Norton Internet Security 2004

A comprehensive suite of tools ideal for discerning parents.

Price: £49.99

Manufacturer: Norton

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Verdict

Pros:

Comprehensive virus, spam and sleaze protection.

Cons:
Poor documentation.

Verdict:
Good all-in-one protection that will appeal to parents.

Cliff Joseph, Personal Computer World 30 Jan 2004

Fully loading a PC with protection - anti-virus, firewall, spam filter, to name a few - can get expensive and become complex to manage, as there's no common interface. It's no surprise then, that suites of security tools have become so popular. In this review we're looking at Norton's latest yearly update of its Internet Security 2004 suite.

It includes the latest version of Norton Anti-virus (reviewed PCW, January 2003), along with copies of Norton Personal Firewall, Norton Privacy Control, Norton Antispam and Norton Parental Control. As the names suggest, much of the focus is on privacy and security for parents who want to protect their kids from the seamier side of the Internet.

The initial installation is relatively straightforward, as the program automatically installs the entire suite of programs. There are a couple of hiccups along the way, though. The first irritant is the need to activate your new software by connecting to the Symantec website. You're given a grace period of 15 days so you don't have to activate the program right away, but after that you'll find that the software you've legitimately paid for doesn't work. This could be an utter disaster if you get hit by a virus just as that 15-day period expires.

Once you've installed the software it prompts you to perform a number of tasks. The first is to import your email address book, so that the Antispam program can add those addresses to its list of allowed addresses from which it will accept emails. That's easy enough, but the next step will have you scuttling for the manual.

You are asked to specify which items of 'private information' you want to protect, but the precise nature of this information is poorly explained in the manual. We had to root through the online help files to figure out how this feature worked. This option allows you to specify text or numerical strings - such as a credit card number - that can be blocked so your kids can't go on a spending spree or give out their telephone number or address to anyone. It's an excellent idea, but Symantec's documentation does a poor job of explaining how it works.

The next task is to set up accounts for individual users. You'll need to set up a main superviser account, which is used to create and configure additional accounts for your children or anyone else that uses the PC. These accounts can also be linked to Windows' own user accounts, so that the relevant security settings are automatically activated if your kids have their own Windows accounts. The superviser account is, of course, password-protected to prevent other users altering the settings you've selected for them.

Once you've performed these tasks, you'll see an icon called Internet Security placed on your main desktop. This acts as a central control panel that allows you to monitor and adjust the settings for all the programs in the Internet Security suite.

The first important option here is the 'Block Traffic' button, which can completely block any connection to the Internet at all, keeping the kids off the web until you've configured the security settings for their individual accounts. You have plenty of control over the various settings, with options available for filtering spam, blocking pop-up ads and, of course, the main anti-virus and firewall controls.

The anti-sleaze options are fairly comprehensive and do work well, but they're not completely foolproof. We found that the program did successfully block access to commercial websites with adult content, but it occasionally allowed access to lesser-known, non-commercial websites. We also liked the ability to create 'spam rules' that scan email for specific words, such as 'sex' or 'drugs'. Unfortunately, you have to type in each word individually and create a new rule for each word, which will deter even the most conscientious parent.

To be fair, though, the default settings do provide pretty good protection, and should give parents peace of mind when the kids are on the Internet. And, at slightly less than £50, Norton Internet Security is good value for any PC user, regardless of whether or not they have kids.

Contact: Symantec 020 7616 5600
www.symantec.co.uk

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