Has anyone ever decided to seek compensation from Norton/Symantec for falsely declaring a website to contain malware threats when it is fact, perfectly clean. I am suffering this at the moment. They refuse to respond to requests to deal with this misinformation. It is, surely, libellous. Any thoughts on an organisation that feels free to defame hapless web site owners and refuse to address their mistake?
My site was somehow hacked into about 4 weeks ago, curiously just after I had switched hosts from Fasthosts to Clook. I received immediate notification from Google. I found the problem - a url had been added into the js for my drop down menu. I removed it, then got Google to review the site, and by the evening it was pronounced clean. Then I was contacted by a customer who uses Norton Safe Web who told me that Norton were still showing the site to be a risk.
I went to the Norton site. I registered with them. I then went through their verification process, which offers 3 options; (i) add a specific meta tag, the code for which is provided by their site, or (ii) add a similar piece of code into the keyword meta tag, or (iii) upload an html file into the root folder of the site. I have tried all three repeatedly, but all I get back is a pop up window saying that the site could not be verified. It then invites you to fill out a box with the problem you are encountering and someone will reply and assist you in the verification process. I have done this several times. A fortnight has now elapsed and I have had no response. Yesterday Symantec (UK) would have received a registered letter from me requesting that they either withdraw their libellous claim, or demonstrate that the site actually is infected with malware or “drive by downloads” as it claims. If the latter, then I will be able to put it right, but I, and my hosts, do not think there is anything.
You would think that in making such a damning and potentially damaging claim, Norton would contact the website owner by email and advise them of the position, and review the site regularly to ensure that their information is correct. Not a bit of it. The thumbnail of my homepage on their site is still dated sometime in August.
To claim for loss of trade would seem entirely reasonable to me.
I’ve never heard of anyone successfully claiming against a security block-aid via Google or one of the major antivirus vendors.
How exactly did you make them aware of the issue? They normally have a specific form for reporting false-positives. 