Our cybersecurity requirements are constantly changing, with new threats and malicious malware appearing on a daily basis. The more our daily lives are linked to our online profiles and digital identities, the more appealing we become to bad actors, identity thieves, and ransomware schemes.
Finding a holistic cyber security package that best suits your specific needs is one of the best and easiest ways to protect yourself and your family. Norton Internet Security is a PCMag Editors’ Choice winner for security suites and a cybersecurity industry leader. Norton 360, one of their most popular offerings, provides multiple layers of protection for your devices as well as industry-leading online privacy features such as a secure VPN and Dark Web Monitoring. Norton 360 is compatible with both PCs and Macs, as well as smartphones and tablets.
How urgently do I require Internet security?
Simply put, surfing the web has never been more dangerous. When you work remotely or conduct banking or confidential business on a personal device, you endanger both your data and yourself. Norton reports that it blocks approximately 11 million+ threats for its users every single day, with a January 2022 report listing 3.6 billion threats blocked in 2021. There were 54 million phishing emails, 221 million cases of file-based malware, and 253,063 potentially lethal ransomware attacks.
Data breaches on popular services such as LinkedIn, Amazon-owned gamer streaming platform Twitch, online trading platform Robinhood, and adult webcam site Stripchat occurred in 2021. Hundreds of data breaches and hacks on hugely popular websites and services have occurred over the last decade, so it’s possible that sensitive data of yours has already been compromised.
While you may consider yourself tech savvy (and perhaps you’ve never had a data scare), it’s important to remember that you’re not always the only person using your device. The good old-fashioned family computer is a breeding ground for all manner of cyber attacks. When children are involved, the likelihood of a risky download or phishing scam increases exponentially, making parental controls an absolute lifesaver when it comes to curious kids who like to click links. Norton 360 does provide comprehensive parental controls, but they are not available in all service tiers to save money for smaller households. Let’s take a look at the three most popular Norton Security products in the 360 range to get a better idea of what’s available and where.
What Is the Difference Between Standard, Deluxe, and Premium?
While it’s natural to believe that the more you pay for a security product, the more secure it is, Norton does not price in this manner. When it comes to Anti-Spyware, Antivirus, Malware, and Ransomware Protection, all Norton 360 packages use the same technology. So even if you end up with the Standard package rather than the Deluxe or Premium, you’ll be just as safe.
The primary distinctions between Standard, Deluxe, and Premium are the number of devices you’ll be protecting, the amount of secure cloud storage you’ll need, and the addition of parental controls and features designed specifically to limit children’s unsafe internet access.
We’ll go over each of these options in greater detail below, but the short version is this: If you only need to protect a single device, Norton 360 Standard should suffice. Norton 360 Deluxe will suffice if you have children or want to protect up to three devices. If you are a power user who regularly backs up your devices to the cloud, you should probably go with the Premium solution.
Norton 360 Products Inside
A $59.99 introductory offer for the first year; renews at full price.
Norton 360 Standard offers comprehensive security for a single PC, Mac, smartphone, or tablet. 360 Standard includes the same Anti-Spyware, Antivirus, Malware, and Ransomware Protection as Norton AntiVirus Plus, as well as access to a secure VPN for safe browsing and SafeCam for PC to prevent unauthorized access to your webcam. With PC Cloud Backup, you have access to 10GB of cloud storage for your sensitive, critical files and financial data. Perfect for securing the family computer.
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A $69.99 introductory offer for the first year; renews at full price.
Norton 360 Deluxe is PCMag’s Editors’ Choice for the Best VPN Security Suite. It is the best value among the three options for the most comprehensive personal internet security suite available. 360 Deluxe includes all of the protections of 360 Standard for up to three devices, as well as online privacy features such as Norton Secure VPN, SafeCam for PC, and Dark Web Monitoring. It also includes up to 50GB of cloud storage for PC backup and is the most affordable way to gain access to Parental Control features like ‘School Time,’ which restricts internet access to specifically educational websites and resources during school hours. If you can’t decide and simply want to be as secure as possible across multiple devices, this is your best bet.
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A$84.99 introductory offer for the first year; renews at full price.
Norton 360 Premium, like Norton 360 Deluxe, offers multiple layers of protection for up to five devices, as well as online privacy features such as Norton Secure VPN, SafeCam for PC, and Dark Web Monitoring. Premium, for the most part, provides the same services as 360 Deluxe. The primary distinction between Premium and Deluxe is the amount of storage available for Cloud backups and protection for additional devices. Norton 360 Premium provides 100GB of storage versus 50GB for Norton 360 Deluxe.
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If you’re interested in using Norton’s security technology (and you should be, given their strong Test Lab results), Outside of Norton 360, it’s critical to understand the differences between each of the Norton offerings. To assist with this, see this comprehensive Norton Security guide, which covers all of their current offerings in Australia.
