Norton Security Review Install Norton Protection

You dont have to pay a penny for Sophos Home, Avast, or Avira.

Some focus solely on the Mac platform, while others, like Norton 360 Deluxe (for Mac), are simply the macOS manifestation of a multi-platform product.

The macOS edition doesnt have every feature that you get on Windows, but it goes way beyond simple antivirus.

It includes a firewall, exploit prevention, and a file cleanup scanner, among other things, as well as full-featured VPN protection.

You can use your licenses to protect up to five macOS, Windows, Android, or iOS devices.

The company recently sold off the Symantec name, along with its enterprise business, to Broadcom.

The consumer product line remains the same, under the new company name NortonLifeLock.

Norton Security Review Install Norton Protection

You can then download and install Norton protection on your Mac, or email a link to install it on another device.

Like Intego Mac Internet Security X9, Norton requires a reboot to complete the installation.

All the other Mac antivirus utilities Ive evaluated install without a reboot.

Here you can see all the security elements: Device Security, Dark Web Monitoring, Secure VPN, Password Manager, Parental Controls, and Cloud Backup.

While you can access backups from your Windows devices online, there isnt a component to back up files from your Mac.

Likewise, you can click to manage Parental Controls online, but theres no local agent to enforce rules on the Mac.

Norton 360 Deluxe doesnt include a LifeLock subscription the way higher protection tiers do, but the Dark Web feature does get some information from LifeLock.

I cover these alerts in detail in my full review of Norton 360 Deluxe.

As with the previous edition, it has a white background with a security status indicator occupying the top part of the main window and five green icons across the bottom: Security, Scans, LiveUpdate, Clean, and My Norton.

Clicking My Norton takes you back to the dashboard, as on other platforms.

When you click one of the other icons, its details and settings slide in from the side to replace the status indicator.

These include: Safe Web, which keeps you away from dangerous and fraudulent sites; Safe Search, which suppresses dangerous links in search results; Norton Home Page, which puts Safe Search front and center; and Password Manager, which Ill discuss below.

Called StarPulse, this is one of the very few enhancements to the macOS product since my last review.

Among current Mac antivirus products, only Intego costs as much, though its 99.99 list price only gets you three licenses.

However, both Norton and Intego offer more than simple antivirus protection.

Nortons price looks particularly good when you consider that it includes five licenses for Norton Secure VPN, which costs 79.99 per year after the first year.

You pay 59.99 per year for that subscription.

Norton Security Mac Review