Norton 360 Antivirus review: is it secure enough?

The Norton 360 security suite is hailed as one of the best antivirus programs in 2022. 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? We'll not only look into this antivirus thoroughly in this review but also analyze how it stands out in the market among other well-known antiviruses.

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Norton 360 antivirus pros and cons

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Is Norton 360 safe?

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 (April 2022), it managed to score a maximum of 6 points in protection, performance, and usability.

In other words, Norton's security suite 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.

Other independent experts also revealed that Norton 360 doesn’t stop functioning even after deleting some of its files, closing down the app’s processes, and unloading drivers.

A test with custom-made ransomware was also a success for Norton: the antivirus program detected the attack in seconds.

Norton 360 security 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.

• Real-time threat protection. Detects and protects against common online threats like viruses, malware, spyware, and ransomware.
• Secure VPN. Hides your IP address and encrypts your online activities for an additional layer of privacy.
• Smart firewall. Two-way silent firewall that works by monitoring the network traffic that’s both sent and received on your computer.
• Password manager. A handy tool to keep your passwords secure and in one place.
• PC cloud backup. Convenient as secure remote cloud storage that will save space on your personal device.
• SafeCam protection. Blocks unauthorized access to your PC webcam to keep you safe.

Real-time threat protection

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 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 360 software comes with the option to install the Norton toolbar with Norton Safe Web on your browsers. Once you’ve installed it, you’ll find that, whenever you perform a web search, there will be an icon next to each search result to indicate how safe it is:

• Green means it’s perfectly safe to click on
• Grey indicates an unknown URL
• Yellow is a potential risk
• Red is a risky site.

Icons are fully clickable, so you can read full Norton report on each website.

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Norton antivirus not only helps to clean your infected desktop and mobile devices. It also offers full peace of mind every time you browse: with proactive security measures and an excellent firewall.

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Even more impressive, this system also works in Twitter and Facebook feeds, as well as web-based emails. And while this sounds like it might be obtrusive and would just clutter your feeds with extra icons, all it does is highlight any risky links in red to keep you safe without impeding your user experience.

Elsewhere, we found the Norton 360 Isolation Mode pretty useful. This handy feature lets you visit a potentially risky site without it causing harm to your machine. It does this by rendering the web page on Norton’s server, thereby stripping it of any dangerous content before presenting it to you. It also stops you from sharing any sensitive data with the potentially harmful website to keep your information safe. Norton antivirus security leaves no gaps for vulnerabilities.

Norton 360 opens supported financial sites in Isolation Mode for added security. It’s worth noting that this makes it appear to a banking website that you’re logging in on a new device. So have your security answers ready.

Norton 360 also defends against ransomware by protecting your documents against modification by an unknown program.

Norton Secure VPN

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.

And it encrypts all your online data to protect you from hackers and ensures your online activity remains private. This is particularly useful if you use public Wi-Fi, which is usually not secure and can leave you vulnerable to hacks. It can also be a vital tool for those who need to stay anonymous or for anyone who values their online privacy.

Using Norton Secure VPN is really simple and easy because it’s fully integrated with Norton’s security software. So you don’t need to download an extra app. It’s just there on your Norton home screen.

When you switch it on, it connects automatically to the fastest server outside your country. However, if you want to choose which country you want to connect to access region-restricted content, you can do this manually. By the way, Norton's VPN allowed me to access the geo-restricted content on Netflix (UK and US). This is great, as not all VPNs are able to do this.

In addition, I did not detect any DNS or IP address leaks, which means that you're truly safe when using Norton VPN. I also liked that the VPN blocked all the ads during my session.

What’s more, Norton Secure VPN has a kill switch. If the VPN drops out, you’ll get a warning from Norton. In the meantime, your real IP address will not be exposed. Don't forget that a VPN doesn't give you malware protection.

Also, it seems that Norton VPN blocks P2P traffic, as I was unable to download an Ubuntu installer through BitTorrent with the VPN enabled.

Smart Firewall

Most firewalls work by preventing outside attacks from accessing your computer via your internet connection. But the Norton Smart Firewall is a two-way silent firewall that works by monitoring the network traffic that’s both sent and received on your computer whenever you’re online. Norton’s smart firewall feature has more functionalities than other antivirus programs out there, such as Avira or Bitdefender.

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.

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Norton password manager

Another handy feature included in the Norton 360 security suite is access to its password manager. A password manager is one of the most useful online tools. It means you only ever have to remember one password that’ll log you into the encrypted vault.

Aside from the benefit of not having to fill in all your login details whenever you want to access any of your online accounts, it means that you can choose more secure passwords. This means you’re far less likely to get hacked. After all, if you don’t have to remember your password, you can make it as complicated and random as you like.

