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Norton Confidential
Price: £29.99 inc VAT per year

Features
Performance
Ease of use
Value for money
Overall

Reviewed By: Andy Shaw

This review updated: 31/12/2006
Featured in magazine:
Issue 149
Manufacturer Contacts:
Supplier: Symantec
Web Address: www.symantec.co.uk


Identity theft and internet fraud are becoming bigger security problems than viruses and hackers, not least of all because your money, not just a few files on a computer, could be at stake. Although the internet isn't the only place where you should be concerned about such issues – making sure you don't bin things like bank statements without destroying them is important too – many of the criminals looking for ways to steal your identity are aiming their sights at your computer. Norton Confidential attempts to make their job that bit harder.

Features
There are two main elements to the program. The first is a toolbar that installs itself into Internet Explorer (no other browsers are supported at the moment), which stops you from visiting sites that might be phishing for your private information. The second is a password guardian called InfoVault, which keeps all your login passwords in an encrypted virtual vault so, after you've typed in a single password at the beginning of your session, all your other passwords will fill out automatically. This is designed to save you from revealing any information to keyloggers or other malicious software you may not know you have lurking on your computer.

Performance
This is sensible protection that could keep you from getting caught out. We should expect that most Web User readers are savvy enough not to click on links in emails that appear to have come from your bank, but as scammers get more sophisticated, there's no guarantee that you won't fall victim. Likewise, if your computer is in use by more impressionable users who are less aware of the dangers, then it makes a lot of sense to have this kind of protection available. We tested the phishing filter on a batch of spam emails and it did a good job of warning us of links that could be problematic.

Ease of use
Confidential uses Symantec's Protection Center, which is the software installed to help you keep track of all the different parts of Norton's Internet Security suite. This is great if you're already running the suite, as all your security information is kept in one place. If you're not, it's probably overkill, though it does at least recognise the existence of other security programs, so you don't get alarm bells ringing about being under-protected just because you're using rival security software. Confidential is easy to use and configure, with most options being to turn a feature either on or off.

Value for money
For your £29.99 you get a year's worth of protection. The latest browsers come with phishing filters built in, but in our tests they weren't quite as thorough as this one. There are also alternative password managers available which do a similar job, but having everything rolled into one package, especially if you're already subscribed to Norton Internet Security, is a definite benefit.

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