The highly praised NIS 2010 can be yours for $9.99.
(Credit: Symantec)Got security? Forget all the system-hosing nightmares Norton put you through in years past; the company's Norton Internet Security 2010 suite improves on the already seriously improved NIS 2009.
Fry's is currently offering NIS 2010 3-User Edition for $9.99 shipped. Unfortunately--and this is really unfortunate--that's after a pair of mail-in rebates [PDF and PDF] totaling $50.
I'll be the first to admit it: I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel today. The pickings, they be slim.
I mean, I don't particularly care for security software. Don't use it, in fact. And I know how most of you hate rebates.
On the other hand, NIS 2010 is already being touted as one of the top security suites, as evidenced by the reviews by CNET, PC Magazine, and even Amazon customers.
And normally it would run you $59.99 (or $69.99 if purchased directly from Symantec). Yeah, the rebates are a hassle, but it's hard to sneeze at saving $50-60 on something you're probably going to buy anyway.
Well? Worthwhile deal, or is it ruined by the rebates? For the record, you can still score IOBit Security 360 Pro for free if you're really trying to keep it cheap.
On Sale Now: $27.49 - $69.99
View the latest prices for Norton Internet Security 2010 (1 User, 3 PCs)
Panda Internet Security is vastly improved over last year's edition--and it's free!
(Credit: Newegg)People routinely look at me as if I'm nuts. Oh, wait, there's a second part to that sentence: People routinely look at me as if I'm nuts when I tell them I don't use any security software: no Zone Alarm, no Norton, nothing.
Instead, I rely on the security measures built into Windows and a few tricks I've learned. So far, it works fine for me.
That said, I usually advise friends and family members to install some kind of comprehensive security package. Because I consider all of you to be like family (yes, even you raving crackpots), here's a deal: Newegg has the Panda Internet Security 2009 3-user edition for free.
Well, OK, free after rebate (PDF). You have to part with $30 now, but you'll get it back in 8 to 12 weeks. (That's just my guess--the rebate form doesn't actually say.)
So, how does Panda Internet Security 2009 compare with Norton Internet Security 2009, which has been widely praised for being faster, smaller, and better than ever?
According to CNET's Robert Vamosi, Panda is "vastly improved in speed and effectiveness over last year's version." The downside: mediocre tech support.
Still, it's hard to argue with free. So if you're in the market for a security suite, but want something a little more professional than the various freebie utilities out there, this Newegg deal might be for you.
In the realm of companies I wouldn't expect to release an online game, Symantec is right up at the top of the list.
But that's just what the security software firm has done with its Cyber Smackdown online quiz, a Web-based game that tasks players with answering questions related to cyber security.
Symantec's new 'Cyber Smackdown' online game tasks players with answering questions about cyber-security. Unfortunately, the list of questions is very short and the answers are too easy.
(Credit: Symantec)It's a good idea, and if Symantec had bothered to come up with some difficult questions or even a few dozen different questions, it would have also been a nice manifestation.
Unfortunately, it seems--from my multiple tests of the game on both Safari and Firefox, at least--that the game's creators only bothered to write 12 questions, and so if you take the quiz multiple times, you just get the same questions in a different order. How challenging!
I scoff because, let's be honest, how hard would it have been to write, say, 24 questions? Or 36? Or 48? So that if someone felt like taking the quiz again, they might find new questions.
As it is, the list of questions runs along the lines of "What percentage of those surveyed said they have received a fraudulent email from someone pretending to be a real institution asking for personal information?"
There's also questions that ask for a definition (from a multiple choice list) for malware or typo-squatting.
The questions themselves weren't all that bad, though for the most part the answers were rather obvious. I just wish there had been way more of them.
I suppose, in the end, this exercise wasn't really about presenting players with any kind of real challenge, but more just to get Symantec's Norton brand name in front of people who like to play games. Symantec released the game at CES this week, so it was obviously counting on passers-by getting excited by the game.
But sitting here at my desk at CNET, I have to say I'm not so impressed.
Update at 2:49 PM: I just heard from Symantec, and the deal is that the company plans to release a full version of the game on Jan. 10 which will have 120 questions. The version with 12 questions is a CES-only version.
(Credit:
Symantec Inc.)
Back in October, I wrote about the Norton Fighter, a Kamen Rider-inspired mascot for Symantec in Japan to help the company sell Norton 360 to the denizens of the Floating Kingdom. Did I say sell? I meant, "fight honorably and do great battle to protect from evil." Or something.
Anyway, whoever's marketing Norton 360 sure knows its audience. The company has now put out a series of long commercials, filmed on grainy stock and in the Technicolor style of the '70s, showing the Fighter doing his best to not only defeat the evil Botlas, but also to prevent him (it?) from corrupting impressionable youngsters. "A boy your age should be hacking firewalls, not building them," Botlas' subtitles tell us, while the Norton Fighter struggles to protect a young computer geek who could be anywhere from 12 to 32 years old.
Since nearly all commercials in Japan are English-subtitle free, it's more likely that Symantec subtitled these in the hope that they would find an audience outside Japan. For more Norton Fighter action, this Web site has more vids and a comic strip for your viewing pleasure.
I can't remember the last time I saw a TV ad for a piece of software. Not watching much TV doesn't really play into this. TV ads are just too expensive for the average software publisher to purchase. The market in Japan is different, though. It'll support just about anything with folks in weird costumes doing even weirder things.
So it's my pleasure--no, really, I feel good about this--to introduce you to Symantec's Norton 360 ads. Called CM's in the local parlance, they feature a yellow Power Ranger-style superhero called Norton Fighter getting attacked by a gang of mostly black-clad ninja-type characters who're supposed to resemble viruses and other malware.
... Read more
(Credit:
Symantec)
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 purchase of Norton 360 or Norton Save and Restore.
This is not the first time Symantec has gone off the marketing deep end to promote one of its products. Last summer, the big-yellow security vendor created a rock band in support of its Norton Confidential. What rock music has to do with computer security, let alone identity theft, remains unexplained.
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