Norton moves beyond the PC

Norton's Cybercrime Index gives realtime updates on the security state of the internet.

The computer security software market is both a crowded and fiercely competitive place. Standing out from the multitude of free internet security packages presents some pretty serious challenges, so it's not totally surprising that overcoming these has occupied a fair bit of Symantec's time.

With tweaking existing PC security products looking like a less-sustainable strategy, Symantec has jump-shifted its thinking and started to move beyond its traditional PC and internet security stomping ground.

One of the early signs of this is sheer number of Norton goodies available on different platforms. The first cab off the rank is Norton Safeweb - essentially a web address scanning service that examines URLs, that allows users to avoid online links to "toxic" websites.

With most of us relying on search engines to find stuff online and to access web content, we're opening ourselves up to a vast pool of "poisoned links", or sites laden with malware, according to Symantec's Asia Pacific product manager David Hall.

SafeWeb provides an at a glance overview of search results, by putting a green tick next to safe sites, a red cross next to those that are potentially unsafe and a grey question mark next to untested links.

SafeWeb can also alert users should they accidentally mis-type a web address and inadvertently attempt to access dodgy websites with known security issues. Norton has also released a version of Safe Web for Facebook that scans Facebook feeds. Being web based, SafeWeb can also do its thing regardless of the computer being used.

Another concept, jointly developed by the University of Texas, the San Antonio Cyber Crime Unit and Symantec, is the Norton Cyber Crime Index. Available via the Norton website in PC and mobile-friendly formats, The Norton Cyber Crime Index provides a real-time barometer of cybercrime levels in an easy to understand format.

If an ounce of awareness is an ounce of protection then regular access to a user-friendly news ticker service highlighting the latest cyber threats in real time on 24/7/365 basis could see many an unsuspecting PC (and mobile) user successfully avoiding becoming a cyber crime statistic.

Symantec has also been eying the rapidly-growing smartphone market, launching a beta version of Norton Mobile Security for Android as a free, downloadable app on the Android Marketplace.

Being a phone centric app, Norton Mobile Security combines anti-virus/malware detection with anti theft and phone location capabilities that allows users to remotely locate, lock and even wipe their phone using simple text messages.

Norton Mobile security also scans for cyber nasties and has call/text blocking features to potentially thwart text bullying and SMS spam.