Other Software > Found Deals and Discounts
Norton Identity Safe -- Free Download
cthorpe:
I used to hate on Norton like everyone else in this thread.
I bashed it every single chance I got.
Bloatware, useless, heavy, "as bad as the viruses it claims to stop," etc...
Then I started having issues with NOD32. Issues that were brought up repeatedly at WildersSecurity in their recognized support forum, only to be discounted by their reps.
So I had to ditch it. Either that or ditch Firefox since I could not download any file that was compressed in anyway without NOD screwing it up.
People told me to give Norton a chance, but I dismissed them and tried numerous AV offerings, only to have problems with each.
Finally, I gave in and tried Norton AV 2010.
Immediately, I noticed 3 things.
First, it installed so fast that I was sure something had gone wrong.
Second, it didn't even suggest that I should reboot.
Third, nothing seemed slower on my PC.
Everything I had hated about Norton security products had been fixed.
Bootup times did not take a noticeable hit.
File transfer times were just as snappy.
Hard drives didn't thrash.
False positives didn't cripple my programs and utilities.
Everything has been so great since I gave Norton another shot that I recently I upgraded to Norton AV 2012 for all Windows PCs in my home without a second thought.
In fact, I even recommend Norton AntiVirus to friends and family without pause.
My Norton protected computer runs without a hitch.
What more can you ask for?
Btw...
Total working set size for Norton AntiVirus 2012? 22mb.
CPU use? Non-existent unless I am running a full scan.
Carl
Carol Haynes:
Interesting Carl, not been my experience with recent Norton offerings but glad it works for you.
IainB:
Interesting Carl, not been my experience with recent Norton offerings but glad it works for you.
-Carol Haynes (May 30, 2012, 04:41 AM)
--- End quote ---
Give it time. Maybe he hasn't uninstalled it yet and tried to install another virus scanner...
Unfortunately, Norton stuff usually seems to leave hooks all over the system. And I mean hooks.
With that thought in mind, and getting back on topic: I installed and then uninstalled Norton Identity Safe, in a controlled environment with no Internet connection enabled, and monitored the install and the program's attempts to communication outwards. I also studied the agreement (it's an image) that you make with Norton when installing the NIS software. I shall post the agreement up here - cannot find it published on their site, so shall screen capture the details from the image at install.
It is all quite thought-provoking.
Copied here is section 10 of the agreement (from OCR of image):
Spoiler10 Privacy; Data Protection:
From time to time, the Software may collect certain information from the Device on which it is installed, which may include:
— Information on potential security risks as well as URLs of websites visited that the Software deems potentially fraudulent The URLs could contain personally identifiable information that a potentially fraudulent website is attempting to obtain without Your permission. This information is collected by Symantec for the purpose of delivering the functionalities of the software, and also for evaluating and improving the ability of Symantec’s products to detect malicious behavior, potentially fraudulent websites and other Internet security risks.
— URLs of websites visited as well as search keywords and search results only if the Norton Safe Web feature is enabled This information is collected by Symantec for the purpose of providing protection and of evaluating and advising You regarding potential threats and risks that may be associated with a particular Web site before You view it.
— Executable files and files that contain executable content that are identified as potential malware. including information on the actions taken by such files at the time of installation These files are submitted to Symantec using the Software’s automatic submission function The collected files could contain personally identifiable information that has been obtained by the malware without Your permission Files of this type are being collected by Symantec only for the purpose of improving the ability of Symantec’s products to detect malicious behavior Such automatic submission function may be deactivated after installation by following the instructions in the Documentation for applicable products.
— The name given to the Device during the initial setup of such Device. If collected, the name will be used by Symantec as an account name for the Device under which You may elect to receive additional services and/or under which You may use certain features of the Software. You may change such account name at any time after installation of the Software (recommended).
— Status information regarding installation and operation of the Software This information indicates to Symantec whether installation of the Software was successfully completed as well as whether the Software has encountered an error- The status information could contain personally identifiable information only if such information is included in the name of the file or folder encountered by the Software at the time of installation or error- The status information is collected by Symantec for the purpose of evaluating and improving Symantec’s product performance and installation success rate Symantec may also use this information to optimize its web-pages .