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.

Norton’s PC cloud backup

Norton’s Cloud Backup feature provides you with secure remote storage for all your important documents.

You’ll get a different amount of cloud backup space depending on what plan you sign up for. We’ll explain this in more detail a bit further down. But whichever plan you choose, you’ll get a very generous amount of backup space, particularly compared to the competition.

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.

SafeCam for PC

One of the handiest features offered by Norton is its SafeCam protection. If you’ve got a webcam, cybercriminals can potentially use spyware to take photos with your webcam without your knowledge. This could lead to blackmail or worse. Norton’s SafeCam works by blocking unauthorized access to your PC webcam to keep you safe from this threat.

It does this by alerting you to untrusted apps that are trying to access your camera, allowing you the chance to block it before it does any damage.

In practice, it’s actually pretty unobtrusive. By default, SafeCam automatically allows safe apps to access your camera, so it’s not often that you’ll get bothered by alerts. And if you do get an alert, you can choose to always allow or always block the app from accessing your webcam. So you’ll only ever be prompted once for each app.

When we tested it out, SafeCam worked really well and gave us the peace of mind of knowing that our webcam is safe from spyware. SafeCam always asks for your permission to access the webcam, meaning if anyone else would try to access it – you’d need to give that permission.

Parental Control

If you buy Norton 360 Deluxe or Norton 360 Premium, you also get the parental control feature as a separate app called Norton Family.

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.

What’s more, Norton Family has a feature called School-Time. It lets you limit your children’s online activity during certain hours by letting them access only whitelisted websites and categories.

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.

Dark Web Monitoring

You can sign into the Dark Web Monitoring feature of Norton 360 on their official website with your Deluxe or Premium account.

You can sign into the Dark Web Monitoring feature of Norton 360 on their official website with your Deluxe or Premium account.

To test the Dark Web monitoring feature, I found a breached email online. It was involved in 15 data breaches, according to ihavebeenpwned.com. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any alerts regarding this email’s security from Norton’s Dark Web feature.

While this test is not completely accurate (since there is no way of knowing if this information was posted on the dark web), the feature’s inability to spot the email as vulnerable is a bit disappointing.

Norton Crypto

Norton Crypto is a brand new PC feature added to the Norton 360 package. It allows you to add your device to a crypto-mining pool and to safely mine cryptocurrencies during your computer’s idle time.

Currently, the program lets you mine Ethereum (ETH). And, as soon as you earn some cryptocurrency, you can transfer it to your cloud-based Norton Crypto Wallet. However, the provider has a 15% mining fee that is deducted from the crypto you get.

While the profitability of Ethereum isn’t stable, Norton’s Crypto tool can be a good starting point for users who want to learn how to mine. However, keep in mind that this feature is only supported on Windows 7, 8, 10, and 11.

Overall, Norton Crypto is an opt-in feature, so if you’re not interested in such a phenomenon, you can simply not enable it. But, if you fancy trying it out, you can turn it on in the “My Norton” window.

Plans and pricing

Norton 360 offers a lot of excellent security features. But how much does it cost? Well, there are 3 Norton 360 plans. Let’s break them down and look at what they offer at what price point.

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Generally speaking, Norton offers a good selection of plans at very reasonable pricepoints. Especially compared to other top antiviruses in the market, such as McAfee or Avira.

Norton AntiVirus Plus

Norton AntiVirus Plus is the most basic Norton 360 plan that covers only 1 device for $19.99 for the first year. Although it’s cheaper than other plans, it’s not the best option if you’re looking for something to keep all your devices safe.

Fortunately, a password manager, smart firewall, and a 2GB cloud backup are included. Yet, one of the most important features – parental control – is missing.

What’s great is that Norton doesn’t leave even the cheapest plan behind and promises 100% real-time virus and other threats protection. Take a better look at the features you get for $9.99:

• Real-time online threat protection
• Password manager
• Smart Firewall
• 100% Virus Protection Promise
• Cloud backup up to 2GB

Norton 360 Standard

Norton 360 Standard (also called Norton AntiVirus Plus in select regions) costs $39.99 for the first year and can be used on 1 device. It offers most of the same security features as the Deluxe and Premium options.

After all, it has all the other security features Norton has to offer, including a PC cloud backup of up to 10GB. And it also comes with Norton’s 100% Virus Protection Promise, which means that, if Norton can’t fix your virus issue, you’ll get money back.

Here’s what included in the Norton 360 Standard Plan:

• Anti-spyware, antivirus, malware and ransomware protection
• PC Cloud Backup- up to 10GB
• Firewall for PC and Mac
• Password Manager
• 100% Virus Protection Promise
• Secure VPN
• SafeCam (webcam protection) for PC
• Dark Web Monitoring

Norton 360 Deluxe

At $49.99 for the first year, there seems to be little reason not to choose the Norton 360 Deluxe instead of its most basic offering. For almost the same price as the standard plan, you can protect up to 5 devices, which gives you a lot more flexibility.

