More then a year ago, I decided to get on the broadband wagon and became a DSL subscriber. Wow... is DSL fast??!?!?! :-)

Well, there's one problem. Broadband connections like DSL and Cable are "always on", unlike dial-up. This means that your computer is connected all the time to the internet, even if you are not using it. This leaves your computer open to hackers and their "evil" scanners that can trace down open ports on your computer and can hack into your personal information.

So how do you defend yourself against this problem? Get a firewall! I bought Norton Internet Security the day it first came out, over a year ago. I was a little skeptical about paying so much money for this program (around $50), but I decided it was worth it to save my computer from those "evil hackers."

Installation

Installation was very easy. Just pop in the CD, start the installation, and Norton takes you through the installation process very quickly. Select the location where you want to install the program, and that's basically it. The program will ask to reboot. Once you reboot, Norton Internet Security is done.

I use a feature in Windows 98 that allows my computer to share internet access with the other computers in my house (it's called Internet Connection Sharing). The other firewall programs available at the time were not compatible with ICS and would therefore block the other computers from accessing the internet through my computer... I guess they were a little TOO effective. :-) Well, Norton Internet Security worked beautifully with ICS from the second I installed it. No issues at all.

However, like many other Norton products, Norton Internet Security is a memory hogger. If you have limited resources, you may want to look at ZoneAlarm. Read my review about it for more information.

Features

Norton Internet Security consists of a lot of features, some that you may never use.

Firewall. This was the obvious reason why I bought the program. The firewall can be very basic allowing a user to select "levels" of firewall protection, or an advanced user can create rules to block certain ports and certain programs. Norton Internet Security definitely does fit the needs of everybody from the novice who just wants protection to the advanced user who loves to fiddle around with programs.

Ad Blocking. Ad blocking blocks ads from downloading when you view a web page. It is very effective at figuring out which parts of a page are ads, and which aren't. Ad blocking is great for a dialup user who wants to save time when downloading a web page. I do not use ad blocking, however, since the extra time required to download an ad is very minute on DSL. If you are worried about cookies and ads, then ad blocking is also for you.

Privacy. If you have a child, you may not want him or her filling out forms and submitting information on the internet. You can tell Norton which things you will not permit a user to submit via form, such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, phone numbers, names, etc. NIS does a good job at this as well.

Content filtering. Content filtering is also very good at blocking "dirty" or violent web sites. I personally do not use this feature since I do not have a use for it, but if your child uses your computer, you may want to enable content filtering.

AutoUpdating is great and can update everything related to Norton Internet Security, including your virus updates and content updates.

Is it worth it?

Well, I love this program, but when I upgraded to Windows 2000, I could not install this program (Version 1.0 was not compatible; Version 2.0 is, however), so I looked for an alternative. I found a program called ZoneAlarm from ZoneLabs (www.zonelabs.com). ZoneAlarm is an excellent firewall that has been highly rated from all the major PC magazines. The best thing is, it's free! A high quality program for free? That's new. Read my review on ZoneAlarm for more info.

However, ZoneAlarm is a great FIREWALL. It will not block ads or filter content. If you don't need these added features that Norton Internet Security offers, go with ZoneAlarm. If you are interested in these extra features, then Norton Internet Security is a great program!

I hope this helped you make your decision.

Please rate this vote.

Thanks for reading my opinion! :-)


Recommended: Yes