blanket security
People use their personal computers today for much more than work and keeping documents. PCs are relied upon to access the internet, shop, bank, correspond with friends and family, watch and edit videos, view and store photos, listen to music and play video games.
With those activities in mind, Symantec - based in California's Silicon Valley and the world's leading anti-virus software supplier - created Norton 360. It's an automated, easy-to-use, all-in-one security solution designed to take the fuss out of staying safe online and protecting against loss of data.
Consumers are usually not information-technology security experts and small offices seldom have dedicated staff to manage security. They can be overwhelmed by the range of security products available on the market. Norton 360 eliminates the need for home PC users and small offices to buy and manage multiple PC security software products since it delivers a combination of Symantec's proven technologies.
How suite it is What is outstanding about Norton 360 is the astute selection of well-integrated features that a general user would want to adopt. The security suite includes anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, intrusion protection, anti-phishing, behaviour-based malware detection, vulnerability assessment, backup and restore, and tune-up programs.
Norton 360 identifies new threats in real time based on application behaviour. It is able to remove kernel mode rootkits, which can pose a threat by granting attackers, or hackers, unauthorised access to confidential data on a computer. It automatically detects new or changed files and incrementally backs up those changes through a customised schedule or during idle time.
Users can choose where to back up their content from a range of storage destinations, including internal drives, CD/DVD drives, USB drives, external hard drives or secured online backup. Two gigabytes of online storage are included with the product.
Norton 360 also identifies and removes unnecessary clutter such as temporary Windows, internet and internet history files. The PC Tune-up feature analyses and de-fragments hard disks for faster and more efficient operation.
Missing in action Norton 360 lacks tools to help secure wireless local-area networks, which are installed in many households and offices. The product also favours Microsoft's Internet Explorer and leaves out popular open-source browsers such as Firefox. Despite this, it will appeal to plenty of regular users for combining traditional computer security features with data backup and performance tuning.
Norton 360 from Symantec costs HK$629 for a three-user licence, which includes a one-year subscription to online protection updates.
