Norton Internet Security 2006

The new version of Symantec’s security suite promises to protect your PC from viruses, hackers, spam and spyware, with a coherent, friendly interface.

Features
The software covers all bases with firewall, anti-virus, parental control, spam filter and anti-spyware components. Most of these are useful to all computer users, but Norton handily provides two installation options – one with parental control and the other without. There’s also a home network wizard to ensure that you don’t have to worry about connecting any other devices you may have in the house, though in practice we still had to drill down and change a setting to get file and printer-sharing to work.

Performance
Norton’s record for keeping computers free of viruses and hackers is second to none – a large base of happy users is testament to that. The relatively new departments of anti-spyware and anti-spam are not quite so tried and tested though. However, despite a general lack of visibility of the spyware function, it has some sensible options and ties in well with the anti-virus capabilities, and the anti-spam function did a decent job of catching unwanted email during our tests.

Ease of use
There’s no point in having home security software if you can’t understand how to use it properly. Norton has always been strong in this department and the 2006 software is little different, offering advice as you go on its key elements like setting up the firewall. We were disappointed with the new Protection Centre though, which included veiled adverts for other Symantec products by suggesting our security was marginally undermined by not having options for Symantec’s own data recovery or performance boosting software installed.

Value for money
As always with security software, value for money is critical. When it comes to the crunch, most of the key elements of Norton Internet Security are available elsewhere free of charge. What you’re effectively paying for here is their integration into a suite, which makes all your security software available through a single, coherent interface; the weight of a meaty commercial company behind it, ensuring the latest threats are dealt with; and access to technical support. The value of this really depends on your skill level. If you’re a bit of a computer tweaker it’s probably worth going down the free software route. If you’d rather install and forget, Norton is £50 well spent.