Are you protected?
*raising my hand* My name is Single Ma and I’m an internet junkie. LOL!
My laptop and I are best friends. She’s the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning and the last thing I see when I go to bed at night. I aint lying!
I use my laptop to look up the weather before deciding what to wear.
I use my laptop to track my ‘things to do’ on Google calendar.
I use my laptop to write blog posts and read your fabulous blogs.
I use my laptop for ALL of my banking needs.
I have 8 credit cards and I peak at all of their balances everyday using the Yodlee aggregator.
I login to my personal checking account at least 2x per day and my business checking once per day, peak at my saving(s) and investment balances at least once per week, confirm my 401k and Roth contributions bi-weekly, gather all financials for a net worth update at least once per month, pay bills, shop, and make manual transfers as the need arise.
I do all of these things (and more) using my laptop, which by the way, is connected to the internet 24 hours per day. My entire life would be a big free for all if I didn’t take the proper precautions to protect my computer from malicious online activity. So when I was asked to accept a courtesy copy and review the Norton 360 PC security software from symantec, I jumped at the opportunity.
Norton 360 All-In-One Security v2.0 provides a year of automated protection for up to 3 PCs and includes the following features:
- PC Security - such as antivirus, antispyware, antiphising and scans your pc for the latest threats
- PC Tuneup - automatically tune up your pc in the background
- Automatic Backup and Restore - protects your files from loss or damage
- Identity Protection - secured for online shopping and banking with features like ‘identity safe’ to manage your online identity and transaction data and ‘eavesdrop protection’ to block suspicious programs that present a threat to your identity
- Online Protection - such as firewall protection, network protection, and advanced browser protection
It took me about 15 minutes to complete the installation and setup. Afterwards, I was able to create a Norton account. So if I ever lose my product key or want to download the latest software updates, I can login with my email/password and it will recognize my usage history.
After everything was setup, this is (sorta) what the main screen looks like…
It’s a status of all the primary features: PC Security, Identity Protection, Backup, and PC Tuneup. It’s a pretty simple report. Green means everything is protected and good to go. Yellow is a warning for your attention. The software will provide an explanation with a link if you want to take action. As you can see, I need to configure my backup files. And finally, red means there’s a threat with specific instructions for immediate action. Can’t get any easier than that.
There are also links across the top for tasks, settings, my account, product feedback, and help/support. Self explanatory. But the small ‘my network’ link in the bottom left hand corner helps you configure your wireless network. It will tell you if your network is secure, and if not, how many other computers are connected to it AND the IP address for each computer. Don’t ask me how I know. Learn something new everyday. LOL!
It also allows you to monitor the status of your network remotely. And the best thing about the network feature is that you can protect your computer from threats even when you’re on an unsecured public wireless network - you know, like Starbucks, a hotel lobby, or a bootleg connection from your neighbor. LOL! All you have to do is select the ‘trust control’ function to restrict the questionable computers OR restrict the entire network. One click and you’re done.
Either I’m a serious novice or I’m easily fascinated by the smallest things. Somehow, I think it might be both. LOL Good thing I have another 300+ days to play around with it.
Now I’m curious. What are YOU using for PC protection?
If you’re interested in Norton 360, leave a comment (one time please) and I’ll select ONE person (US only) to receive the extra copy pictured above.
ETA: Sorry, I forgot to tell you all. Norton 360 only works on PCs. I’m not sure when the MAC version will be available.
Also, I’ll leave the comments open through midnight on Sunday and use the random number generator to select a winner on Monday.
