Symantec Boosts Norton Internet Security and Personal Firewall Packages Stop Hackers, Spammers, Banners, Pop-Ups, Snoops, Worms, and Viruses Eric Grevstad
Mon 9/16/02 -- It’s always been a jungle out there, but the jungle is getting closer, with more hackers, viruses, intrusive worms, and annoying spam besieging your Internet connection than ever before. So Symantec Corp. has packed extra protection into the annual upgrade of its Norton Internet Security and Norton Personal Firewall packages.
Norton Internet Security 2003 ($70 or $40 upgrade) features a stronger firewall that secures inbound and outbound communications and keeps a user’s PC invisible to hackers and snoopers. A new Norton Intrusion Detection feature adds another layer of security by automatically detecting and blocking attacks such as the Nimda and Code Red worms and stopping all further communication from the attacker’s PC.
The bundle also includes the complete version of Norton AntiVirus 2003, which removes viruses, worms, and Trojan horses and updates definitions automatically (and stops fast-moving, script-based viruses without waiting for definition updates). The program now protects e-mail messages and instant messaging attachments as well as hard disks and files.
Norton Privacy Control now prevents confidential information from being sent via standard POP3 and Microsoft Office e-mail attachments, AOL Messenger, or Windows/MSN Messenger as well as through regular Web traffic. Norton Spam Alert flags junk e-mail messages as spam in the subject field, letting users delete the messages or set up a rule to file them in a separate folder, without having to abandon their favorite POP3 e-mail client such as Microsoft Outlook.
Finally, improved ad blocking catches more banner, pop-up, and pop-under ads, and a redesigned interface with at-a-glance Security Monitor makes Norton Internet Security easier to use.
If you already have antivirus protection, Norton Personal Firewall 2003 ($50 or $30 upgrade) incorporates the new Norton Intrusion Detection feature, the ability to spotlight the source of attempted intrusions on a world map, and a Privacy Control component that blocks pop-ups, cookies, and active content and blocks credit-card or phone numbers or other personal info from being sent without the user’s knowledge.
One-Button Disconnect allows users to stop or resume Internet traffic in an instant, while new Network Notification advises users when their PC is joining a wireless or local cable network.
