them as suspicious.  It's the automatic updates that Ops Center runs that cause me problems.

Thanks!

Rich Boll

Wichita KS 

[G-RFRY 1,705]

I have used Norton's for years the problem is that software installers used by some are never tested so you are often asked to drop your guard to install software, when if you check the popup from Norton's check the warning then info you can override Norton's and exclude the software as trusted. Scams and fraud are rising on the internet it`s safer than robbing a bank. 

[scandinavian13 5,192]

10 minutes ago, richjb2 said:

Thank you for the recommendation on Norton.  For me, removal of the AV is not an option.  I've picked up too many viruses and malware over the years from sources unknown to forego protection, even if that protection acts like the preverbal "bull in a china shop". 

As long as you have Win 7 or better, you won't be forgoing protection. Win Defender (and reasonable browsing habits) will keep you clean. I will challenge anyone who claims that they picked up a virus, as people use the term way too liberally (mostly because of aftermarket AV programs treating even legitimate programs as such, as you've seen yourself).

11 minutes ago, richjb2 said:

I had to reinstall PMDG this week because of an upgrade to a SSD drive.  Norton caught the Ops Center update.  My question is what is the proper way to exclude Ops Center from AV scans?  If I know the folder's location on and where it downloads/runs its files, I can exclude it.   I've gotten better at using Norton File Insight to "Trust" programs I download before I run them to avoid Norton AV tagging them as suspicious.  It's the automatic updates that Ops Center runs that cause me problems.

Depends on the AV you use, so you'll have to research their method for exclusion, though success varies because. These programs are written to be aggressive (and increasingly so, unfortunately, and completely unnecessarily), so they may not give up control lightly.

2 minutes ago, rjfry said:

Scams and fraud are rising on the internet it`s safer than robbing a bank. 

Yes and no...

Scams exist. AV will NOT protect you from that, though they may claim that they can. Scams are all about social engineering. AV cannot protect against that.

Fraud is yet another thing AV cannot really protect you against. This whole "big ugly scary internet" thing is largely overblown. Individuals are an awful target. Why waste time going after a single person and expose one person's data, when you can go after a larger target and expose a number of targets to mine smaller amounts to fly under the radar, longer?

When was the last time you read a headline of "local man victim of online hacking," and when was the last time you read a headline of "PlayStationNetwork/Equifax/Uber/etc. hacked"? Unless you somehow make yourself a notable target (respond to some sort of spam financial scam via email - again, not something AV will help protect you against - are a celebrity of some sort, or run all kinds of financial transactions all day), you'll go by largely unnoticed. Anyone telling you otherwise is trying to sell you something.

...like an awful program that costs way too much, ruins performance, and gets in the way of too many legitimate programs on your machine.

 

AV has a place: in an office. Why? The office usually uses only the programs that AV is set up to ignore: browsers and the Office Suite. Moreover, corporations are a bigger, meatier target. You really aren't as an individual.

Of course, this is a personal choice, and you are free to make your own choices, but AV really isn't everything it's made out to be, and comes with a number of drawbacks that the end user will have to mitigate on their own to ensure the proper function of the programs they would like to use.

[dheyer 16]

I have run Norton for years on my systems. It would always flag the O.C. even when I excluded it and disabled AV during an update. It has since been removed. I now run MS Security and Malware Bytes  on my sim machine. Glad I made the change.

[downscc 1,327]

2 hours ago, dheyer said:

I have run Norton for years on my systems. It would always flag the O.C. even when I excluded it and disabled AV during an update. It has since been removed. I now run MS Security and Malware Bytes  on my sim machine. Glad I made the change.

Ditto... I used Norton back in the MS-DOS days... but the only thing remaining from it's days as an excellent set of tools is the name which has been bought by a larger company than does not place quality above profits.

[cannonplug 126]

5 hours ago, scandinavian13 said:

Now, they're essentially that aggressive stay-at-home cat that runs out and kills things you don't want it to kill, to give to you as a present that you don't want

Love it!

[Fabo 213]

Microsoft Security Essentials is all you need and all you want in a modern computer.

Assuming you have a legitimate, always up-to-date windows install. But if you don't, I don't feel sorry for you.