— Information contained in email messages that you send through the Software to Symantec to report as spam or as incorrectly identified as spam These email messages may contain personally identifiable information and will be sent to Symantec only with your permission. and will not be sent automatically If you send such messages to Symantec. Symantec will use them only for the purpose of improving the detection ability of Symantec’s antispam technology. Symantec will not correlate these files with any other personally identifiable information.
— Information contained in a report that You may choose to send through the Software to Symantec when the Software encounters a problem The report includes information regarding the status of both the Software and Your Device at the time that the Software encountered the problem The status information about Your Device may include the system language, country locale, and the operating system version for Your Device, as well as the processes running. their status and performance information, and data from files or folders that were open at the time the Software encountered the problem. The information could contain personally identifiable information if such information is included in, or is a part of the name of the files or folders open at the time the Software encountered the problem This information will be sent to Symantec only with Your permission. and will not be sent automatically. The information is collected by Symantec for the purpose of correcting the encountered problem and improving Symantec’s product performance. This information will not be correlated with any personally identifiable information.
— The Internet Protocol (lP) address and/or Media Access Control (MAC) address and the Machine ID of the computer on which the Software is installed to enable the Software to function and for license administration purposes .
— Other general, statistical information used for product analysis, and for improving product functionality.
In additon to the terms and conditions above, the following terms and conditions will also apply to Your use of the Software on mobile Devices :
— The Software may access the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) in order to generate a hash that ensures anonymity The hash is used to analyze and aggregate equipment data for statistical purposes. The IMEI is not collected or stored by Symantec. This information is used for the purpose of identifying the telecommunications device eligible to receive Content Updates for the Prerelease Software This information will not be correlated with any other personally identifiable information, such as Your account information. Alter the service has terminated the data is retained in statistical form exclusively for internal research.
Unless it is expressly defined as optional. the collected information as set out above is necessary for the purpose of the functionality of Symantec’s products
Information may be transferred to the Symantec group in the United States or other countries that may have less protective data protection laws than the region in which You are situated (including the European Union) and may be accessible by Symantec employees or contractors exclusively to be used in accordance with the purposes described above For the same purposes the information may be shared with partners and vendors that process information on behalf of Symantec Symantec has taken steps so that the collected information. if transferred. receives an adequate level of protection
Subject to applicable laws, Symantec reserves the right to cooperate with any legal process and any law enforcement or other government inquiry related to your use of this Software This means that Symantec may provide documents and information relevant to a court subpoena or to a law enforcement or other government investigation. In order to promote awareness, detection and prevention of Internet security risks. Symantec may share certain information with research organizations and other security software vendors. Symantec may also use statistics derived from the information to track and publish reports on security risk trends by using the Software. You acknowledge and agree that Symantec may collect, transmit, store, disclose and analyze such information for these purposes.
CPS / IDS 1.0 / IE
In the doco somewhere it also says that it uses your unique CPU ID, or something, to hash/encrypt data.
NIS is your Friend... :o
cthorpe:
There was a 2 month period where I did not have a new subscription for Norton on one machine since I wanted to wait until all my machines expired to get the full 12 months.
I uninstalled it and shifted over to Microsoft Security Essentials. I had no problems removing Norton, no problems installing MSE, and no problems going back to Norton.
Oh, and for those who are bound to wonder why I went back to a paid solution instead of MSE? MSE slowed my system down considerably compared to Norton. And full system scans took more than 24 hours (with minimal computer use and no sleeping or hibernation).
Norton is not the same plodding, system killing beast it once was.
Carl
IainB:
I uninstalled it and shifted over to Microsoft Security Essentials. I had no problems removing Norton, no problems installing MSE, and no problems going back to Norton.
...MSE slowed my system down considerably compared to Norton. And full system scans took more than 24 hours (with minimal computer use and no sleeping or hibernation).
Norton is not the same plodding, system killing beast it once was.
-cthorpe (June 01, 2012, 12:23 AM)
--- End quote ---
That's interesting.
Maybe Norton antivirus is only much-maligned by people like me who had some very nasty experiences with Norton in the old days, and it was a case of "once bitten, twice shy". (Norton Tools was very good though.)
Odd what you say about MSE - it has never seemed to slow down any of the 6 PCs I have installed it on. It seems to behave unobtrusively and seems quite fast.
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