After installing the new Norton Internet Security 2011 into one of my computers at home, I opened up my web browser to rearrange my toolbars. The moment I stacked one of the toolbars onto the Google toolbar, I have received a notification from Norton saying that the downloaded file is likely to be safe. But wait. I did not download a file, did I? It turns out that Google toolbar has behind the scene downloaded an executable. If not for Norton, I would not have known. Another time, I was downloading a video driver from a trusted source. After the download is completed, I have received a warning message from Norton saying that the file may not be safe. Very few people have downloaded and used the file, it said. That was strange. I went ahead and started the installation. True enough, the file was corrupted and could not be used. Norton knew it before I did.
You may be able to relate to this. Every now and then, one of my friends would pop me an instant message with some suspicious links, and then go offline. Or those emails I have received from my friends with dubious subjects. These are the signs of accounts being hacked. I would, of course, contact my friends by phone and ask them to do something about it.
I suppose what I am trying to share is that the threats are real and there are many things that happen behind the scene when we are connected to the Internet. Through casual chats with my friends as well as a survey hosted in my website, I learn that all of us have had negative online experience one form or another. And one of the greatest fear is to have our online identify stolen. When asked how then to prevent ourselves from being the victims of the cyber-criminals, some think that having a firewall is good enough. Or when a padlock icon that indicates a secured website is shown, it is safe (it is certainly not so, please remember that). One told me that by avoiding to connect to the Internet unless absolutely needs to, the risk is mitigated (which is not, because the operating system and applications need to be updated regularly). Some feel that they can judge whether or not a website is safe to open (well, even reputed websites can be hijacked). And etc.
My question back to some of you would be: Why go through so much hassle trying to be safe? Why not get the best protection out there to safeguard your online identity and personal digital assets?
The Facts and Data
With so many products in the market today, which one should you have? I would recommend Norton Internet Security. But don’t just take my word for it. Have a look at the Passmark Consumer Antivirus Performance Benchmark (2011) dated 30 Sep 2010 and decide for yourself.
I have always enjoy attending Norton’s blogger events, hearing all the juicy stories and the behind-the-scene actions as Norton battles with the works of the cyber-criminals. David Hall, the regional product and marketing manager from Norton was present in the event. And I have always admired his enthusiasm and he being able to talk for hours and hours in the topic of cyber-protection. This time, he brought along a briefcase full of credit cards acquired in one of the illegal underground circles in Europe. You will be amazed by how easy and cheap to buy a credit cards of stolen identities, he said to us with a huge grin. In Singapore, the top 5 cyber-crimes are: computer viruses or malware, online scams, phishing, social network profile hacking, and online credit card fraud. 71% of Singaporeans do not expect cyber-criminals to be brought to justice. It takes an average of 24 days to resolve a cyber-crime and the costs on overage is S$1,660. It is up to us to change this. Get ourselves protected is one. Report to authority is another.
Norton Internet Security 2011
If you are an active subscriber for the 2010 version, all you need to do is to right click onto the Norton icon on your system track, and select “Check for New Version”. You should be able to update to the new 2011 version free.
So, what are the differences between the 2010 and 2011 version? To be totally honest with you, I have computers that run on different editions of Internet Security, 360, and Gaming Edition so much so that I got a little bit disoriented on the subtle differences. The 2011 version still progressively scans my computer when I am away from keyboard, still receives pulse updates constantly behind the scene, and checks the files against a reputation mechanism built by the Norton community (see below). It still consumes very little computing power and when I run my games, Norton enters into silence mode.
What I do find therapeutic to look at is the new world map that blinks (see below for a cropped screenshot). When I click onto a region in the map, a ticker appears underneath to show live data on the number of threats blocked by Norton. I can also switch the ticker into the detail mode and look at those strangely named viruses and malwares. This world map is so wonderful that next time when I get to meet David Hall, I would suggest to have it expanded into a full screen to see all the actions in glory. They should have Norton TV too, as part of the awareness program.
Additional Useful FREE Tools
OK. If you have read this far, you deserve to have some rewards. During the blogger event, David Hall has shared with us some of the free tools out there for the online community. And here they are for sharing.
- Norton Power Eraser – If you think that you (or one of your friends) have become a victim of a cyber-crime and the security suite of your choice is not able to remove it, you can download the Norton Power Eraser from here. It will help you to solve the problem. This is a reactive measure. I still recommend you to have a good protection all the time.
- Norton Safe Web (for Facebook) – If you are a Facebook user, it is worthwhile to install this application. What it does is to scan all the links posted by your friends on your wall and news feed and protect you from accidentally clicking onto any unsafe sites. You can enable auto-scan too. I do just that. You can search for this application within Facebook.
- Norton DNS – If you wish to protect your home network at the router level, you may consider using the Norton DNS. Although I have two computers at home, I have a lot more home devices that are connected to the Internet. What Norton DNS does is to protect all the home devices. You may download the tool from here. There is a FAQ section to answer your queries.
As always, drop me a comment here if you have any question. I am happy to help.