Mar 5 -- Symantec Corp. announced Monday the availability of Norton 360 version 2.0, its all-in-one security solution. The newest version of Norton 360 includes Symantec's patent-pending Browser Protection technology, which defends against drive-by downloads and other new or unknown threats that exploit vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer.
With advanced anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, intrusion protection, and SONAR behavioral detection technology, Norton 360 users are protected on multiple fronts from online threats, like the recent Silentbanker Trojan, which take advantage of various points of entry to infect computers and steal personal information.
With approximately 58 percent of Norton 360 customers regularly banking online and 68 percent regularly shopping online, Symantec found a growing need for a convenient and safe way to store online personal data.
As a result, now included in Norton 360 is Norton Identity Safe, which stores passwords and other personal information securely. Norton Identity Safe also offers convenient automatic form-filling capabilities and one-click log-in to trusted sites, and it works with Norton 360's identity protection technology to safeguard against phishing sites.
More than two million Norton 360 customers have taken advantage of the product's online backup since its launch in February last year, underscoring how important it is to computer users that their irreplaceable photos, music and documents are protected. Fans of the product's backup feature now have even more options to make protecting their valuable files simple and convenient. Local backup options now include Blu-ray, iPods, HD-DVD discs, or shared drives, in addition to internal drives, CD/DVD drives, USB (universal serial bus) drives, mapped network drives, or external hard drives.
Symantec is a global provider of security, storage and systems management solutions to help businesses and consumers secure and manage their information. Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Symantec has operations in more than 40 countries.
"We designed Norton 360 to deliver reliable, industry-leading protection without being obtrusive or sacrificing PC performance," said Rowan Trollope, senior vice president, Symantec Corp. "Norton 360 meets customers' needs and expectations by providing the best PC security, identity protection, backup and tuneup technologies available without confusing alerts, difficult settings options or interruptions to their computing experience."
"Given today's threat landscape, computer users need to gravitate towards all-in-one solutions like Norton 360 to address their essential security needs," said Jon Oltsik, senior analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group. "To maximize protection, solutions should include additional protection services like backup/restore, browser-based protection, and behavior-based heuristics in an easy-to-use package."
Also new to Norton 360 is Network Monitoring, which checks the status of wireless security, maps connected devices, alerts users when they are connected to an unsecure network, and provides advice to help manage network security settings. Norton 360's Smart Background Scheduler has been enhanced with the ability to prevent tasks from initiating automatically while in battery power mode and also throttles bandwidth for online backups to minimize impact on performance. Norton 360 users have the option to manually scan individual files and folders and to shutdown their computer upon completion of a task.
Norton 360's anti-phishing and Web authentication functionality has been extended to Firefox. Enhancements have also been made to the Norton toolbar, allowing it to be resized or hidden.
The new version of Norton 360 offers tighter integration with Windows Explorer. Users have the option to view the backup status of each document, music file or photo in Windows Explorer. Items that were backed up and those that are pending are easily identifiable with an icon. In addition, a simple right click and select now allows users to add a file to the list for backup.
Over time, files stored in the registry, like the directory that stores settings and options for the operating system, can build up and slow down a PC. Norton 360 also offers a Registry File Cleanup, which optimizes PC performance by removing unneeded files. Norton 360 also provides a Diagnostic Report for easy system troubleshooting and problem solving. The product's Internet Browser Cleanup capability is also compatible with Firefox.
Norton 360 features One-Click Support, giving customers the ability to get help fast with one click access right from the product's interface. Users can solve common problems quickly with the Auto-fix feature and can contact Symantec's support technicians via telephone, e-mail or 24x7 live chat. Symantec's support technicians can also assist with more complex problems through PC remote access.
Norton 360 customers can receive Parental Control and Anti-Spam through an optional add-on pack available through download at no additional charge. Norton Parental Control allows individual user settings tied into existing Windows User Accounts and the ability to choose pre-defined profiles or create custom profiles that can be used once or reused. The new Log Viewer feature records attempts to access restricted sites based on user profile. The AntiSpam feature now also includes improved spam filter setup, retrieving and merging pre-existing white and black lists from Outlook e-mail addresses and pre-existing Norton AntiSpam lists.
Norton 360 version 2.0 is available for purchase through the Symantec online store. It will be available for purchase at various retail locations and online retailers from March this year.
The suggested retail price of Norton 360 version 2.0 is US$ 79.99, which includes one-year service subscription to use the product and receive Symantec's protection updates, and can be installed on up to three PCs. The product includes 2 GB (gigabytes) of online storage, and additional online storage can be purchased. Current Norton 360 customers in the United States with an active subscription can receive an update with the new features at no additional charge by visiting the Norton Update Center.
Norton 360 version 2.0 is also available in the following packages, including the Norton 360 version 2.0 Premier Edition at MSRP (manufacturer's suggested retail price) US$ 99.99, which includes 10 GB online storage, Norton 360 version 2.0 Small Business Edition 5 User Pack at MSRP US$ 129.99, which includes 10 GB online storage, and Norton 360 version 2.0 Small Business Edition 10 User Pack at MSRP US$ 249.99, which includes 25 GB online storage.
