Norton Security 2015 Review

A good antivirus program is a critical part of any PC software suite, and one of the best options is Norton Security 2015, which includes a sleek, well-organized interface, a top-notch antivirus engine and many other security and privacy features. For 2015, Norton has radically simplified its product line. It once sold three different tiers of Windows products at different prices, ranging from basic protection to an advanced suite, but Norton now has just one product: Norton Security. With a list price of $80 per year (significant discounts are available online), it protects five devices running Windows, OS X, iOS or Android. For an extra $10, Norton Security with Backup adds 25GB of cloud storage and five more device licenses. Setup and interface To install Norton Security 2015, I went to the company's website, plugged in an activation code and started the download. The entire process required a computer restart, but took just a bit longer than 10 minutes. Norton Security's interface consists of a white rectangle with green accents, which change to yellow if it needs an update, and to red if it detects a serious threat. The protection status is also spelled out in words. MORE: Best Mac Antivirus Software Four rectangular icons on the main interface demarcate Norton Security's feature groups: Security, Identity, Performance and More. Clicking any icon slides the entire icon row aside so that new buttons, keyed to particular icons, appear. It's a sleek, well-animated look befitting Norton's concise and simple interface design. LiveUpdate, keyed to the Security icon, manages Norton Security 2015's updates. The History button, also keyed to Security, shows a record of the computer's security-related activities -- not only results of malware scans, but also user logins and Wi-Fi connections. An Advanced button reveals the status of antivirus, firewall and identity protections. Overall, the clean, easy-to-use interface conveys appropriate seriousness without feeling heavy or overbearing, and explains Norton Security 2015's features in clear language. Protection Features Like most modern antivirus programs, Norton Security 2015 identifies malware by comparing suspicious files to a cloud-based database of known malware definitions, which no longer need to be downloaded. Norton Security also analyzes suspicious behavior, identifying malware threats early. By default, Norton Security 2015 performs malware scans weekly, offering regular protection without making users wade through settings. The interface for scheduling scans is a bit buried, but can be found in both the Security section and the Settings menu at the top right of the main interface. Additional Tools The Security section holds four subsections: Run Scans, LiveUpdate, History and Advanced. Run Scans, naturally, launches on-demand malware scans. It can also scan your Facebook Wall for malicious links, or run a "Power Eraser" that searches your hard drive for the adware or browser hijackers typical antivirus scans ignore. (Norton warns that Power Eraser may accidentally flag and delete legitimate programs.) Another scan, Norton Insight, identifies "trusted" files that won't be examined during Quick Scans, while Diagnostic Report looks for items that might improve your PC's performance — it flagged several startup items on my PC that could be removed. The Identity section contains four tools: Identity Safe, ID Settings, Statistics and Password Generator. The first tool stores sensitive information, such as passwords and financial information, in encrypted cloud storage. Data can be entered by hand or imported from password managers. If you install the Norton Toolbar browser plugin for Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome or Microsoft Internet Explorer, the data will autocomplete in Web page form fields. ID Settings manages Norton Security 2015's background protections, such as anti-phishing protection and website safety ratings, both of which require Norton Toolbar. Statistics shows how frequently you've used Norton Security 2015's various features, while Password Generator launches a Web page to create random, strong passwords. Back on the Norton Security 2015 main interface, the Performance icon leads to four more tools. Optimize Disk cleans up your hard drive. File Cleanup finds files that can be deleted. Startup Manager adds and removes programs from the Startup folder to improve boot times. Graphs displays a timeline of activities Norton Security 2015 has performed, similar to the History section but more visually oriented. Most of the Performance tools duplicate Windows system tools or free optimizers such as CCleaner, but Norton puts them in one place and makes them easier to use. The More Norton section of the main interface contains Add Devices, Manage, Identity Safe, Family and Backup. The first two handle all devices protected by your Norton Security software, such as Macs, other PCs or iOS and Android devices. Identity Safe launches the feature of the same name from the Identity section, while Backup simply urges you to spend the extra $10 for Norton Security with Backup. Parental Controls Separate Norton Family, the parental-control feature, requires installation of a browser extension upon each device children use. Norton Family can be accessed from a Web browser or a mobile phone, reveals children's browsing histories, search histories and Facebook usage, and can also place time limits on Internet use. For an extra $50 per year, Norton Family Premier incorporates features found in parental-control mobile apps, such as displaying children's text messages and, for kids with Android devices, location tracking and lists of installed apps. It also lists children's YouTube and Hulu views on PCs. Security Performance The most important part of any antivirus program is malware detection. To assess Norton Security 2015's capabilities, we turned to AV-TEST, a German lab that regularly assesses antivirus software. In August 2014, AV-TEST found that Norton detected 100 percent of the well-known malware samples thrown at it, comfortably above the industry average of 98 percent. Against newly discovered "zero-day" malware, Norton also scored 100 percent, better than the industry average of 96 percent.