Norton 360 wiki

From Software Informer

Norton 360, developed by Symantec, is a subscription service providing malware prevention and removal. Other features include a software firewall, phishing protection, file backup, and PC maintenance tools. Norton 360 is marketed as an "all-in-one" package for "the mainstream PC user". It competes with Windows Live OneCare from Microsoft and McAfee Total Protection. It is distributed as a download, a box copy, or preinstalled on computers as OEM software. Additional functions, such as parental controls, are available as extensions developed also by Symantec.^[1] Norton 360 is compatible with XP and Vista. Experimental support for Windows 7 was added in version 3.0.^[2]

[edit] Version history

On February 7, 2006 Symantec announced Project Genesis. The project was to progress Symantec towards Security 2.0, a vision of utilizing the company's infrastructure and partnerships with other companies to create an ecosystem of services offering protection against web threats, not limited to viruses. John W. Thompson, CEO of Symantec, highlighted the drop of high profile malware attacks, lessening the demand for basic antivirus services. Over a 100 million attacks were recorded from 2002 to 2004, compared to six in 2005. He emphasized protection against emerging threats such as identity theft, using technologies acquired from WholeSecurity. Another driving force behind Genesis was Microsoft's recent entry in the consumer antivirus market, with OneCare. It integrated file backup, PC maintenance, and traditional security tools. File backup was planned to be part of Genesis as a result, using technologies acquired from Veritas. However, Thompson stated file backup may be a separate offering; financial analysts were unconvinced consumers would be interested in backup.^[3] PC maintenance and cleanup tools were to be ported from Norton Utilities. Genesis was renamed Norton 360 on May 31, 2006. The PC maintenance, file backup, and transaction security features were confirmed. Beta versions were to be made available to the public in summer 2006, and it was slated for release towards the end of Symantec's fiscal year, in multiple countries and languages. Support for Windows Vista would be added following its release to the public.^[4][5] The same day, McAfee announced a new project, codenamed Falcon, a "all-in-one" security suite similar to the just announced Norton 360 and Microsoft OneCare.^[6] The public beta was delayed, missing its the planned summer 2006 shipment. Symantec announced the delay shortly after Microsoft began shipping OneCare, and a day after McAfee announced Falcon would be shipped summer 2006. The general availability of Norton 360 was delayed as well, from September 2006 to March 2007. The initial beta was released in November, compatible with Windows XP only. Another beta was released December 20, 2006, compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows Vista build 6000.^[7] As part of the beta testing, users were provided free technical support.^[8] In February 2007, Symantec began distributing copies of Norton 360 to retailers. The product would be available to consumers by the middle of March. To avoid competition among Symantec's own products, Norton 360 would be released in the first quarter of each year, while Norton AntiVirus and Norton Internet Security would be released the last quarter of each year. Over 100,000 people had tested the software since it was released as a beta.^[9] Existing subscribers of Norton 360, with an active subscription can download the latest version without having to pay an upgrade fee.^[10][11]

[edit] Version 1.0

Version 1.0 was released on February 26, 2007. Similar to Norton Internet Security 2007, it offers virus protection, a firewall, and phishing protection for Internet Explorer. However, Norton 360 does not share the same codebase as Norton Internet Security. Instead, code for features found in Norton Internet Security were revised for Norton 360. Features unique to Norton 360 include SONAR which attempts to detect zero-day viruses by monitoring applications for malicious behavior. Norton 360 also integrates backup and restore capabilities. Two gigabytes of online storage is provided with a purchased subscription, which can only be used by Norton to backup files. Users can purchase up to 25 GB of online storage. Alternatively, Norton can backup files to a hard drive, CD, or DVD. PC maintenance tools include tools to remove browsing history and temporary files. It can also defragment disks on a schedule.^[12] E-mail spam filtering, parental controls, and advertisement blocking features were not bundled with this release. Instead, the features are available separately in 2007 add-on package.^[13] An add-on package for version 1.0 provides e-mail spam filtering, parental controls, Web banner and pop-up ad blocking, and information filtering capabilities. Information filtering allows a user to enter confidential information on a blacklist. Norton blocks information on the blacklist from being transmitted outside the computer. Reviews were mostly positive, citing Norton 360's low resource usage compared to Norton Internet Security 2007 and effective phishing protection. PC Magazine found the phishing protection feature to be more effective at blocking access to fradulent sites than Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2.^[14][15] On the downside, reviewers noted the lack of settings to change, limiting its appeal to advanced users. CNET noted the lack of phishing protection for Firefox and browsers. CNET also noted the lack of wireless network tools, such as notifying users when someone uninvited joins the network or help encrypting wireless signals. PC Magazine noted the weak spam filtering feature, allowing half of the spam e-mail in the inbox. When installed in Windows XP, a 300 megahertz processor, 256 megabytes of RAM, and 300 MB of hard disk space is required. Under Vista, a 800 MHz processor, 512 MB of RAM, and 300 MB of hard disk space is required.

[edit] Version 2.0

Version 2.0 was released March 3, 2008. Similar to version 1.0, it include the same features found in Norton Internet Security 2008. New PC maintenance tools include a registry cleaner, which removes invalid entries. The backup feature can now inscribe data to Blu-ray and HD DVD discs. Different installations of Norton can now backup to a central location. When backing up files online, the user can control the amount of bandwidth Norton uses.^[16][17] Phishing protection now supports the Mozilla Firefox browser. The Norton Identity Safe stores information pertaining to webforms, filling them as needed. Similar to OneCare, a network map now allows users to identify problems with other Norton installations on networked computers and view basic information about each computer. Reception was generally positive, similar to last year's offering. PC Magazine found the spam filter to be weak, misidentifying over 25 percent of valid e-mail as spam.^[18] CNET encountered problems when installing version 2.0 on legacy machines.^[19] System requirements remain the same as version 1.0.

[edit] Version 3.0

Version 3.0 was released for beta testing on December 25, 2008. Norton 360 version 3.0 now shares the same base as Norton Internet Security 2009. As a result, Norton 360 shares the performance improvements Symantec made to Norton Internet Security 2009.^[20] On March 4, 2009, version 3.0 was released to the public.^[21] Version 3.0 includes Norton Safe Web, which integrates with Firefox and Internet Explorer as a toolbar. Safe Web recognizes fradulent and malware hosting sites, and attempts to prevent users from accessing such sites. Safe Web color codes search results returned in popular search engines based on safety and prompts users when visiting dangerous sites. The toolbar also includes a search box, which routes search queries through the Ask.com search engine. The toolbar does not share code with the Ask.com toolbar, which was classified as spyware by McAfee, Trend Micro, and other antivirus vendors.^[22] Due to criticism of the search functionality, Symantec will disable the Ask.com search functionality in future shipments of Norton 360.^{[23] [24] [25]} The capability to backup files to a flash drive was introduced in this release. File stored on a flash drive can be copied to another computer without Norton 360 installed. Norton also creates a virtual drive in Windows Explorer, allowing users to browser their backup files, stored locally or online. Users can restore individual files using the Drag-and-drop technique. Version 3.0 does not retain previous versions of files and skips files which are open by another program. A startup application manager was included in this release, allowing users to control which programs start at login. Norton can also measure the impact each item has on the time it takes to login.^[26] PC Magazine highlighted version 3.0's weak spam filter, letting half of spam e-mail in the inbox misidentifying valid e-mail. Neil Rubenking, an editor at PC Magazine, noted a support session with a Symantec technician who used the shareware application Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware to remove malware from his computer, referring to it as an "online Norton program". After contacting Symantec again, a technician stated the issue would be addressed; as there are Norton-branded tools and a set of protocols to be followed.^[27]

[edit] References