Norton Protection Blog

Companies of all sizes use online surveys to gather important market research, which they later utilize to direct product development and marketing initiatives. This critical step in the marketing process is appealing to some online users because they get paid to complete surveys, and earn rewards or special discounts from popular brands. Some surveys aren’t paid at all, offering consumers little more than the opportunity to participate in the development process of a product or service.

Guest Post By Kevin Haley, director, Symantec Security Response

I despise all forms of bullying. Perhaps the one I hate most of all is where the bully takes a personal item, snatching it from you, and refuses to give it back. It’s dangled right in front of you, but held just out of reach. You’ll only get it back after doing whatever the bully wants.

Windows 10 will be available as a free upgrade for Windows 7, 8.1 customers starting July 29th. Following are some tips to help you prepare.

1. Reserve your copy of Windows 10, if you haven’t already.
Click the Windows 10 App icon in the system tray of your current device. If you don’t have the Windows 10 App icon, run a Windows update. This should correct the problem on most Windows 7 and 8.1 systems.

A tech support scam is a form of Internet fraud that is currently gaining momentum on the Internet. The scam implements social engineering and fear tactics in order to get the victim to take the bait.  There are three main ways this scam is executed- via cold calls, pop-up messages on the computer and incorrect search engine results.

Whether you’re a regular business traveler, or a high-tech adventurer seeker, traveling—particularly abroad—poses unique cyber security threats. Business travelers are especially vulnerable because they often carry sensitive data, both personal and business related, on a variety of devices including smartphone, laptops, and tablet.

Mention “cookies,” and most people expect a treat to appear. When talking about computers, however, cookies aren’t what’s on the dessert menu. In fact, they’re not even physical objects. Yet they do a great deal of the work that makes it possible for you to browse the Internet—and they can cause trouble if you don’t know how to manage them.

The security argument between Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android system for smartphones is heating up yet again. In a recent study conducted by Daniel R. Thomas, Alastair R. Beresford, and Andrew Rice at the University of Cambridge, research concluded that 90 percent of Android devices are exposed to at least one critical vulnerability. 

Falling for an email scam is something that can happen to anyone. It’s a frightening concept, and one that frequently results in undiluted panic.

The Internet is filled with threats to online security. Many of these threats are just productive, positive technologies turned to evil use. The botnet is an example of using good technologies for bad intentions. A botnet is nothing more than a string of connected computers coordinated together to perform a task. That can be maintaining a chatroom, or it can be taking control of your computer. Botnets are just one of the many perils out there on the Internet. Here’s how they work and how you can protect yourself.

If you’re like most people, you don’t read the Terms of Service when you get a new app or buy a new device. That’s a big mistake, because a lot of apps on the market that are less-than-ideal, known as “grayware,” count on you allowing them access to your information. They know most people don’t read the Terms of Service, so their Terms of Service include language authorizing a massive invasion of your privacy. At the same time, you might have noticed that most Terms of Service is just boilerplate.

While Valentine’s Day is for lovers, we bet you didn’t know that there is a holiday for the single folks as well! Singles Awareness Day was created as an alternative to Valentine’s Day, and whether you’re celebrating or commiserating your single status, we’re pretty sure that many of you have crossed paths with an online dating site at some point. Nowadays, online dating is as normal to life as is online shopping.

There are currently over 4 million apps available across various mobile platforms. It's virtually impossible to keep track of each and every app on all of your devices, whether it is a shared device, such as a tablet or smartphone, or just to keep prying eyes away from the device.

February 8th is National Clean out Your Computer day, and as they say, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.”  For centuries, this saying applied to tasks like scrubbing the floors and dusting the bookcases. Today, however, it applies to your computer just as much as it does to your house.

When you “clean” your computer, you don’t just dust off the keyboard and wipe fingerprints from the screen. You also pay attention to the state of the hard drive, updating software and removing old programs.

It may seem like stories of massive data breaches are popping up in the news on a weekly basis these days. Unfortunately, this is not surprising. As technology progresses, all of our information moves to the digital world, and, as a result, cyber attacks are becoming the new wave of crime. Corporations and even small businesses are extremely attractive targets to cybercriminals, simply due to the large payday of data that can be nabbed in one fell swoop.

