Norton is a

brand name A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

that was founded in 1982 by Peter Norton Computing and acquired by Symantec in 1990. It is now used by the American

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

Gen Digital Gen Digital Inc. (formerly Symantec Corporation and NortonLifeLock Inc.) is a multinational software company co-headquartered in both Prague, Czech Republic (European Union, EU) and Tempe, Arizona (United States, USA). The company provides comp ...

(formerly Symantec and NortonLifeLock) for some of its

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

. Norton was originally a suite of

utility software Utility software is a program specifically designed to help manage and tune system or application software. It is used to support the computer infrastructure - in contrast to application software, which is aimed at directly performing tasks that b ...

for IBM DOS, expanded into user guides for IBM DOS and then utilities and guides for Microsoft DOS in 1982, and eventually

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. After acquiring Norton Computing in 1989, Symantec merged their anti-virus software into the Norton package and rebranded it as Norton AntiVirus which was released in 1991. In 2014 Symantec separated their

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...

into two

units Unit may refer to: General measurement * Unit of measurement, a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law **International System of Units (SI), modern form of the metric system **English units, histo ...

. One was focused on security, and the other was focused on

information management Information management (IM) is the appropriate and optimized capture, storage, retrieval, and use of information. It may be personal information management or organizational. Information management for organizations concerns a cycle of organiz ...

; Norton was placed in the unit focused on security. Symantec was renamed to NortonLifeLock in 2019 following

Broadcom Broadcom Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational designer, developer, manufacturer, and global supplier of a wide range of semiconductor and infrastructure software products. Broadcom's product offerings serve the data cen ...

’s acquisition of its enterprise division. As of 2022, Norton is a consumer

cybersecurity Computer security (also cybersecurity, digital security, or information technology (IT) security) is a subdiscipline within the field of information security. It consists of the protection of computer software, systems and networks from thr ...

brand of Gen Digital, the

parent company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

formed following the

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

between NortonLifeLock and

Avast Avast Software s.r.o. is a Czech multinational cybersecurity software company headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic, that researches and develops computer security software, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Avast had more th ...

. It currently covers a variety of

products Product may refer to: Business * Product (business), an item that can be offered to a market to satisfy the desire or need of a customer. * Product (project management), a deliverable or set of deliverables that contribute to a business solution ...

and services related to

digital security Computer security (also cybersecurity, digital security, or information technology (IT) security) is a subdiscipline within the field of information security. It consists of the protection of computer software, systems and networks from thre ...

, identity protection, and

online privacy Internet privacy involves the right or mandate of personal privacy concerning the storage, re-purposing, provision to third parties, and display of information pertaining to oneself via the Internet. Internet privacy is a subset of data privacy. P ...

and utilities.

History

Peter Norton Computing was a software company founded by

Peter Norton Peter Norton (born November 14, 1943) is an American programmer, software publisher, author, and philanthropist. He is best known for the computer programs and books that bear his name and portrait. Norton sold his software business to Symante ...

. Norton and his company developed various

DOS DOS (, ) is a family of disk-based operating systems for IBM PC compatible computers. The DOS family primarily consists of IBM PC DOS and a rebranded version, Microsoft's MS-DOS, both of which were introduced in 1981. Later compatible syste ...

utilities A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...

including the

Norton Utilities Norton Utilities is a utility software suite designed to help analyze, configure, optimize and maintain a computer. The latest version of the original series of Norton Utilities is Norton Utilities 16 for Windows XP/Vista/7/8, released 26 Octob ...

which originally did not include

antivirus Antivirus software (abbreviated to AV software), also known as anti-malware, is a computer program used to prevent, detect, and remove malware. Antivirus software was originally developed to detect and remove computer viruses, hence the name ...

features. The company was acquired by Symantec in 1990. Symantec's consumer antivirus and

data management Data management comprises all disciplines related to handling data as a valuable resource, it is the practice of managing an organization's data so it can be analyzed for decision making. Concept The concept of data management emerged alongsi ...

utilities are still marketed under the Norton name. In early 1991 Symantec's Norton Computer Group launched Norton AntiVirus 1.0 for

computers A computer is a machine that can be programmed to automatically carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations ('' computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as ''programs'', ...

