Software Review: Norton 360

A few months ago my husband and I refinanced our mortgage. We chose to go through a highly recommended local bank as opposed to our credit union which meant we would need to transfer our accounts to the new financial institution.

During this process we discovered that a check neither of us had written had been cleared through our account at the credit union. We worried about identity theft, whether our check book had been stolen or if our debit card number had been pilfered online. Because I like convenience, I almost always pay our bills online and the thought of someone hacking into our account and stealing our money was terrifying.

On our PC, we had the original Norton software but the subscription had expired so anyone could have discovered our banking information and done serious damage to our financial well-being. Luckily it was a bank error, the check in question was mistakenly attached to our checking account, showing a debit that in fact wasn't there. While I was relieved that our accounts were in tact, I realized it was time to install better protection on our computers, both PC and laptops.

After dealing with this banking situation, I was very excited when the folks at Symantec sent me the latest security software, Norton 360. Because identity theft comes in many forms, and it's happening more often these days, I was very excited to discover that Norton 360 uses "Identity Safe" technology that conveniently stores my passwords and log-in information in a "vault". Not only is this information protected, but I don't have to worry about forgetting all my passwords for the many social networking sites I visit.

Norton 360 is full protection which includes antivirus, antispyware, firewall, intrusion protection and SONAR behavioral technology (security software that will look at the behavior of programs running on the computer in order to decide whether they are malicious), and my computers (I can protect up to 3 with my software) are protected on multiple fronts from online threats, including the recent Silentbanker Trojan virus that took advantage of various points of entry to steal personal information.

When I bought my PC four years ago, I had a Trojan virus get into my computer and it was three days before my friend Jim (computer God) was able to get rid of it. The virus had attached itself to several locations on my hard drive, and it was horrifying.

While researching Norton 360, I learned that 58 percent of Norton 360 customers bank online and 68 percent regularly shop online. I definitely fit into these statistics. I do more online banking and online shopping today, especially with the cost of gas being so high.

Installing the software was quick and painless. I thought it would take awhile so I went outside to get the mail. When I returned the computer, less than 10 minutes later, the software was installed and asking me to create my account.

After installation a toolbar appeared at the top of my internet browser, indicating that "Phishing Protection" is on, Identity Safe was active and my log-in and password info is safe. The best part is there are no unnecessary pop-ups. It's smart enough to know when a threat is serious, so I'm not constantly clicking "block", "permit" or "manually configure" like it did with the older software version. Norton 360 is considerate of my time, too. It only runs updates when my computer is idle and automatically shuts itself down after a scan. How easy is that?

If you're ready for full security and full protection of your important information, Norton 360 is the way to go. Click here for a tour of the software or visit the "about" page for more information.