Category / Contest

Disclaimer: I’m not an IT geek so I’m gonna review this product as a “consumer”, based on what I think of and not as a tech person.

Many Mac user would say that they don’t need any protection for their machine as “there’s no virus attacking Mac at the moment”. Well, that was what I was told at the beginning when I was given a Mac notebook from my boss. It was a simple question on “what anti virus or internet security that we are using” which triggered this answer. Naively I thought that was true until I chatted with a friend of mine; Jason Mok who is working with Symantec Malaysia which carries the brand Norton. The first thing Jason asked me was “when is the last time you scan your hard disk?”. I remembered replying “never scan before” as I was told by my boss that there’s no anti virus for Mac. That got me thinking what if my machine is under virus or malware attack which I didn’t know?

Jason of Symantec Malaysia was nice enough to gave me a Norton Internet Security Mac Edition to try. I installed it immediately upon reaching my office and it was amazing. Everything is automated which is good for IT noob like me haha. I don’t have to worry about anything.

Security for the rest of us. 
Norton Internet Security for Mac delivers fast, comprehensive protection against online threats. It safeguards your computer, identity and network connections without slowing you down. Running silently in the background, it automatically protects your Mac from viruses and malicious threats, blocks hackers and safeguards your personal information while you’re online. With it’s simple, easy-to-use user interface, it automatically detects and removes the latest malicious threats with set-and-forget convenience.
A customisable two-way firewall automatically blocks threats from entering or leaving your system.

What does Norton IS For Mac do for me? 
– Easy-to-Use Interface
Control how applications connect to the internet, who can connect to your Mac and what these people are allowed to do.

– Norton Firewall for Mac
Innovative, customisable two-way firewall helps make intelligent incoming and outgoing security decisions for you.

– Secure Networking
Automatically detects new networks, helps you set security settings and remember these settings for future use.

Here is some screen shots of Norton Antivirus, Norton Confidential and Norton Firewall interface.

After installing Norton Internet Security, you’d find 3 icon on your dock which is the bottom of your desktop. From Left to Right: Antivirus, Confidential and Firewall.

You’d also notice a small yellow and black round logo appearing at your toolbar which is on top of your desktop. When you click on it, you’d see a row of settings.

Let’s start with Norton Antivirus.

The interface only have 2 tabs; Status and Scanning & Automatic Protection. You can change the setting anytime you want. Just unlock the “Lock” at your bottom left to change the setting. I find the lock quite useful just in case I accidentally pressed on the wrong key.

Make sure everything is set to “On”.

From the interface, you will see the summary of your protection. Recently this antivirus detected a virus from my boss’s thumbdrive and quarantine the virus immediately.

One favourite of all. Everytime I attached a thumbdrive, the scanner scan the foreign object automatically. Everything is automated. You need not do it yourself manually.

Second stop is Norton Confidential.

There’s 5 tabs on Confidential interface namely Status, Phishing Protection, Information Guard, File Guard and Vulnerability Protection. Make sure everything is “Enabled” like above otherwise click on the lock to unlock and setup accordingly.

Phishing Protection automatically detects fraudulent site and safe site.

Information Guard guards your personal information. However you’d need to input the info one by one. Just unlock the lock, key-in your password and proceed.

You can also protect your important files under File Guard. Same with Information Guard, you’d need to input the date one by one.

Vulnerability Protection monitors your internet connection for attempts to access your Mac and it’s information without your knowledge or permission.

Lastly it’s Norton Firewall.

There’s 4 tabs on Firewall namely Scan, Firewall Settings, Location Awareness Settings and Advanced Settings. Make sure everything is “Enabled” as well. From the Status tab, you’d see your blocked connection attempts, your connection location and setting.

You can change your connection and application blocking at Firewall Settings.

Many of us uses different connection at different place. For me Office and Home is different type of connection. You can setup your setting here. Everytime I’m at home and I plug in my DiGi modem, the system automatically detects that I’m at Home and only authorize my setting set for Home and blocked any other connection.

Lastly it’s Advance Settings. Just make sure it’s all set to “On” and you’d be fine hahaha.

For an IT noob like me I get this quite easily surprisingly. Normally I’d be lost in all the settings but this I don’t. The interface is simple and the instructions is easy to understand. There’s no geeky language here.

You do not have to start the programs to be protected. If Norton Internet Security detects a situation that requires your attention, an alert opens to help you resolve the situation. By default, protection features are enabled, and as Norton Internet Security monitors your computer, it notifies you about security risks as they occur.  Norton Internet Security records all activities and detections in its Activity Log or History Log. If you are away from your machine, you can use the Activity Log to see what happened while you were away.

Disclaimer: Product was sent to me for review consideration. This doesn’t affect my judgement in the review

Who would have guess my first ever contest for Street Love would be anti virus?

It’s not just any antivirus. It’s Norton by Symantec! I’m not just saying that because Norton is sponsoring the giveaway. I’m not even a Norton user until recently I was handed Norton Internet Security Mac edition to try for my office Mac notebook. It’s awesomely impressive!

Alright. I’ll be reviewing Norton Internet Security Mac Edition first follow by Norton Internet Security 2012 which will include the giveaway.

Stay tune!