Cyber security is a complicated business.
In the "old days" all you really needed was a decent anti-virus program, set up to scan your emails and downloaded files for any nasties, nuking them on sight. As long as you kept this program up to date and changed your passwords from time to time, you'd probably be safe.
Sadly, things have become complicated.
As technology has become exponentially more sophisticated, so have the tools and techniques of the bad actors out there. In fact, the sheer number of bad actors out there has grown exponentially too.
According to the latest Norton Cyber Safety Insights Report, almost 2 out of every 5 New Zealand adults expect to have their identity stolen at some point while 29% have experienced some kind of social media hack over the last year.
This kind of thing has been well-publicised, of course. Publicised to death, even. Yet all this has really achieved is making us more worried than ever about losing all our stuff. In fact, over 80% of us admit we have no idea how to check if our identities have been stolen and two-thirds wouldn't have a clue what to do if(when) it was(will be).
Keeping your digital footprint to a minimum seems like an excellent idea. Do you know what that means? Or how to do it?
Don't worry. Norton will make it all better.
I've relied on Norton 360 to keep my devices (and me) safe for some years now.
Features like Real-Time Threat Protection, Password Manager and Secure VPN have become essentials but Norton 360 Platinum really ups the ante, making it potentially the most feature-packed cyber-safety package on the market.
Add your social media accounts to monitor them for takeovers or other weird activity. Norton will keep an eye on the Dark Web to make sure your details aren't floating around down there. School Time gives you the ability to keep your kids focussed on the "right" kind of internet usage and Norton's PC Cloud Backup means even if everything literally melts down, you can restore your essentials and be back up and running in no time.
There's even an option to stop anyone else accessing your webcam. That sounds like a very bad scenario and one I'd like to avoid at all costs.
But the major benefit of 360 Platinum is access to Norton's team of Dedicated Identity Restoration Specialists. This service springs into action should the worst happen and you discover your details are being traded on the dark web. A dedicated Restoration Specialist will be assigned to your case from start to finish, to resolve your identity theft issue. This can involve the complicated and sometimes sensitive business of having to deal with third parties like credit card companies, banks, government agencies and even collection services.
If you've had to go through this process alone, you'll be well aware of how stressful it can be and the risks involved - and you'll be super-determined to avoid it ever happening again.
If you're lucky enough to have evaded any major cyber-trouble so far, a comprehensive protection suite like Norton 360 Platinum is a good way to ensure you stay lucky.
And if you want to whittle that digital footprint down even further, Norton LifeLock has another new service called AntiTrack.
These "Anti-Fingerprinting Capabilities" mask what you're doing online by sending "dummy data" back to the sites while you carry on with your legitimate business.
Unlike many VPN services (especially the risky "free" VPNs) Norton AntiTrak protects your privacy without slowing anything down. In fact, because it blocks the tracking functions of webpages before they even load, potentially your browsing will speed up instead.
There's an easily accessible dashboard that shows you just how much of your info is being blocked from prying cyber-eyes and enables you to let your guard down deliberately if you're using a site you trust implicitly.
Unfortunately, at the present time Norton AntiTrack is a little bit fussy about which browsers you can add it to, depending on which OS you're using. For example, my preferred browser is Microsoft Edge - especially since its recent AI-powered Bing integration. I use it on MacOS as well as on Windows devices so I can sync all my preferences and settings no matter where I am and what machine I'm reviewing.
But when I tried to install AntiTrack on my MacBook Pro, I could only choose from Safari, Chrome or Firefox. I'm assuming Norton will sort this out in a further update.
The really good news is it only costs NZ$6.99 a month. (That's for one PC, MacOS or iOS device - there are bulk savings for 5 and 10-device subscriptions)
Both Norton 360 Platinum and Norton AntiTrack are simple to use but more importantly, easy to install - it's just a matter of visiting Norton's website and following the instructions. Oh, and by the way, this is not a trick. But you'll just have to trust me on that.
Click here for more information on Norton AntiTrack.
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