Norton 360 Standard
The Norton 360 security suite is hailed as one of the best antivirus programs in 2024. It has excellent malware detection rates, offers good real-time protection, and is possibly the most feature-rich antivirus application. But what security features does Norton’s security suite offer?
Norton’s protection is based on machine learning, which leads to excellent malware detection rates. During our testing, the virus scan and real-time protection detected all malware threats we tried to download. Besides that, Norton comes with great additional features, like a VPN, password manager, and identity theft protection tools.
However, while Norton 360 is an excellent antivirus, it does have some drawbacks. It was confusing to find that some of Norton’s features open outside of the app itself, which can be slightly confusing for beginners.
In this Norton antivirus review, we’ll not only thoroughly test this antivirus protection capabilities but also analyze how it stands out in the market among other well-known antiviruses. Better yet, you can safely test Norton antivirus too with the risk-free 60-day money-back guarantee.
Not only is Norton antivirus safe, but it also has a long history of perfect (or near-perfect) virus detection results. Even during the most recent independent AV-test testing period, it managed to score a maximum of 6 points in protection, performance, and usability.
In other words, Norton virus protection features caught 100% of zero-day malware, detected no false positives, and had less impact on computer speed than many other antivirus programs. This makes their malware protection untouchable.
Features
Of course, the main thing people want to know about antivirus software is the security features it offers. And luckily Norton 360 comes with one of the most impressive security suites on the market. It boasts real-time threat protection, an advanced firewall, and access to Norton’s VPN.
But what else does Norton’s security suite have to offer? Read on for a full overview of Norton 360 security features.
Malware and virus scans - A variety of system scans available to protect against malware infections
Real-time threat protection. Detects and protects against common online threats like viruses, malware, spyware, and ransomware.
Smart firewall - Two-way silent firewall that works by monitoring the network traffic that’s both sent and received on your computer.
PC cloud backup - Convenient as secure remote cloud storage that will save space on your personal device.
Parental controls - Special feature to create certain rules for the minors in your care, that block certain websites, or tracks the children's behavior online.
Password manager - A handy tool to keep your passwords secure and in one place.
Secure VPN - Hides your IP address and encrypts your online activities for an additional layer of privacy.
System optimization - Cleans your device from duplicated, old, and broken files, and optimizes the device performance.
Norton 360 has several scan types available:
Smart scan – scans for malware where it is usually found – in temporary files, system files, as well as running processes.
Quick scan – quickly scans your device, checks whether there are any privacy issues with the wifi network, and tunes up the system.
Full system scan – scans the device system from head to toes.
Custom scan – scans specific files, folders, and disk locations.
Norton Insight – marks any suspicious files which might need a custom scan.
Norton 360 uses some clever artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to monitor all manner of online threats, protecting your devices against viruses, malware, spyware, and ransomware.
Norton then uses the two-way silent firewall to offer intrusion protection. It works by monitoring internet traffic and protecting against unwanted communication. This will help keep your machine safe from intrusion attacks. Also, if you decide to disable the firewall, you’re going to get a warning that your device will not be secured anymore.
Aside from that, Norton Smart Firewall offers a vulnerability assessment feature. This works by sussing out any way in which a cybercriminal could potentially attack your machine and guarding against them. This is a very reassuring feature, as vulnerabilities appear anywhere from your operating system software and applications to weak passwords.
Norton’s vulnerability assessment will constantly monitor these vulnerabilities and warn you if one is discovered anywhere on your computer. It’ll then make a recommendation to help you resolve the problem. It may, for example, suggest downloading and installing the latest updated version of your operating software. Or it might warn you if a link leads to a potentially threatening site. So it’s great for your peace of mind, it's Norton Internet Security standard.
Norton’s cloud backup is incredibly convenient. It makes it really easy to access your files on your computer, phone, or any other device you use to access the internet. So you won’t ever lose your data if your machine packs up or gets lost or stolen.
But of course, as with all Norton products, the main reason to use it is to keep your machine safe. And in the case of its PC cloud backup, this will keep your sensitive files and data safe from ransomware.
Hackers can use ransomware to encrypt your files, forcing you to pay for the encryption key in order to restore your data. And so, using cloud backup is a very helpful way to defend against this threat. Because your files are safely backed up on Norton’s servers, even if anyone does manage to access them, you’ll still have copies safely stored.
Like the rest of Norton’s features, its cloud backup is really easy to set up and use. When setting it up, Norton allows you to choose which files you want to back up and how often you want this to happen. You can schedule backups on a weekly or monthly basis. Or you can use the automatic backup option, which backs up your files whenever you’re not using your computer. This minimizes the chance of you losing any data without slowing down your machine when you’re trying to use it.
Norton Family allows you to select the devices your children use and set up different rules for each child. In addition, it offers a few restriction levels for different age groups. You will also get a warning when an inappropriate website is accessed.
To make sure that Norton Family truly works, I enabled it and tried to access adult-oriented content. Luckily, the app didn’t allow me to open these websites – even though it was set to only give me a warning, not to block pages entirely. It also blocked adult images on Google image results, which means they could not be loaded at all.
However, I found out that the Parental Control feature is not 100% compatible with Norton’s VPN, as the VPN connection interfered with Parental Control’s ability to block ads that contained mature content.
Norton Password Manager is one of the better non-dedicated password managers I’ve tested. When testing it out, I found Norton Password Manager performed all the tasks I needed from it. That includes password replay, filling in web forms, password capture and syncing across Windows, Android, and iOS devices. It assesses the strength of all your passwords and warns you whenever your password isn’t strong enough.
It’s easy to set up and you can add it on other devices by scanning a QR code. You can add existing accounts really easily and manage them all in one place. And whenever you create a new account, it’ll automatically add your login details to the password manager.
Our only gripe with it is that it doesn’t offer two-factor authentication, which would make it even more secure.
When you sign up for a Norton 360 package, you’ll get access to Norton’s Secure VPN as part of your plan. For those of you wondering, a VPN (or virtual private network) hides your IP address to stop anyone from being able to trace your location, identity, or find out what you're doing online.
Norton 360 Standard
Buy on amazon.comNorton 360 Deluxe
Buy on amazon.comNorton 360 Premium
Buy on amazon.comNorton 360 Platinum
Buy on amazon.comOur Verdict
Getting Norton antivirus is worth every penny, especially considering that it’s among the best antivirus software on the market. It consistently delivers excellent malware detection rates and provides you with a great security feature array as well as powerful and convenient apps.
There certainly are cheaper antivirus packages solutions out there, but there are few that offer such comprehensive cover. And almost none that can offer this level of protection.
Of course, it does come with some added extras, like access to Norton Secure VPN and its password manager. So if you already have another VPN plan and password manager you’re happy with, Norton might not be the best value option for you.
But if security is your primary concern, Norton 360 is about the best choice you can make. It boasts 100% protection against all types of malware. And it offers impressive device security, cloud backup and parental controls. Its mobile app works really well, although it is a little inconvenient that you have to download separate apps if you want to use the VPN, parental controls or password manager on your phone.
This niggle aside, Norton 360 is incredibly efficient, effective and powerful. In fact, we’d probably say that Norton 360 is about the best all-in-one antivirus products money can buy.