You could call mobile devices the new frontier for malware. Malware often appears on mobile devices in the form of an app.

Biometrics are part of the cutting edge of technology. Put simply, biometrics are any metrics related to human features. Fingerprinting is a very early and simple version of biometrics, like when you login to your phone using your fingerprint. As with any emerging technology, the first question you should ask is if they are safe.

Some 10 million identity thefts happen in the United States every year. Taking extra steps to protect your personal information—and knowing what information you need to safeguard—is the best way to prevent identity theft from happening to you. Let’s review this information to help you protect yourself as much as possible:

The holiday season is the most wonderful time of the year, and a time when many receive new gadgets. If you’re the type that regularly receives smartwatches, wearable tech, and other gadgets as gifts, understanding how best to protect them is very important.

A distributed denial-of-service (DDos) attack is one of the most powerful weapons on the Internet. Most times that you hear about a website being “brought down by hackers” what that means is that it’s become a victim of a DDoS. A distributed denial-of-service (DDos) attack is one of the most powerful weapons on the Internet. Most times that you hear about a website being “brought down by hackers” what that means is that it’s become a victim of a DDoS. 

A guide for parents and children.

It can be a full-time job for any parent to be constantly aware of everything that their children are doing online. Kids these days may seem pretty sharp with technology and the Internet, however, we forget that they’re still learning (and so are we) and may not always be prepared to spot the risks and pitfalls of being constantly connected.

Online fraud is one of fastest growing crimes of our time. The ability to be anonymous, and the fact that it can be performed anywhere in the world makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for law enforcement to curb it.

The Internet has blurred the lines between real world and the virtual one. Technology is barreling into our hands through smartphones at an unbelievable pace. While this is good for productivity and progress, it makes it easy for thieves to do their job.

The anonymity and location independence that comes with the Internet muddles the moral character of even the most ethical person. One can’t assume your phone and the information it stores is safe from the malicious intentions of the human mind.

Cyber criminals are not run-of-the-mill street hooligans. Assailants of online crimes are educated, tech-savvy, sophisticated individuals who don’t care if you prefer PC to Mac or vice versa. There has been considerable debate in the tech arena regarding the security of one machine over the other. Are PCs more prone to cyber attacks? Is a Macbook really less vulnerable to online threats? The debate wages on.

You don’t have to be a super geek to protect yourself from cyber criminals and hackers. Sure they might know more about computers and software than you do. However, there are basic defenses available to help you stand up against even the most sophisticated online threats.

It’s happened to most of us. That urge to look at your phone has become a part of everyday life. Maybe you are expecting a phone call, or perhaps you want to know how many ‘likes’ that picture of your cat has earned. Maybe it’s just that fix your life needs at that moment that only a smartphone can give you. You rummage through your pocket to find it with no luck. Perhaps it’s in the other one. Nope. You try your bag. Nope, again. You break into a sweat.

Sure, there are plenty of amazing positives to technology but, as with most things, a fair share of negatives exists as well. One of the negatives technology presents is the physical effect on the body, including a condition known as “text neck.” Extra strain on the muscles from sitting and reading various devices for long periods of time makes tissue sore and inflamed, and can potentially pull your spine out of alignment. Health experts call this damaging posture “forward head posture.”

Looking for employment today is dramatically different from how it was just two decades ago. It’s rare to just walk into a business, fill out an application, and get hired within the same day; today’s job hunt often begins and ends online.

With connected kids today, it can be a full-time job for parents to be able to monitor their online activities. We’ve put together some helpful tips and guidelines so that you and your whole family can enjoy social media safely.

Employees are on the front lines of information security. The more that can be done to regularly educate yourself of the

There are many layers to the Internet that you may not be aware of. There’s the part that everyone sees Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, news websites and everything else under the search engine sun. This is known as the “surface web.”

With a new year comes renewed excitement, refreshed minds and revitalized focus for all that lies ahead. The same is unfortunately true for the cybercriminals we are up against.

