Review: Norton 360 security suite

Hot on the heels of McAfee’s Total Protection 2007 is Norton 360, a similar all-in-one PC security suite.

To keep things simple, the tools supplied are split into four categories: PC security, transaction security, backup and restore, and PC tune-up.

The PC security suite contains the bulk of the utilities, including a firewall, virus scanner and extras such as the email scanning and intrusion prevention tool.

System scans can be run from here and it's also possible to view information from the results of recent analyses.

The transaction security section offers protection against phishing and guards against other threats that may affect online security. Backup and restore is a powerful feature that allows online or local (backing up to a hard disk or optical disc connected to the computer) backups of files and folders.

With the package, 2GB of free online storage is provided, although upgrades are available for users who require higher capacities for backup, although these obviously cost extra. Finally, the PC tune-up section offers system cleaning and optimisation tools to streamline the computer's operating system.

The way all of these tools are handled is perhaps the most impressive aspect of the new Norton 360 suite. The software is perfect for both new users and those who don’t want to get involved with tweaking and fine tuning, but instead want total automated protection from the off.

That said, it’s extremely easy to control the operation of the software through the main menus, and for users who do want to delve deeper there are enough advanced settings to do so.

Firewall configuration, perhaps the most likely place users will want or need to make adjustments, is far more visual and far easier to control than in most other packages we’ve looked at recently. You can choose exactly what security sweeps should be run, and create schedules with ease. Thanks to the powerful backup tools, you’ll get peace of mind that the most important files on the computer are safe.

Refreshingly, we noticed that Norton seems to have done a good job of keeping system overheads – the load the program itself puts on the computer's power and resources – down as much as possible. It’s a vast improvement over previous versions of Norton Internet Security, the program Norton 360 replaces, and a big plus, given that many competing rivals haven’t achieved the same success.

If anything, the software is almost too easy to use. The PC tune-up section is a case in point: while scans can be set off with a couple of mouse clicks, there's not a lot of control over what the software is actually doing.

There are also a few holes in the product set compared with McAfee and other rivals, such as the lack of a wireless security feature and limited browser support. These drawbacks aren’t nearly enough to detract from an excellent set of tools that have been superbly combined into the most user-friendly security suite we’ve seen.

Vista compatible: Yes