Norton — Best Overall Windows Antivirus in 2022

Nortonremains my favourite antivirus program in 2022. It offers a powerful antimalware engine and a variety of internet security tools. It offers excellent customer support and an intuitive online dashboard. All this at a lower price than other antivirus products.

Norton’s antimalware engine uses machine learning, advanced algorithms and a constantly updated malware directory. It can detect all kinds of malware from trojans and viruses to ransomware and cryptojackers. Norton’s full scanner was able to detect every malware file I downloaded during my testing. The system was very responsive.

Norton also offers

• Firewall.
• Anti-phishing protection.
• Parental control.
• SecureVPN (virtual private networks)
• Cloud backup.
• Privacy protection.
• Webcam Protection (Windows only).
• Identity protection (US only)

Norton is a good antivirus, but it’s not perfect. You will need to install 4 additional apps in order to have complete security on your smartphone. Norton’s VPN can secure web access from any server worldwide. It won’t work for streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu. It is slower than other VPNs and doesn’t allow torrenting.

Norton 360 is not perfect, but I still love it. The number of features included in each package was amazing to me. There are many competitors that offer more features than the basic antimalware scanner. But, nearly all of the Norton 360 security tools are worth buying by themselves. Norton comes with a 60-day money back guarantee. It is easy to test and choose the best antivirus for you.

• Norton Free Review

Norton 360 Full Review

Norton packages offer a range of security tools and features that can enhance cybersecurity protections.

The cheapest plan includes firewall, antiphishing protection, and webcam protection. A password manager is included as well as 10GB of cloud storage.

Norton Security Features

Anti-Malware Engine

Norton employs a large malware database and machine-learning to detect malicious software. It offers protection from malware on iOS, Android and Windows as well as Mac.

To test the files, I downloaded nearly 1,000 malware files. It contained trojans. trojans. backdoors. keyloggers. rootkits. zero day attacks. ransomware. spyware. Cryptojackers. PUPs.

Norton detected 100% of all malware files on my hard drive and performed a thorough system scan. Only one competitor can boast such high malware detection rates (like Advira and Bitdefender).

After running Norton’s complete scan, real-time protection was activated and I tried to download the 997 malware files in plain, zipped, and encrypted formats. Norton stopped all plain files before my computer was able to start downloading them. Norton blocked all zip files and encrypted malware files that I attempted to extract.

My personal computer took about 40 minutes to run Norton’s disk scanner. This is comparable to other top-ranked competitors. Norton offers additional scan options, including:

• Quick scan — Finds areas where malware is most easily detected, such as temporary files, running processes, and system files.
• Custom scanning — Scans specified folders and disk locations.
• Norton insight Scans files quickly and efficiently.

It is easy to schedule your Norton virus scans. Norton performed a complete scan between 3-5 a.m. I can also schedule weekly and monthly scans.

Norton can detect if your apps are in full-screen mode. Norton will not send you notifications, or initiate scans (including scheduled scans). This is a wonderful feature. Gamers will love the fact that Norton automatically suspends notifications if you’re in fullscreen mode. Norton is a great antivirus for gaming.

Overall, Norton’s malware scanner works well. My computer was scanned thoroughly and all the malware that I tested was detected. Real-time protection also blocked any malware I tried to download. Norton provides multiple scanning options, which I appreciated. This includes a personal and quick scan. Schedule scans were easy.

Smart Firewall

Norton’s “Smart Firewall” is far more powerful than the built-in firewalls for Windows and macOS. In fact, Norton was capable of detecting every network intrusion during my exploit testing.

Advanced users can customize Norton’s firewall. Norton firewall blocks many Windows services when a public Wi-Fi network is being used. This includes File and Printer Sharing and Network Discovery, Remote Desktop Connection and File and Printer sharing. You can see a complete list of all the options in the Permissionswindow if you do not wish to allow them.

Norton offers a list of 136 unusual protocols. These protocols can be used by malware to communicate with other devices in a network. Norton firewall monitors these protocols and alerts users when it detects suspicious activity.

Norton’s Smart Firewall overall is a fantastic product. It detected all network intrusions during my testing and offers advanced users a wide range of customization options.

Safe Web & Safe Search

Norton’s Safe Web Extension is available for Chrome Firefox Safari Safari Edge. It provides community reviews and protects against phishing websites.

The Safe Web browser extension provides excellent anti-phishing protection. It found most of the phishing websites in my testing. It also detected sites that Chrome and top competitors such as McAfee couldn’t detect.

Safe Web offers “Isolation Mode”, which helps protect financial information. Safe Web gives users the option to set their browser to isolate mode. This will block all browser-based intrusions. To prevent malicious web scripts or malware from stealing your information, your browser window will be “read only”. Hackers may be able remotely to record your screen and steal financial information. Hackers cannot use Isolation Mode on Safe Web to do this.

