Norton Internet Security, Antivirus and 360 Being Retired?

Discussion in 'other anti-virus software' started by Raza0007, Sep 19, 2014.

  1. Mayahana

    Mayahana Banned

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    The review indicated it scored very well, in fact second on the list of products for HTTP blocking, and first (by far) for Phishing, even for detecting unknown Phishing sites (heuristic phishing detection). However I would like to point out he didn't state in the test how he had Norton configured. Many of the newer improvements need to be manually turned on. (or ticked up with a slider) Symantec Enterprise defaults with most of it's best protections off or reduced. Unless you follow best-practice deployment these will also not be set correctly on the enterprise version. (BPD is NOT default)

    I would think many of the new improvements wouldn't be entirely evident unless he actually followed best practice deployment settings - which I am pretty confident he didn't unless I missed in the article where he adjusted the settings?

    This is the first Norton product I am considering personally switching to since around 2001. Mostly because I am privy to some of the powerful enterprise underpinnings in this version available to us now on the consumer level. (which seems to be the trend lately)
     
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2014
  2. Victek

    Victek Registered Member

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    How do you justify the high price and the restrictive upgrade policy (for existing licenses) for a product that is only incrementally better at best?
     
  3. clocks

    clocks Registered Member

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    I'd agree, they should honor existing licenses. They always have in the past. Maybe if enough complain, they will reverse their policy.
     
  4. Victek

    Victek Registered Member

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    I believe Neil Rubenking tests security programs with default settings since that is the level of protection most users (who are not savvy enough to change the defaults) will get. It's not uncommon that security apps are shipped with less than optimal defaults. Why? Perhaps to reduce the risk of false positives and resulting support calls from users...? I haven't used Norton Security myself though and don't know if the defaults are less than optimal.
     
  5. ProTruckDriver

    ProTruckDriver Registered Member

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    There is, look at the Norton Forum. Not many happy campers with existing licenses.
     
  6. Mayahana

    Mayahana Banned

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    Is this unprecedented for AV companies to do this?

    One thing I appreciate about Trend, Eset, etc. are the fact that once I hold keys they are 'flexible'. I've successfully used 2013 Trend keys on 2015, and I love how I can upgrade/downgrade different versions of Eset as I need to using the same licensing information. Norton doing this seems like a mistake, even with a lot of engineering behind the new product. If they want to increase the price point - do that when licenses expire for people, don't kill your licensing database!

    I'd already be running Norton 2015 right now if I could buy discounted 2014 licenses. So Norton lost my business until I can find 'deeply' discounted 2015 coupons/licenses. If I cannot, then I won't bother to switch, so it's lost money. If they changed the policy right now and offered free upgrades I'd spend some money instantly. Seems like front of the house at Norton is disconnected from reality.
     
  7. clocks

    clocks Registered Member

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    What country are you in. In many there are easily found discounted licenses online. I have gotten a ton in the past, either free after rebate, or < $10.
     
  8. Victek

    Victek Registered Member

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    What he meant was he'd be running Norton 2015 right now if he could use 2014 licenses.
     
  9. clocks

    clocks Registered Member

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    Ah, got it. I'm lucky. I have access to my two favorite paid programs for free. Norton via Comcast. WRSA via Ally bank. Plus Norton sent me a free license as a beta tester.

    I'd imagine discounted 2015 licenses will be available soon enough.
     
  10. xxJackxx

    xxJackxx Registered Member

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    It did score well. But it always has, particularly when reviewed on that site. Nothing new here. If the improvements have to be manually turned on they will be of little good to what would normally be Norton's target audience. My issue with them is sticking it to the loyal customers by not giving upgrades to existing users. The general consensus here seems to agree. There is no defense of what they are doing, and the product changes they have made do not reflect a better result in (this) testing, and if the options have to be changed manually for a better result, most end users will never see it. They have to make programming changes every year. This time, they just want to be paid more for their work. They can charge whatever they want, but they aren't getting it from me. There are better products with better upgrade policies.
     
  11. Mayahana

    Mayahana Banned

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    What better products are you referring to?

