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Norton Online Family to leave beta, remain free

Editors' note: In the original version of this blog, we used the beta name for this product. The official name is OnlineFamily.Norton.

Back in February, Symantec debuted a new security program that sought to help parents talk to their kids about how they use the Internet. OnlineFamily.Norton has been a free beta since then, but this Monday at midnight, the program will leave beta and remain free at least until the end of 2009. The program was originally called Norton Family Online.

This parental control suite provides parents with an interesting and possibly unique approach to online child … Read more

A new world for Norton 360

Norton 360 is arguably the best-known software security suite in the world, but that doesn't necessarily make it the best. However, in this latest version Symantec responds aggressively to user complaints concerning resource-hogging while including improvements in botnet detection, warnings for suspicious online retailers, and virus-definition file updates pushed every 15 minutes.

The suite includes antivirus, antispyware, antiphishing, antispam, antirootkit protection, a firewall, Symantec's SONAR (Symantec Online Network for Advance Response) behavioral-monitoring software, and a vulnerability assessment tool to see what Windows updates your computer might be missing. It also rolls in 2GB of free online storage for … Read more

Symantec creates havoc with unsigned Norton patch

Symantec released a diagnostic patch for some of its older Norton products on Monday night that did not identify its origin and thus triggered alerts on user firewalls, the company said Tuesday.

The patch for 2006 and 2007 versions of Norton Internet Security and Norton Antivirus, a program dubbed "PFST.exe," (Product Information Framework Trouble Shooter) was distributed to collect anonymous statistics on matters such as how many computers are using the products and what operating system they are running, Jeff Kyle, group product manager for Symantec consumer products, said Tuesday.

Because it was unsigned--a result of human … Read more

Symantec debuts Norton Online Family

UPDATED: Corrected list of supported messaging protocols.

Known for its security software, Symantec on Tuesday launched a new program aimed at educating parents about their children's online usage. Norton Online Family, now available in beta, is a parental control suite with multiple levels of restriction and an emphasis on usage reporting.

Citing a Rochester Institute of Technology study that found a huge gap between the percentage of parents versus children who report no online supervision, Symantec says that Online Family is intended to bridge that gap by "fostering communication" between parents and their kids. According to the … Read more

Ask partners with Symantec on security ratings for Web searches

Search engine Ask is partnering with Symantec to offer Web surfers ratings on the safety level of sites in search results, the companies were set to announce on Tuesday.

Sites will be rated with a color-coded icon in one of four colors--green for safe, yellow for risky, red for unsafe, and gray for unknown, said Andrew Moers, president of Ask Partner Network. Moving the cursor over the icon will display more information about the rating.

Unsafe sites are ones that pretend to be something they are not and shopping sites that lack security or where the merchants aren't reputable, … Read more

How Live OneCare changed the antivirus landscape

Since its introduction in 2006, Microsoft's Windows Live OneCare has altered the antivirus landscape. With Tuesday's announcement that Microsoft will no longer be selling the product in retail outlets but offering a new free version, code-named Morro, starting in the second half of 2009, it's sure to change the field once again.

Since Microsoft bought Romania-based antivirus firm GeCad five years ago, there has been fear among the commercial antivirus vendors that the software giant would simply bundle its malware protection within the next version of Windows. While that didn't happen--and it's unlikely to happen… Read more