. The company updated and diversified its

product line In marketing jargon, product lining refers to the offering of several related product (business), products for individual sale. Unlike product bundling, where several products are combined into one group, which is then offered for sale as a uni ...

until combining its offerings into one seamless product, Norton Security. Ads for the product, with suggested retail $129, featured Norton in his crossed-arm pose from the user guides, wearing a pink shirt and surgical mask covering his nose and mouth. In the 1990s, Norton provided software to check computer systems for Y2K compliance. In 2019, Symantec was renamed to NortonLifeLock following

’s acquisition of its enterprise division, leading to the combination of the

Norton 360 Norton 360 is an "all-in-one" Internet security#Security suites, security suite developed by Gen Digital, formerly Symantec and later NortonLifeLock. The current suite was released in 2019 as a replacement for Norton Security, which had itself re ...

suite with the

LifeLock NortonLifeLock is an American software company originally active from 2005 to 2017, and was best known for its eponymous LifeLock identity theft prevention software, now sold by Gen Digital after the latter acquired LifeLock in 2017. LifeLock's s ...

identity threat protection offering, which was purchased by Symantec in 2017. In 2019,

was reintroduced, replacing Norton Security and adding privacy features, including a

VPN service A virtual private network (VPN) service is a proxy server marketed to help users bypass Internet censorship such as geo-blocking and users who want to protect their communications against data profiling or MitM attacks on hostile networks. ...

and

identity theft Identity theft, identity piracy or identity infringement occurs when someone uses another's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. ...

protection services alongside its traditional antivirus features.

Products and Services

Norton's products are primarily

tools for personal computers, server devices and

mobile devices A mobile device or handheld device is a computer small enough to hold and operate in hand. Mobile devices are typically battery-powered and possess a flat-panel display and one or more built-in input devices, such as a touchscreen or keypad. Mod ...

. It is currently compatible with PCs running

Windows 7 Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, ...

, 8, 10 and 11,

macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

, and since 2011, Android and

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

, and is available as an annual subscription. Norton software is licensed to consumers. The brand's primary product is

, available in multiple editions. Norton 360 Standard Edition includes real-time threat protection, Norton's Secure

VPN Virtual private network (VPN) is a network architecture for virtually extending a private network (i.e. any computer network which is not the public Internet) across one or multiple other networks which are either untrusted (as they are not c ...

, cloud backup, a

password manager A password manager is a software program to prevent password fatigue by Random password generator, automatically generating, Autofill, autofilling and storing Password, passwords. It can do this for Application software, local applications or web ...

, and a smart

firewall Firewall may refer to: * Firewall (computing), a technological barrier designed to prevent unauthorized or unwanted communications between computer networks or hosts * Firewall (construction), a barrier inside a building, designed to limit the spre ...

. A mobile version of the software is also available. Norton 360 Deluxe and Norton 360 Advanced editions also add parental controls and

digital identity A digital identity is data stored on Computer, computer systems relating to an individual, organization, application, or device. For individuals, it involves the collection of personal data that is essential for facilitating automated access to ...

features including

dark web The dark web is the World Wide Web content that exists on darknets ( overlay networks) that use the Internet but require specific software, configurations, or authorization to access. Through the dark web, private computer networks can communica ...

monitoring for leaks of personal information. Norton also offers its traditional

antivirus software Antivirus software (abbreviated to AV software), also known as anti-malware, is a computer program used to prevent, detect, and remove malware. Antivirus software was originally developed to detect and remove computer viruses, hence the name ...

, Norton AntiVirus Plus, as a standalone service, as well as separate subscriptions for Norton AntiTrack, Norton Secure VPN, and Norton Identity Advisor Plus. Other products, including PC tune-up and optimization software (

), are also available as separate offerings. In January 2022, several users brought to light an issue with a hidden backdoor crypto-mining tool in the Norton 360 security software suite. Following the report in media Norton highlighted the procedure for uninstalling the product from their computer.

Awards

* 2022 - Norton 360 was awarded Best Protection (Windows), Best Android Security Product, and Best MacOS Security Product by

AV-TEST AV-TEST is an independent organization which evaluates and rates antivirus and security suite software for Microsoft Windows, macOS and Android operating systems, according to a variety of criteria. The organisation is based in Magdeburg, Germany ...

* 2022 - Norton 360 was won AV-Comparatives's Gold Award for Malware Protection * 2023 - SE Labs recognized Norton 360 as the Best Home Anti-Malware Solution in their annual report. * In November 2023, Norton 360 Deluxe maintained the

PCMag ''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and continues . Overview ''PC Magaz ...

Editors’ Choice award and “Excellent” rating.

Logos

File:Norton av logo.png, 2010-2019 File:Nortonn.png, 2019-2021 File:Norton Logo (November 2021).png, 2021-present

References

External links