    For me, synthetic testing is only a small aspect of what I consider. I actually weigh performance impact higher in priority than synthetic tests. Stability, price, performance, usability (interface, settings, etc), HTTP/HTTPS scanning efficiency/effectiveness, phishing protection all weigh very high with me. With that being said, only a tiny fraction of existing AV products really fit the bill. Norton 2015 is on the short list right now as I have found most AV products to lack significantly in areas I consider crucial.
     
  12. xxJackxx

    xxJackxx Registered Member

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    I don't want to name names here, but all of the usual top players. It all comes down to whether or not you agree with the licensing change. If you do by all means, give them your money. I don't and have nothing else to add.
     
  13. clocks

    clocks Registered Member

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    I had Bitdefender pull some shenanigans on me before. Norton isn't the only one to play games. But I agree, people should vote with their wallet.
     
  14. steve1955

    steve1955 Registered Member

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    do any other vendors offer the 100% virus free guarantee that Symantec do for this product for theirs?
     
  15. hawki

    hawki Registered Member

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    Panda used to use this no upgrade approach many years ago.
     
  16. Victek

    Victek Registered Member

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    I believe Webroot does for their SecureAnywhere product line (you can ask in the dedicated thread for confirmation). Regarding Norton Security, in the PCmag review it's unclear what is being stated:

    Norton Security now comes with a Virus Protection Promise. If the product alone can't remove a virus or other malware from your PC or Mac, Symantec will unleash its remediation experts at no extra cost. And if all their attempts at remote control remediation fail, Symantec will refund the price of the service.

    What exactly does this mean? Are they saying they will refund the cost of the license purchase if they can't clean the PC?
     
  17. hawki

    hawki Registered Member

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    It's BLOCKING rates were in the high 90%s...It's on demand detection rates sucked..That's why it doesn't participate in AV Comparatives. It claims it's a poorly designed test because part of Norton's scan detection is knowing where the file came from. The last on demand scan test result's I saw were in the 80%s.
     
  18. Victek

    Victek Registered Member

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    I haven't seen a comprehensive survey, but anecdotally many vendors are willing to upgrade an older product to the latest version (of that same product) while there is an active subscription. With some vendors you just have to ask and they will offer the upgrade, but the problem with the Norton line is that this has been the upfront policy for years. By "up front" I mean the Norton UI has a "check for latest version" link which takes you to the product website, and if a newer version is available you can immediately download and install it. I've also used licenses from their 2007 product to activate NIS 2010/2011, etc. What they are doing now is a dramatic reversal and understandably upsetting to people who have extra licenses or a lot of outstanding time on their current subscription, etc. "Unprecedented" may be too strong a word, but it's hard to take away a feature/perk that users have come to take for granted.
     
  19. hawki

    hawki Registered Member

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    I believe everyone is interpreting that as being the cost of the product will be refunded. Not clear if it is restricted to purchases made only at their store. For example, Norton sells with a 60-day money-back guarantee, but only if you bought the product through their store.

    Note it doesn't say how long or intensively the "Unleashed remediation experts" will work on the problem.
     
  20. malexous

    malexous Registered Member

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  21. malexous

    malexous Registered Member

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  22. Firecat

    Firecat Registered Member

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    Interesting for Virus Protection Assurance:

    So what they are saying is that only the malicious files will be removed and the changes to the system not reversed i.e. malware can completely screw up your system but SYMC's job is done if they just get the files.

    As for Virus Removal Guarantee:

     
  23. steve1955

    steve1955 Registered Member

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    how can anybody ever guarantee to reverse the damage that malware has done to a system,for some folk the deletion of personal data/files could be part of that damage,if these files aren't backed up elsewhere how would such damage be reversed?
     
  24. Mayahana

    Mayahana Banned

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    Do you guys realize that Norton w/Backup covers TEN devices for $89o_O? That's a steal. I think the closet one to that is ESET which covers 10 devices for $149.00.. Norton is a bargain even at full price.

    Figured I had nothing to lose, I opened support chat. Told them I wanted to buy it, and asked for a coupon code or discount, and if they honored .EDU. The nice support girl said to buy it while in chat with her, and she will instantly refund 50% of the price for me as a measure of good customer support.. So there you have it - 10 devices for a year, with 25gb cloud storage, 40 bucks! Norton has won me as a customer after a 14+ year absence from using their stuff.
     
  25. Nevis

    Nevis Registered Member

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    Which Customer representative was that. Did you ask her name :D
     
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