Spyware, ransomware, and bots, oh my! A lot of these terms are prevalent on the Internet, but it may seem impossible to know what all these terms mean, and how they actually affect your devices and personal information.

The Internet, social media and mobile technology make it harder than ever to keep your kids safe. Norton Family Premier, recent recipient of the PC Magazine Editor’s Choice Award is an invaluable tool to help you help your kids. Lead Security Analyst at PC Magazine, Neil Rubenking, cited the “impressive range of parental control and monitoring features for parents of today’s hyper-connected kids.”

4.9 billion connected things are expected to be in use in 2015, increasing to 25 billion by 2020. Many of these smart devices can be found in the connected home. Symantec researchers have found that smart home devices have basic security issues, such as weak authentication and common web vulnerabilities. These can be exploited by hackers posing a privacy and security risk.

Nobody likes being manipulated—and that’s exactly what happens to people when they fall victim to social engineering scams online.

Ransomware has a unique and specific agenda, and one that can be entirely avoided if properly understood.

Norton has asked the North Pole’s #1 IT Elf to give you some tips for the Holidays. It might sound simple, but the best way to be safe during the Holidays is to monitor your accounts. Here Kirby gives some simple rules to keeping an eye on your accounts and what to do if you see some thing that shouldn’t be there. Kirby gives you simple steps to stay safe

Now that payments are regularly being made from phones and watches, Kirby gives you a run down of why digital wallets are becoming more popular, how they work and some issues to consider.

Our favorite holiday IT elf is back with some more holiday shopping tips! This week he reviews "paper or plastic," and we're not talking about grocery bags. 

Meet Kirby the IT Elf, and Santa's right hand technology man. As the Holidays quickly approach, so do a fresh crop of scams. In this episode, Kirby highlights the most popular scams this year, how to spot them and how to be safe.

Malvertising is a shortened term for malicious advertising, and is defined as using online advertising to spread malware. Malvertising requires placing malware-laden advertisements on legitimate web pages and through authentic online advertising networks in order to infect a web browser and device. Often, it’s very difficult to distinguish between legitimate and malicious online ads.

With holiday gift-giving going mobile, are you eyeing a new device?

More than half of holiday shoppers plan to purchase a tech accessory this season, with TVs, tablets, and smartphones topping many wishlists. While two-thirds of those shoppers plan to use a mobile device to help them make holiday purchases (according to ce.org).

Do you have the right habits to keep a shiny new device secure? Put your mobile habits to the security test.

With the Internet threat landscape rapidly growing, online crime has become a fact of life. While we read about breaches and identity theft every day in our news outlets, we wanted to better understand Norton Cybersecurity Insights Report how you, the consumer, are impacted on a more human level. The Norton Cybersecurity Insights Report captures how consumers perceive and react to online transactions and threats prevalent on the Internet today.

Social media runs a significant portion of people’s social lives.  We use it to connect with far-flung friends and family, send quick messages to co-workers, and announce major (and minor) events in our lives.

Thanksgiving not only marks the start of the fantastic holiday season—it’s also a time to reflect on what you’re thankful for. One of the many things to be thankful for this holiday is cybersecurity, which has gotten more and more advanced as of late.

Your “digital footprint” includes all traces of your online activity, from commenting on news pieces or social media to making online purchases.  When you know the boundaries of your digital footprint, and take steps to control it, you can protect your identity and your reputation.

The holidays are just around the corner, and that means many of us will be making purchases online to avoid large crowds and busy mall traffic, especially during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Encryption is the process of protecting personal data, often with a form of “secret code,” so that it cannot be read by anyone who doesn’t have the code key.  Today, huge amounts of personal information are managed online, via computer applications, and stored in the cloud, or servers with an ongoing connection to the Web.

A “denial of service” or DOS attack is used to tie up a website’s resources so that users who need to access the site cannot do so. Many major companies, have been the focus of DOS attacks in recent years. Because a DOS attack can be easily engineered from nearly any location, finding those responsible can be next to impossible.