norton

Symantec wants you to look silly

Editors' note: This blog initially misstated the last day for submitting photos. It is October 15.

Ever thought (or were ever told) that you resembled one of those emoticons you see in e-mail or IM? Me neither. But for those who have had that experience, Symantec has launched a worldwide emoticon look-alike contest.

Now through October 15, contestants can upload their best resemblances to an emoticon for a chance to win a grand prize of $10,000 cash, or one of five first place prizes of $1,000 each. Anyone who enters will receive a 15 percent discount on the … Read more

Symantec offers betas for two Norton 2008 apps

Symantec has added Norton Antivirus 2008 and Norton Internet Security 2008 to it's Beta Center. Enhancements to Norton Antivirus 2008 include better performance and updated Symantec Online Network for Advanced Response (SONAR) heuristics. Enhancements to Norton Internet Security 2008 include those in Norton Antivirus 2008 plus Norton Identity Safe (from Norton Confidential), and enhanced network monitoring. Both pieces of software are expected to include new browser vulnerability protection, codenamed "Canary", in their final release.

The Symantec beta program includes no technical support, although customer feedback is welcome. Symantec reminds participants in the beta program not to install … Read more

Norton's "Canary" technology creates "vulnerability signatures"

As part of their upcoming Norton Internet Security 2008 product, Symantec will include a new technology they're currently calling "Canary." The idea behind Canary is vulnerable browsers are the first point of entry for many Web threats known as "drive by" downloads. Canary will identify signatures of known Internet Explorer browser vulnerabilities then block exploits as soon as they are released. "Canary creates vulnerability signatures," said Rowan Trollope, vice president of Consumer Products at Symantec. Signatures for other browsers, including Firefox, will be included in the future.

The timing of this new technology … Read more

Norton AntiBot goes into public beta

These days, criminal enterprises don't just want to steal your Outlook contact list, they want to own your computer, and they will download a remote-access Trojan horse at the first available opportunity. Within the last six months, Symantec has seen the number of these "bot" infections increase 29 percent over the previous six months. That's why Symantec is rushing to market a new application they're calling Norton AntiBot.

While most antivirus applications today provide adequate protection against spyware and malware, once these are removed, your machine is vulnerable to new and different variations of the … Read more

Norton 360

Computer security is all the rage, and there's no shortage of products out in the wild to help keep your system safe. If, like me, you're a general sort of user you may want to take a look at Symantec's Norton 360. With its intuitive user interface and light use of system resources this is a great all purpose application for the home user. Don't let your hot new system go to waste for lack of good security!

News roundup: Viacom vs. YouTube, Belgium hates Google, and Cisco security for consumers

>> MTV online strategy to help Viacom take on YouTube? Viacom wants you to watch clips of its popular TV shows on the Internet, but it doesn't want you to do so on YouTube. At the beginning of this month, Viacom had YouTube take down more than 100,000 clips of Viacom-owned content. Now it's spreading them out among its sites, including ComedyCentral.com and MTV.com.

>> Belgian court rules against Google over copyrights. Belgian newspapers apparently don't like Google, as they've barred the company from caching its stories for news clippings. The … Read more