Norton, formerly known as Norton by Symantec, is a brand of

Gen Digital Gen Digital Inc. (formerly Symantec Corporation and NortonLifeLock) is a multinational software company co-headquartered in Tempe, Arizona and Prague, Czech Republic. The company provides cybersecurity software and services. Gen is a Fortune 5 ...

(formerly NortonLifeLock) based in Tempe, Arizona. Since being acquired by the Symantec Corporation in 1990, Norton offers a variety of products and services related to

digital security Digital security refers to various ways of protecting a computer's internet account and files from intrusion by an outside user or a hacker. Computers and the Internet Internet security involves the protection of a computer's internet account a ...

, identity protection, and

online privacy Internet privacy involves the right or mandate of personal privacy concerning the storing, re-purposing, provision to third parties, and displaying of information pertaining to oneself via Internet. Internet privacy is a subset of data privacy. Pr ...

. In 2014, Norton's parent company Symantec separated their business into two units. One was focused on security and the other was focused on

information management Information management (IM) concerns a cycle of organizational activity: the acquisition of information from one or more sources, the custodianship and the distribution of that information to those who need it, and its ultimate disposal throug ...

; Norton was placed in the unit focused on security. The company originally provided utility software for DOS.

History

Peter Norton Computing, Inc. was a software company founded by

Peter Norton Peter Norton (born November 14, 1943) is an American programmer, software publisher, author, and philanthropist. He is best known for the computer programs and books that bear his name and portrait. Norton sold his software business to Symantec ...

. Norton and his company developed various

DOS DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems. DOS may also refer to: Computing * Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel * Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicat ...

utilities A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...

including the

Norton Utilities Norton Utilities is a utility software suite designed to help analyze, configure, optimize and maintain a computer. The latest version of the original series of Norton Utilities is Norton Utilities 16 for Windows XP/Vista/7/8 was released 26 Oc ...

which did not include

antivirus Antivirus software (abbreviated to AV software), also known as anti-malware, is a computer program used to prevent, detect, and remove malware. Antivirus software was originally developed to detect and remove computer viruses, hence the name. ...

features. In 1990, the company was acquired by Symantec and renamed Peter Norton Consulting Group. Symantec's consumer antivirus and data management utilities are still marketed under the Norton name. In early 1991, Symantec's Norton Group launched Norton AntiVirus 1.0 for PC and compatible computers. The company updated and diversified its product line until finally combining its offerings into one seamless product,

Norton Security Norton Security is a cross-platform security suite that provides subscription-based real-time malware prevention and removal in addition to identity theft protection and performance tuning tools. Other features include a personal firewall, emai ...

Products and Services

Norton’s products are primarily digital security tools for personal computers, server devices and, more recently, mobile devices. In the 1990s, Norton provided software to check computer systems for Y2K compliance. The company's primary product is Norton Security. The software is licensed to individuals, small businesses and enterprises. It includes

malware Malware (a portmanteau for ''malicious software'') is any software intentionally designed to cause disruption to a computer, server, client, or computer network, leak private information, gain unauthorized access to information or systems, depri ...

prevention and removal during the subscription period for up to five devices. Other features included in the product are a

personal firewall A personal firewall is an application which controls network traffic to and from a computer, permitting or denying communications based on a security policy. Typically it works as an application layer firewall. A personal firewall differs from ...

, email spam filtering and

phishing Phishing is a type of social engineering where an attacker sends a fraudulent (e.g., spoofed, fake, or otherwise deceptive) message designed to trick a person into revealing sensitive information to the attacker or to deploy malicious softwar ...

protection. The program was released in September 2014, replacing

Norton 360 Norton 360, developed by Symantec, was an “all-in-one” Internet security#Security suites, security suite for the consumer market. It was first released in 2007, but was discontinued in 2014; its features were carried over to its successor, ...

, Norton Internet Security, and

Norton AntiVirus Norton AntiVirus is an anti-computer virus, virus or anti-malware software product founded by Peter Norton, developed and distributed by Gen Digital since 1990 as part of its Norton (Symantec), Norton family of computer security products. It use ...

. A mesh Wi-Fi network is developed by Norton, intended to protect computers inside the network from unsafe

Web sites A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Wikipe ...

. A mobile version of the software is also available. Norton also provides backup software to keep its user's files safe. 25GB of online storage is provided for backing up important photos and documents from a user's devices. A

cloud-based Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage (cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over multip ...

parental control ''Parental Control'' is a reality television show about people looking for love produced by MTV. The two directors, Brendon Carter and Bruce Klassen, have also created other MTV shows. In Asia, this show was aired on Channel V from 2007–2009. ...

service known as Norton Family Premier is developed by the company, formerly known as Norton Online Family. The software is aimed at "fostering communication" involving parents and their children's online activities. Norton Computer Tune Up is a program that helps users increase the performance of older computer systems. The program uses inspection and repair services designed to restore speed and performance in place of a new computer or repair-shop work. Norton-certified technicians are available to offer repair assistance.

Norton Guides (1985)

Developed and distributed by Peter Norton Computing. The guides were written by Warren Woodford for the x86

Assembly Language In computer programming, assembly language (or assembler language, or symbolic machine code), often referred to simply as Assembly and commonly abbreviated as ASM or asm, is any low-level programming language with a very strong correspondence be ...

, C,

BASIC BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages designed for ease of use. The original version was created by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College ...

and

Forth Forth or FORTH may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''forth'' magazine, an Internet magazine * ''Forth'' (album), by The Verve, 2008 * ''Forth'', a 2011 album by Proto-Kaw * Radio Forth, a group of independent local radio stations in Scotla ...

languages which were made available to users via a TSR program that integrated with programming language editors on IBM PC-type computers. This appears to be the first example of a commercial product where programming reference information was integrated into the software development environment.

Security considerations

In January 2022, a several users brought to light an issue with a hidden

backdoor A back door is a door in the rear of a building. Back door may also refer to: Arts and media * Back Door (jazz trio), a British group * Porta dos Fundos (literally “Back Door” in Portuguese) Brazilian comedy YouTube channel. * Works so title ...

crypto-mining tool in the

security software suite. Following the report in media Norton highlighted the procedure for uninstalling the product from their computer.

Awards

* In 2012, Norton by Symantec won

PC Advisor ''Tech Advisor'', previously known as ''PC Advisor'', is a consumer tech website and digital magazine published by Foundry, a subsidiary of IDG Inc, which also produces ''Macworld, PCWorld'' and ''TechHive.'' IDG Inc was acquired by Blackstone in 2 ...

’s Best Security Software award, stating that “''Norton is probably the best known of all internet security products, and Symantec has stood the test of time by constantly improving its product with useful extras, both in its core engine and in the way it reports what it’s been up to.''” * In 2015, Norton by Symantec won

AV-TEST AV-TEST is an independent organization which evaluates and rates antivirus and security suite software for Microsoft Windows and Android operating systems, according to a variety of criteria. The organisation is based in Magdeburg, Germany. Ever ...

’s Innovation Award for Mobile Security, stating, “''Prior to the download of an app, Norton Mobile Security for Android already knows all its potential risks. It is backed by a unique system consisting of the App Advisor for Google Play and Norton Mobile Insight.''” * In 2015, Norton Mobile Security and Norton Family Premier both received

PC Magazine ''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and have continued to the present d ...

's Editors' Choice Awards.

References

External links

* {{Antivirus software Gen Digital software Content-control software Antivirus software Computer security software Internet security