Safe Web offered to put my browser into isolation mode. When I accepted the request, my browser was disconnected from the rest of my system. It could not copy, screencape or paste text into it.

Norton’s Safe Search Tool provides color-coded assessment for search results. Red is dangerous, orange can be hazardous, and green safe. Safe Search is not great. It falsely claimed many pirate websites were safe during my testing. It also provided grey notifications that were not tested to sites that are safe.

Norton’s Safe Search was not my favorite. It does not accurately identify unsafe sites as safe, and vice versa. Norton’s Safe Web browser extension provides a great way to protect against phishing attacks as well as providing a safe, sandboxed browsing environment that allows for financial transactions.

Dark Web Monitoring (Select countries only)

Norton’s dark Web Monitoring scans dark forums, credit reports and breach databases to alert users if any of their information has been stolen. LifeLock offers US users strong identity protections.

Norton’s darknet monitoring scans for a wide range of personally identifiable information (PII)

• Numbers of bank accounts
• Credit cards
• Addresses.
• Information concerning driver’s license
• Insurance numbers

Norton offers a superior data breach monitoring system than others. This is achieved by using live human agents who are paid to hack dark web forums. Norton dark web assistants are able to find information that many companies cannot. If your information is made public on the dark web, you can receive advice and feedback. This is a better approach than Kaspersky’s database-based breach monitors.

Dark internet monitoring can also be activated whenever you input your information. Norton’s dark web monitoring team will send you a notification with instructions on how to protect your identity, accounts and privacy.

Norton offers a fantastic dark web monitoring service. US users can access Norton’s LifeLock identity protection services.

Identity Theft Protection (US Only).

Norton’s LifeLock identity protection products offer a wide range of features, including

• Credit report monitoring
• Live Identity Recovery Assistance
• Legal assistance
• Credit freeze
• Title of the home, court record, and ID monitoring.

LifeLock identity theft protection services offer excellent protection. LifeLock will inform you about any purchase, investment, rental, loan application or credit card application that contains any personal information. LifeLock collects data from TransUnion, Equifax and other credit reporting agencies in the US. LifeLock will notify anyone trying to use your information.

LifeLock offers only protections for US users. BullGuard, TotalAV, BullGuard and BullGuard all offer credit monitoring in Europe and the US for less than LifeLock. Their protections aren’t as comprehensive as LifeLock’s.

Norton’s LifeLock plans are the best option to protect your identity and financial investments. They are not available to US users.

Secure VPN (Virtual Private Network).

VPNs allow you to hide your IP address behind one of the thousands of servers located around the world. VPNs also encrypt your web activity, which can help increase privacy. Norton’s VPN has its downsides, and it isn’t as reliable as top-rated VPNs in 2022.

Norton Secure VPN allows users to connect to multiple servers around the globe with Norton’s Secure VPN. There are servers in Australia, South Africa (Japan), Singapore and other less-known countries like India or Ukraine. Norton has far fewer international servers that any other internet security suite. McAfee Total Protection connects only with 23 countries, for example.

Norton’s VPN offers many additional security features.

• Strong encryption (256 bits AES).
• No-logs policy.
• Turn off
• Blocking ad trackers
• Unlimited browsing data, even with the cheapest plans

Norton’s VPN is fast. They do slow down your internet connection. Every VPN handles these tasks differently, so each VPN will have a different speed. Norton’s VPN was slower that Bitdefender and TotalAV antivirus competitors, but it wasn’t necessarily the slowest.

This is my internet connection through my local network. It does not use VPN.

Next, I ran speed tests using Norton’s VPN connected to a US server.

You can see that my download speed decreased quite a bit, but my “ping” increased a lot. The pinging going up so much isn’t a problem unless you’re streaming or gaming — Norton’s VPN enabled, I was still able to stream HD video and browse the internet without any noticeable slowdown.

My download and Ping speeds were identical, but my upload speed was half the rate when I connected via Dutch server.

Netflix US customers have bad news. Because Norton’s VPN could not get through Netflix’s anti-VPN firewalls, I was unable access Netflix US content. This is unfortunate as many VPNs such as ExpressVPN and CryptoGhost VPN are capable of accessing all streaming services. Check out the best VPNs for Netflix.

No torrenting is allowed by Norton VPN. As soon as I opened any torrent client, the VPN stopped working. This is unfortunate as there are many torrenting VPNs.

Norton Secure VPN is slower than other VPNs, does not allow torrenting and is not compatible with Netflix or other streaming services like ExpressVPN and standalone VPNs. Norton is a highly-rated antivirus, which includes a VPN. It offers encrypted web access from a variety of servers around the globe, something that most competitors don’t offer.

