Norton Internet Security - Keep your children safe! (Symantec Norton Internet Security 2000)

Member Name: charliebrown

Product:	Symantec Norton Internet Security 2000
Date:	11/03/01 (43 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: works well, comprehensive

Disadvantages: Takes a lot of setting up, expensive

Norton Internet Security is a useful utility that makes browsing the internet a more safe, secure and convenient pastime.

It works in several ways. Firstly, it creates a personal firewall to stop other uers from infilitrating your PC whilst connected to the net, stopping most trojans etc. This means any hacker who tries to get access to your computer will be refused. However, as part of this process, you need to spend some time setting up which programs on your computer are allowed to access the internet and which are not, which is a bit of a bind.

Secondly, it prevents children from accessing websites that you do not wish them to access, using a filter program that has some success. However, like many filter programs you may find this more of a curse than a blessing, as it will only block sites in its database, thus missing lots of potentially disturbing sites. You also need to keep the list up to date with frequent updates from the web.

It also stops them sending personal details over the web, which is more useful. However, again it takes some time to set this up - you have to type in all the numbers (e.g. phone numbers, credit card numbers) that you don't want sending over the net, plus things like your address, and this takes a lot of effort initially. However, once set up the whoe thing works well.

Finally, it can block many (though not all) unwanted ads from appearing on web sites, thus making web pages apear quicker.

It updates itself automatically from the internet. It is especially worthwhile if you are connected to the web for long periods of time, or if it is used by children. However, it is a bit difficult to use sometimes as it keeps popping up asking if you want to accept cookies or configure new rules - it takes a while to learn your browsing habits.

Available for around £40 from most computer shops, it also includes Norton Antivirus free.

Summary: