Norton Protection Blog

Our team team hit a big milestone this week by reaching beta of our 2009 Norton Internet Security and Norton AntiVirus products. As many of you know, beta is a pre-release version of a Symantec product that is available for public testing before the final version is released. We rely on the valuable feedback of our community to evaluate how the product performs in "real world" environments. Additionally, it is an opportunity to be among the first to experience our latest products before they are finalized and released.

I was just reading a story about Microsoft’s new subscription software package – Microsoft Equipt – and I have to say I was baffled to see the new “post-Bill Gates” Microsoft continuing to push these tired, old bundles. Drawing consumers in with the promise of enhanced productivity but essentially delivering a hodge podge of Microsoft technologies that lack consumer value and limit choice, Equipt looks less about providing a compelling value proposition and more about increasing Office revenue.              

I don't know about you, but growing up The Incredible Hulk was one of my favorite comic books. I always loved the raw nature of the Hulk and his crazy rampages and willingness to take on just about anything from tanks and mutants to other superheroes in the Marvel universe. The new Hulk movie premieres on the big screen this weekend and I'm excited to see Edward Norton bring my favorite character to life.

“Whaling”.  The term brings up images of Captain Ahab and harpoons.  For some folks, “whaling” brings up thoughts of deep-pocketed Vegas high-rollers.  Unfortunately, what I’m referring to is a product of today’s online threats. It’s a new phishing scam called “whaling” and its emerged to target the big fish – top-level corporate executives at leading companies and organizations.  By doing some easy research up front, phishers can hit those at the top with surprising success because most corporate email conventions are easy to figure out (eg. First initial_last nameatcompanydotcom).

Jaqcqui Cheng from Ars Technica has a great article today about the latest email scam design to trick people into giving up their personal information (including social security number and mother's maiden name), this time, the email is supposedly from the iTunes store and links

Does your security software do any of the following things?

      •  guard against virus activity before users see the effects of it

      •  keep hackers from stealing personal information

      •  prevent the system from becoming a zombie

      •  thwart phishing attacks from getting people to give away data

      •  stop malware and spyware from installing themselves

I had the pleasure of meeting some of my Symantec Italy colleagues at a recent conference in Vegas, but I had no idea that Lee Majors  was part of the team. I was delighted to see that the product development team’s focus on performance has been resonating internationally; here’s a link to a light-hearted video they created to showcase the bionic performance of Norton Internet Security 2008:

I couldn’t tell you the first time I got Rickrolled.  By now you’ve heard of it, from Google or the Nightly News to the guy two cubicles down who’s always late to the Internet party. Once, it was a surprise to click on what promised to be an election-year gaffe, a great deal on flash memory, or a review of the best chimichanga in West Los Angeles…only to be treated to that fine young man Rick Astley belting out “Never Gonna Give You Up.” 

hi everyone!

I have been out for a bit (conference, two weddings and lots of airports) but I just wanted to post the following video that we did discussing vulnerabilities, specifically the one that happened at CanSec West.  Mighty props out to Rob Pegoraro's article that started the discussion in the first place!

As a follow-up to my earlier post this week, I noticed that Walt Mossberg  posted today a helpful article and short video clip on "social engineering" that offers several specific tips on avoiding online scams.  For example:

Earlier today I came across a CNET blog entry wherein Ina Fried discusses the recent purchase of a refurbished iPod that arrived with a virus on it.  Although Ina's article is about an iPod, it reinforces the reality of today's threat landscape: malware can come from anywhere.

As a youngster I was taught to think of history in terms that scream out for marble monuments and epic poetry.  College did its best to break me of that tendency, and though I retain some of that boyish awe, I have come to appreciate the humanizing elements of history.

While building the first release of Norton 360 in 2006, we decided we didn't want to use the typical task scheduler so many other products use to run weekly antivirus scans. Remembering to keep your computer on "every Wednesday night at 2am" is a pain, so we set out to build a better wheel.

There was a great article in the most recent issue of the Commun

One of the most important features of our products is the ability for us to actually update them.  The Mac team has been talking a lot about this lately, specifically: how best to keep users up to date without impacting them in any way?

Our updating process actually has quite a few steps:

1 - we launch a process that manages the updating (LiveUpdate)

So, "Norton AntiVirus for Mac" has been around for a long time. Everyone seems to know it (alongside Norton Utilities for Mac, another topic for another time), but I gotta tell you, sometimes I think the name does the software a disservice. I mean, literally, as soon as I even say the name of the product, I inevitably hear, “But I thought Macs don’t get viruses!” Everywhere I get this. I was, no joke, getting a physical with my doctor, and when he was done he asked, “You know, I don’t mean to, well, whatever, but I thought that Macs didn’t get viruses.”

You just read an article title like this and think, ugh, more guilt about the clothes I wear, the food I buy, the car I drive. I feel the same way. I wish I could live more like Ed Begley Jr. and less like the Super Consumer I really am. The truth for me, and maybe for you too is that we have to pick a few areas to make new choices in order to help the environment. So maybe a better title is “Baby Steps to Going Green.” Small changes do matter and may be our best shot for lasting behavioral changes.