Cloud Backup

The cloud backup service by Norton is excellent. It is however only available for PC users. It offers these options:

• Backups are essential.
• Save particular files.
• Backup files on your local disk can be saved or deleted.
• Back up your data to the cloud or local disk.

Cloud Backup is very reliable. Cloud Backup automatically selects 50GB worth important files. Advanced users can access the “What” section to select the folders they wish to back up.

Although Norton’s backup is not the most original, it is a great solution to protect data in the Cloud. You can store up to 10GB in the Cloud Backup feature depending on which Norton plan you have.

Password Manager

Norton password manager is very good. Many antiviruses offer basic password storage, but not enough to make Norton’s special.

It doesn’t offer the same functionality as standalone apps 1Password and Dashlane but it is easy to use with useful extras.

Here is a list of Norton’s Password Managers:

• Secure 256-bit AES encryption
• Unlimited password storage.
• Synchronization between Macs, Androids and Macs.
• Chrome extensions for Firefox Edge, Safari, Chrome, and Safari.
• Autosave or autofill
• Password generator.
• Password vault auditing.

After I had created my master password, Norton offered me the option of importing my password vaults via Chrome, Firefox, or Dashlane.

After I imported my passwords into LastPass, I navigated to PayPal. Norton displayed a small icon. I clicked on it and entered my email address as well as my password.

Norton’s password management software includes vault auditoring tools, which is a major advantage over other antivirus providers. This helpful chart shows you which passwords are safe, too simple, repeated, or old. The vault auditing tool’s Autochange function can automatically generate new passwords. Norton’s Autochange is not compatible with all websites. Dashlane is a better option for auto-change — it works with several hundred more sites than Norton’s.

Norton’s Password Manager also includes a mobile login function. This allows users to log into their vault using their mobile device instead of their master password.

Norton’s password management system may not be perfect. Norton’s inability to provide emergency access and account recovery was my first issue. If your master password is lost or forgotten, you will not be able log in to any password vault. Norton has one option: destroy the vault and create a new one. Norton allows users to create a password hint for their master password. It’s difficult to create a hint for a string of random letters and numbers. This is what a master password should contain.

Although some users may appreciate the lack of account recovery options, it means con artists are unable to access your vault. However, I believe most users would prefer email account recovery or emergency contact options such as LastPass.

Norton’s password manager isn’t as robust as standalone alternatives, but it offers multi-device back up, a secure code generator and vault auditing. Norton’s password manager was the #1 antivirus in 2022.

Safe Family: Parental Controls

Norton offers parental controls for Android and iOS as well as Windows and Windows (not accessible on Mac). Norton is the #1 Antivirus with Parental Controls.

Norton parental controls allow parents to:

• Filtering inappropriate content can be done with precision.
• You can watch YouTube and Hulu videos.
• Track location for mobile devices.
• Block Android apps
• Set time limits and plan your device’s usage.
• Set emergency contacts.

To find the right parental control tool for my daughter, I tried many. Many antivirus parental control software promises many features but few deliver. BullGuard has many content filtering options online. BullGuard parental controls enabled, I was able access porn and violent videos.

During my testing, Norton blocked many sites correctly. Norton was able to block 47 categories of websites including “Cult”, Hate Speech and Abortion. It automatically sets filters based on the age of your child. It also allows you to toggle parental controls individually.

Norton Safe Family offers a “School Time” mode. This mode allows parents to access only those apps and websites they consider important for their child’s education. For any child who participates in virtual school, this can be extremely helpful.

Safe Family also recorded all searches and YouTube videos and Hulu programs I made on my iPhone and Chromebook.

The online dashboard allows you to access Norton’s location monitoring and app blocking tools as well as usage scheduling tools. Amazingly, Norton was able to pinpoint my iPhone’s exact location within 65 feet.

Norton’s GPS tracker does not include geo-fencing alerts. Parents are notified when their children leave a restricted area. Bitdefender, Bitdefender and other companies have geofencing included in their parental controls. This would make Norton’s product line even more powerful.

Norton Safe Family’s content filtering capabilities and app blocking, usage limits, location tracking, YouTube monitoring and YouTube monitoring are all impressive. This parental control app is intuitive and comprehensive.

Privacy Monitor

Norton’s privacy watch protects you personal identifying information (PII) from being sold to data brokers. It is simple and effective.

Data brokers use metadata from thousands of websites to create an identification profile. This profile could include your last address and family names, favorite brands, birthday, gender, and other information. Data brokers make a profit selling this information to the highest bidder.

Data brokers cannot sell or collect your data in violation of privacy laws around the world. Norton requests that around 25 data brokers cease collecting your information.

Access Norton’s Privacy Monitor can be accessed through the my.norton Internet Dashboard. Privacy Monitor gives you a list of the names and dates for your birth. Privacy Monitor lets you request deletion from any site or subscribe to Norton Privacy Monitor assistant to have data brokers handled by Norton employees.