Norton upgrades Internet Security Suite

From...

By Sam Costello

(IDG) -- Almost a week after it released the new version of its flagship antivirus product, Symantec on Tuesday unveiled Norton Internet Security 2002, an integrated firewall, privacy, antivirus, and content filtering suite.

The suite, which will be available in September, will cost $69.96. An upgrade rebate of $30 is available to users of other Norton products or those sold by certain competitors.

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Aimed at home users and small businesses, Norton Internet Security 2002 includes a firewall for use with always-on broadband Internet connections. Machines connected to the Internet this way are among the most appealing to attackers. The firewall blocks incoming connection attempts, detects common attack techniques such as port scans and blocks them, and can be configured to prohibit applications from establishing a connection to the Internet, Symantec says.

Protect Your Privacy

New privacy features in Norton Internet Security 2002 block personal information from being sent over the Web in cookies and filter that information from being sent by instant messaging programs, Symantec says. Users can designate which Web sites are allowed to receive and send cookies on a site-by-site basis, the company says.

The software also includes Norton AntiVirus 2002, an updated suite of virus fighting tools that include e-mail filtering, script blocking, and automatic updating.

The package includes a control feature that allows parents to block access to Web sites, Symantec says. This feature comes with a list of sites to be blocked generated by Symantec that is accessible and modifiable by parents. The software will also block objectionable content sent through instant messaging and by peer-to-peer networks, the company says.

In addition to new features, Norton Internet Security 2002 adds support for Microsoft's Windows XP. The suite offers multiuser support, allowing each individual to log on with a user name and password combination to access a different set of preferences and options.

Both Norton Personal Firewall and Norton AntiVirus are available as separate products, and the versions included in Norton Internet Security are the same as those sold individually.