You also get 25GB of PC cloud backup, meaning you can protect 5 times as many files as you can on the Norton Antivirus Plus. You also get access to Norton’s parental controls, which is really useful if you have kids. Of course, it goes without saying that you’ll also get access to Norton 360 Deluxe full suite of security features.

Norton Antivirus – ease of use

Norton 360 offers one of the most comprehensive security suites we’ve tested, and it’s pretty reasonably priced for the level of protection you’re getting. But for all that, is it easy to use? Let’s find out.

Norton 360 installation

Norton 360 is pretty easy to download and install. When testing it out, the process didn’t take too long. And within a few minutes, we were up and running. Be mindful that it does insist on restarting your machine as a part of the installation process.

I installed Norton 360 on my Mac, and it did run into a few teething problems regarding my permissions. Luckily, Norton prompted my Mac to open the correct window and gave me instructions on granting Norton the relevant permissions.

As the last step, Norton will give you a guided tour of your software so you know where everything is. And if you ever forget anything, you can refer back to this information by clicking on the cog icon on the home page.

Norton 360 interface

Norton’s interface is clean and easy to navigate, with all the main features available on the welcome screen. While Norton could use fewer aspirational images on the main panel, the home screen is still very functional, with lots of handy options on the right-hand toolbar.

One thing to be mindful of – many of Norton’s features open outside the app. So, whether you want to access your Dark Web Monitoring or add in parental controls, you’ll be redirected to a webpage with more information. A new tab for each function is not quite ideal.

Regardless, the interface is made with users in mind. The interface is not clustered, with all main functionalities reachable with a single click.

Norton 360 mobile app

The Norton Mobile Security app brings Norton’s best security features to your phones. Unfortunately, there’s no free version. But if you’ve signed up for the Norton Deluxe or Premium plan, you can sign into your account on the app and set it up as one of your devices.

And if you just want protection on your mobile device, you can sign up for the Standard package and use the one device limit on your smartphone. However, as we’ve said before, the Norton Deluxe package can be used on more devices and it costs $10 more than the Standard plan.

It’s really easy to set up and use. It’s got a beautifully simple interface with all the main features available on the homepage. It starts quick scans straight away too. So you don’t even need to tell it to start monitoring your privacy and checking for potential threats.

Whenever you open a link, Norton’s Link Guard feature will check if the site is secure in order to keep your phone safe from phishing scams and malicious sites.

Norton’s Android app has a few more features than the iOS Norton app for iPhone. But given Apple’s built-in restrictions, that’s to be expected.

The Norton Mobile Security app comes with some great features, including:

• Web Protection to block fraudulent sites that could potentially steal sensitive data.
• Wi-Fi Security, which scans your Wi-Fi connection for possible threats.
• System Advisor that will alert you operating system threats.
• Safe Search, which will help you to avoid phishing scams and risky sites while you browse the internet.
• Privacy Report, which tells you what data your apps share.
• Anti Malware scanning and real-time malware protection (Android only).
• App Advisor, which checks apps for privacy and potential battery issues.

Our main issue with Norton’s mobile app is a similar issue to our biggest complaint with the desktop version. While the desktop app forces you to open a lot of its features in different tabs, there are a lot of features on Norton Mobile Security you can only use if you download separate apps.

This is really annoying, as it’s much more convenient if everything is included in one app. But it’s not the end of the world. The links to the separate apps are easily located in the Norton Mobile Security app menu.

The Norton Mobile Security features available in separate apps are the:

• Password Manager
• Secure VPN
• Parental Control

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Customer support

Norton offers a range of customer support options, which include live chat, a 24/7 helpline, a community blog, and an extensive knowledge base.

When you first click on the Customer Support page, you’ll be redirected to Norton’s knowledge base, where you’ll find a large variety of very detailed articles on the most frequent issues. There’s also a search bar to help you navigate through help guides and FAQs.

However, if you wish to talk to someone, you can opt for Norton’s live chat or a 24/7 helpline. Just be mindful that contacting live chat might turn into a lengthy process, as first, you have to go through the AI assistant, log in to your account, and only then reach a live person.

Overall, Norton has quite a few customer support channels. However, it is quite clear that its main area of focus is the knowledge base.

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Is Norton 360 any good?

To sum up, Norton 360 is not just good - it is actually among the best antivirus software on the market right now. It provides consistently robust online security and protects devices from pretty much every type of cybersecurity threat out there.

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.

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