Norton quarantines and/or removes fme installer - warning is: "WS.Reputation.1" detection

Symptom

Norton (Symantec) Antivirus "quarantines" or completely removes our fme_beta.msi installer file categorizing it as malware. The type of problem Norton reports is: "WS.Reputation.1". Please see attached screenshot for reference.

Cause

"WS.Reputation.1" detection is not Norton detecting an actual virus, but instead is technology Norton has to detect files that haven't been seen by many users and are therefore deemed risky because they are new. After a file has been downloaded lots of times by it's users, then the reputation of the file goes up and Norton will stop detecting the file as risky. Safe Software uploads a new installer almost every day, so our installers will always have a low reputation score.

Resolution

We have contacted Norton regarding this issue (August 27, 2012), however, for now, there are a couple of options for getting around the issue:

1) Disable Norton prior to downloading FME.
2) "Allow" the file in Norton
3) Retrieve the file after it has been quarantined


The following links provide more information:
http://www.mindworkshop.info/windows/the-norton-symantec-ws-reputation-1-false-positive/
http://www.ghacks.net/2012/06/25/how-to-bypass-symantecs-ws-reputation-1-system/