Symantec announced on Monday a new Norton 360, a new sofware that features PC security, transaction security, backup and PC tuneup.
Norton 360 combines Symantec?s industry-leading technologies for antivirus, antispyware, firewall, intrusion protection, antiphishing, backup and tuneup, eliminating the need to purchase and manage multiple products. Norton 360 also diagnoses and fixes common computer problems, optimizing PC performance and speed.
Designed to work as automatically as possible, Norton 360 provides comprehensive protection while performing its duties in the background without interrupting users? computing experience.
The product delivers complete protection across five categories of functionality:
- PC Security ? Norton 360 features Symantec?s protection against a wide range of threats and risks, including viruses, spyware, hackers and more. The Symantec Online Network for Advanced Response (SONAR) is also included in Norton 360, providing behavior-based malware detection that identifies new threats in real-time based on application behavior.
Norton 360 includes the ability to remove kernel mode rootkits through heuristics technology. Rootkits can pose a threat by granting attackers unauthorized access to confidential data on users? computers. Norton 360 also boasts a smart firewall, intrusion prevention, vulnerability assessments and network detection, which automatically optimizes firewall protection using different security settings when connecting to various types of networks.
- Transaction Security ? Antiphishing protection gives consumers the confidence they need to shop, bank and conduct other transactions on the Internet by protecting their online identity. Utilizing black list and heuristic techniques to recognize both known and unknown phishing sites, dangerous sites are clearly marked through seamless integration of the Norton Toolbar into Internet Explorer 6 and higher Web browsers. Norton 360 also features Web Site Authentication, which verifies the authenticity of trusted brands that are commonly phished.
- Backup and Restore ? Norton 360 introduces new local and online backup and restore capabilities. Online backup is secured via users? Norton Accounts as well as through encryption during file transfer and on the storage servers. The product includes 2 GB of online storage, and additional online storage can be purchased at $29.99 for 5 GB, $49.99 for 10 GB and $69.99 for 25 GB. Norton 360 automatically detects new or changed files and incrementally backs up those changes through custom backup scheduling 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, mapped network drives, external hard drives or secured online backup.
- PC Tuneup ? Norton 360 identifies and removes unnecessary clutter such as Windows Temp files, Internet Temp files and Internet History files. The PC Tuneup feature also analyzes and defragments hard disks for faster operation. Norton 360?s Smart Background Scheduler monitors the system for user input, CPU usage and disk activity, throttling the product?s tasks and minimizing impact on the computing experience. When idle time parameters are met, the Background Scheduler automatically initiates remaining scans, backups and tuneups.
- Embedded Support - Norton 360 also includes embedded support, which automatically diagnoses and resolves common issues or guides users to easy issue resolution from within the context of the product. Users have easy access to Norton 360 technical support via phone, as well as free support via live chat and e-mail.
Norton 360 customers can also receive AntiSpam and Parental Controls through an optional add-on pack at no additional charge.
Norton 360 is now available for purchase through the Symantec online store at www.symantecstore.com. It will be available for purchase at various retail locations and online retailers in March 2007. The optional add-on pack will be available to Norton 360 customers in mid-March 2007.
The suggested retail price of Norton 360 is US$79.99 (includes one-year service subscription to use the product and receive Symantec?s protection updates). Norton 360 can be installed on up to three PCs.