We’re in a day and age where security is paramount. We secure our homes, cars, offices, and even invest in personal security – both education, arms, and arts of the martial kind. What about our devices? Pause for thought for a second. How much of your personal information is stored on one or more of your digital devices? Take another second to think about how much personal information is stored on your cloud accounts. Having a digital device like a laptop, or desktop, tablet, and smartphone today means that we’re constantly giving out our sensitive personal information over the digital highway. While being connected virtually 24/7, your personal information and digital well-being is also at risk even if we haven’t shared any sensitive information over the internet directly. Being connected means you’re at risk. Everything comes with some risk, and the perks of the digital age are no exception.
This is where Norton 360 with LifeLock comes in. Norton has become synonymous with antivirus protection and digital security – not only on laptops and desktops, but on other devices as well. What does it set you back? Norton 360 with LifeLock Select costs $99.48 a year currently. Going up a tier and opting for Norton 360 with LifeLock Advantage sets you back $179.88 a year. On their highest tier, you’ll get Norton 360 with LifeLock Ultimate Plus for $251.88 a year. The differences between the packages lie mainly in the number of devices on which you can use the software, as well as how cloud storage space you receive. There are other differences too – the tier you choose all depends on your requirements for digital security and identity theft protection. We’ll get to the identity theft protection later.
What Do I Get with Norton 360 Security?
All Norton products give you Norton AntiVirus Plus. This comes with a two-way firewall to keep you secure from hacking or any malicious attempts to access your device’s system. You also get an unlimited password manager, along with a file back-up program.
For browsing security, while you’re going through articles or trying to find facts to prove anti-vaxxers wrong, Norton 360 also comes with its Safe Web browser extensions. These work with most browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and yes, even Internet Explorer if you’re inclined that way. In Isolation mode, Safe Web picks up on dangerous sites, rendering them read-only for your and your device’s safety. Safe Web is really helpful when banking, especially, since we know we’re most vulnerable when accessing our online banking platforms. When visiting banking sites, Norton automatically runs the browser session through a virtual machine, upping your privacy and security.
Norton’s Secure VPN
With Norton 360, you get access to a virtual private network, or VPN. The great thing about Norton’s VPN is that it doesn’t promise only to disappoint in future. You’re getting unlimited VPN data right from the start – none of that free limited-data offering only, and then having you pay for more later on, when you really need. A VPN masks your IP address, making it far more difficult for hackers to find out where you’re really located. A more superficial benefit – but just as important for many – is the fact that a VPN allows you to change your location. This makes it appear that you’re accessing the web from another city or country in the world, allowing you to access geographically-locked content, like the Netflix libraries of other countries. On average, it appears to take only 6.5 seconds to connect to Norton’s VPN. As with most VPNs, however, expect to have your usable bandwidth cut in half when connecting.
You’re also getting parental controls which Norton does excellently. This blocks age-inappropriate material for the less mature or more impressionable in your family or household. It also offers other helpful features, including giving you, the parent, the ability to schedule screen time. You’re also able to view the locations of individual children from their devices.
LifeLock and Identity Theft
Identity theft is a real and rising problem today, globally. The problem is that it’s just not possible to prevent identity theft altogether – scary, but it’s the truth. From the name, it seems that LifeLock would keep your life and your identity under lock and key. While Norton LifeLock, and other programs, can’t actually do that (not possible, remember) it works to alert you the moment that your data and identity is compromised. The purpose of the program and service is to help you deal with the fallout of identity theft as best and efficiently as possible.
You won’t know you’re a victim of identity theft until it’s happened. Depending on the tier of Norton 360 with LifeLock that you choose, LifeLock monitors your credit with one or three of the major credit bureaus. If there’s any unusual activity with your Social Security number and lenders linked to you, Norton’s LifeLock lets you know immediately. Since most identity thieves operate on the dark web, making exorbitant amounts of money from your personal information, LifeLock also constantly monitors that part of the internet searching for any sign of your personal information floating around.
Identity theft is no joke – far from it, in fact – and can have devastating consequences to anyone’s life. This is where LifeLock really helps out. If you fall victim to identity theft, Norton’s Million Dollar Protection Package kicks in to help you out and pull you out of the dredges. The fallout of identity theft can have effects across many areas of one’s life. Norton will spend up a million dollars on lawyers and other experts to help you sort out your affairs in the aftermath. Along with this, you’ll also be reimbursed for up to $25,000 in personal expenses, and up to $25,000 in stolen funds – if these expenses are directly linked with identity fraud.
With Norton 360 with LifeLock, whatever tier you choose, you’re getting a great package in digital security overall. However, LifeLock doesn’t improve your security – it helps you with the aftermath.
