Symantec is back with its yearly update of Norton 360, which is Symantec’s answer for an all-round protection. It not only promises to protect from virus and infectious malware, the all-in-one security solution will help users backup their data as well optimize their computers to keep it running as smooth as possible.
The latest iteration is a step up from Norton 360 v4 which you can easily notice if you’ve been using the previous N360 suite. Installing Norton 360 is a breeze that took just under a minute right to transform our exposed PC into a fully protected one. To be exact, Symantec says the installation time is around 49 seconds.
Symantec has refreshed the user interface of the Norton 360, which now looks and feels very similar to Norton Internet Security 2011. The upper part is segregated into Norton 360’s core features allowing users to scan for viruses, store login and credit card information, backup data and optimize PC. The lower part now incorporates an Activity Map that on clicking shows the highest number of threats in different regions.
Next up is the Online Family tab that quickly shows the Online Family stats like sites visited, alerts, search terms etc. and finally it’s the Safe Web that tells a user if a particular website or search query is safe or not. One thing I disliked about Safe Web tab is that all the queries are redirected through a browser. Would’ve preferred if Norton 360 menu quickly said “safe or not” without needing to opening up the browser.
Fast installation was just a part of Norton 360’s performance. The security suite’s overall performance also beats the industry standard, which is 37 percent better than the average of PassMark scores and takes 45 percent less time to scan for viruses as compared to the competition.
Protecting your computer is what any security solution should be good at and I’m happy to report that Norton 360 fares well on that front. Norton 360 protects the PC with the antivirus suite but also comes with a firewall and works in conjunction with some of Norton’s technologies like SONAR 3 – a behavioral engine that analyzes applications for suspicious behavior – and Norton Insight – a reputation-based tech that checks the integrity of the downloaded file.
In fact, in an independent test conducted by Dennis Technology Labs, Norton 360 v5 received a 100 percent protection score from online threat detection and a 100 percent compliance rating from the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO).
Extending N360 v5’s functionality are PC Tuneup and Backup. PC Tuneup allows to quickly clean up files and even optimize the disk for faster PC operation. Backup on the other hand, remains unchanged from the previous version. Backing up data is really easy as it relies on basic questions like what do you want to backup?; where do you want to backup?; and when do you want to backup? Answer or rather adjust settings for all three questions and you’re done. It will automatically or manually backup files to the 2GB online storage given by Norton or on user’s HDD. However, backing up files on the online storage has its merits. Symantec has an app called Norton Connect (available on Android Market and iOS App Store) that allows users to retrieve online backed up files on their smartphones.
Wrapping this up, I would say Norton 360 is for those who not only want their PCs to be protected from viruses and malware but also take care of important files by backing up on a secure server, which is generally ignored by the masses.
Norton 360 with 2GB storage retails for Rs.1,435 for a single PC license or Rs.3,085 for 3-PC. For users seeking extra storage, Norton is also offering the suite with 25GB storage that sells for Rs.3,840.
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