An umbrella of security for all smart devices

Back in the late Nineties, when the internet was just taking baby steps in our country, there was one annual ritual that we strictly adhered to: Buying/renewing the antivirus software for our family PC. After all, we didn’t want it to catch a virus from the unknown — aka the internet.

A lot has changed since then. There is seldom just a PC in a modern home. Tablets and phones, which stay connected to the internet at all times, are just as vulnerable. And, it’s a chore getting a separate security suite for each device and remembering to renew it each year.

It seems security software maker Symantec had such users in mind when they came out with Norton 360 Multi-device. This single piece of software provides a security suite across platforms — on your PC, Mac, iOS or Android device. With a single key. The software has all the features that comes with a security suite, and some more. For example, Norton 360, which provides protection for up to five devices, also comes with 25 GB of online storage to back up those priceless photos or important documents.

Besides an antivirus, a firewall and a backup solution, the software also provides a PC tune-up wizard. One gets to pick and choose the combination of devices one has to protect. So, you can use this on your PC, iPad, Android phone/tablet and MacBook. The device also supports Windows 8 on tablets as it does Windows 8 on PCs.

For those who have kept away from Norton products as they used to hog resources, it’s time to wake up. The software doesn’t slow down your system and poses no problems to gamers. Once the software is installed on the phone or tablet, one can remotely locate, lock or wipe a lost/stolen device. Also, one can remotely snap photos of someone in front of a stolen device and save them to the online account. I couldn’t test this feature as I couldn’t get someone to volunteer to ‘steal’ the device. But the blame’s on me because just before asking for volunteers, I had demonstrated how by sending a text to a device can make it scream so we’re able to locate it, for those times you leave your phone in the car’s glove compartment and forget all about it. The version on the mobile also has a call and text blocker.

The Norton 360 Multi-Device retails for Rs 4,999 for its five-device version and Rs 3,499 for the three-device version. But, you might get a better deal online. It’s a very good deal for households with multiple devices.