Norton 360 v6 Review

Norton 360 v6 Review: Symantec recently released its latest Version 6 for its all in one security product “Norton 360” which can be used as an AntiVirus, AntiSpyWare, Firewall, Parental Control, Password Manager, PC Tune-up, AntiSpam & Online Backup.

Key Features of Norton 360 v6

• PC tuneup
• Automatic backup
• 2 GB of secured online storage
• Parental Controls Management
• Online identity protection
• Phishing protection
• Smart firewall
• Network mapping and monitoring
• Pulse updates
• Antivirus
• Antispyware
• Antispam
• Worm protection
• Rootkit protection

 

Norton 360 : Quick Installation

Norton has continued its super fast installation which started from year 2009. The Installation is through Norton’s own custom  Installer which installs the product within a minute. The installation process ran smooth and Norton 360 installed in about 62 seconds in my case. The Live Update process downloaded about 126mb of data.

You are asked to register the product. This can de done by entering your License Key. All your serials are linked to a Norton Account. You can view No. of PC which have activated a license and the validity left.

Clean Interface

The interface of Norton 360 v6 is similar to previous version except some minor design changes. Norton is somewhat inspiring from the Windows 8 tiles interface as most of the GUI has edges and rectangles and no round curves.

The Front Screen displays 4 columns namely : PC Security, Identity, Backup, PC Tuneup.  The PC Security Tab could be used for doing Scans, Live Update, Managing Firewall and Insight Protection (check the reputation of file over the cloud).

The Settings option is located over the top and it display various settings which are categorized according to usage. Norton 360 interface is designed to keep the layout as simple as possible since its mainly a “Install and Forget” suite and primarily aimed at normal people who are not very well aware of security settings.

Each category setting opens various options which could be customized. Most users would never even check these settings since Norton takes decision automatically.

 

Firewall

Norton 360 v6 has a strong firewall and it automatically takes decision for any suspicious activity. It creates a rule for any program without any pop up.  You can make your own rules and change existing one by clicking on Firewall settings.

It stealths all the ports so that they are not visible outside the network. If any program try to send any packets which are unauthorized, then the Firewall blocks them successfully. People who like to take decision on their own for any suspicious activity encountered or program permissions would be disappointed as there is no option which makes the firewall ask the user to take any decision for Allowing or Blocking any program.

The results from Matousec Firewall Testing can be found at :

 

Performance & Impact On System

Norton 360 is fast and added about 6-8 seconds to the boot time. Among Total Security Products, Norton 360 has been ranked No. 1 according to Passmark Testing.

 

Anti-Virus & Security Lab Testing Reports

Norton scored well in latest Tests done by AV-Comparatives and AV-Test. Norton stood 2nd in Protection and 1st in Performance in latest Nov/Dec test by Av-Test.

Norton has scored brilliantly in AV-Comparatives Whole Products Dynamic Test with a overall score of 99.2 for the year 2011. However, Norton did not participate in some of the tests and scored average in on-demand test.

 

Norton has opted out in 2012 from AV-Comparatives.org due to some issues which is a setback.

Identity Protection

Norton Identity Protection is a great feature to manage your Passwords, forms, credit card details. Identity Safe keeps a database of such sensitive information and encrypts them so that they cannot be viewed unless you know the master password to access them.

Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox are currently supported browsers. Whenever you fill any username-password in any website, Identity Safe can store these details and you can use it later whenever you need to log in that website. Same applies for forms and other details.

New feature in Identity Protection is Online availability of your login data. You can access your details on any PC which have Norton 360 or Norton Internet security installed. You have to first enter your Norton Account in order to be able to access your data.

 

Back-Up

The Backup feature is only available in Norton 360 and not in Internet Security or Antivirus products. You have the option to store backup on your hard drive or online. Norton 360 v6 offer 2 GB of free online data storage and charges beyond that limit. You can schedule your backups and specify the location of your backups. You can easily restore backup too. You can even email links to any backup set.

 

Tune Up Features: Improve System Performance

Tune up options are also only available in Norton 360. Norton runs tune up automatically when the computer is idle. The various tune up features available are : Startup Manager, Register Manager and File Cleaner, Disk Defragment.

The StartUp Manager is used to configure the programs which are started when the computer boots up. It even displays resource usage so as to help you turn off high resource consuming programs which are unnecessary. File Cleanup removes Internet Explorer and Windows Temporary files.

Review Conclusion

Norton 360 v6 is an excellent choice for people who want to install and forget the security product. It has great protection and offers variety of features. It also tune up your PC so that it is optimized in terms of performance. Norton customer support is also good and you can email, chat or call them for Free technical support.

On the downside, Norton 360 is expensive. It has many features which might not be required my many users. Norton Internet Security would be a better choice if you don’t require tune-up and backup features.