Software maker Symantec Corp. has issued a warning to customers who use its pcAnywhere software: Disable it to prevent hackers from possibly getting into your computer.

The warning was issued in a Symantec technical white paper released after news of the Anonymous hacker group claims to have stolen source code for several Symantec software packages.

Symantec says in its white paper:

At this time, Symantec recommends disabling the product until Symantec releases a final set of software updates that resolve currently known vulnerability risks.

Anonymous claims to have also have stolen the source code for Symantec's computer security programs, including Norton Antivirus Corporate Edition and Norton Internet Security, in 2006. However, in a separate post on its website, Symantec says:

Our analysis shows that due to the age of the exposed source Symantec anti-virus or endpoint security customers - including those running Norton products - should not be in any increased danger of cyber attacks resulting from this incident.

Until Symantec can release software updates to fix the possible flaws in pcAnywhere, the company recommends disabling the remote access software and continue to follow "general security best practices" to minimize any online risks.

Not sure what are the best security practices? Check out Consumer Reports Guide to online security.

Symantec tells customers to disable PCAnywhere [CNet]
Symantec tells customers to disable pcAnywhere software [Reuters]
Claims by Anonymous about Symantec Source Code [Symantec]
Symantec pcAnywhere Security Recommendations (PDF) [Symantec]