software:

	Norton AntiVirus 7.0/Norton Personal Firewall 1.0 Bundle Macintosh | Symantec, 2001 average customer review:based on 3 reviews view larger image
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Norton Personal Firewall for Macintosh provides defense against hackers. Itprevents unauthorized access, keeps your data private and secure, and iseasy to install and use. This powerful firewall solution monitors allInternet connections to and from your Mac, creating a log and alerting you toattempted intrusions. With Norton Personal Firewall, you can use thedefault settings right out of the box or customize the program to meet yourspecific needs. Whether your Internet connection is always on with DSL or acable modem, or you just dial up occasionally, your Mac is susceptible anytime you're connected. Norton Personal Firewall was designed specifically to remedy this vulnerability.

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What, me worry?

Until fairly recently, my internet access was by way of phone modem, and my e-mail software was, to put it mildly, archaic. Even worse, the dial-up service to which I had access required a toll call. Needless to say, my on-line time was spent, for the most part, in brief spurts: Get on; get what I need (mostly just e-mail); get off.

Given this "get on; get off" modus operandi, I didn't need to worry too much about people hacking into my computer (a Macintosh); the window of opportunity my machine presented to hackers was pretty small, to put it mildly. But I still managed to get Windoze-sourced virus attachments to e-mail I received. On the Mac, these manifested themselves as text files having a vbe extension, meaning that they would run under Visual Basic on Windoze machines. On a Mac, of course, no damage is done. (I was helped more than a little by Microsoft, which continues to cripple Visual Basic for the Mac, limiting it to just a macro programming language as part of the MS Office suite. I couldn't have run these programs if I had wanted to.) But, using a text editor, I at least had the opportunity to scan these Visual Basic programs, to see "what made them tick."

Then (fairly recently, as I wrote), I upgraded to a broadband (cable modem) internet connection. And, since my Mac of choice is a laptop, with ultra-low energy consumption and other similar benefits, I tend to leave it on all (well, at least MOST) of the time. So I thought it prudent to install some sort of protection against hackers (and against the possibility that someone might try to write Mac-specific viruses and worms, despite the fact that 95% of personal computers are NOT Macs). Enter Norton Internet Security for the Mac. This inexpensive "insurance" software contains two parts: a software "Personal Firewall" and Norton AntiVirus ("NAV"), the latest version of Norton's "SAM" (Symantic Antivirus for the Mac). Each module is flexible in the way it can be customized for one's personal use. (For example, NAV preferences can be set so that archived files are not scanned [once they are scanned initiallly for contamination], saving significant scanning time subsequently.)

I've now used Norton Internet Security for a few months, and am pleased to report that it does what it is advertised to do, unobtrusively and in the background. The Personal Firewall log tells me that, on average, there are upward of 50 or 60 daily attempts to "ping" my computer, all denied. (A fair percentage of these has been from my broadband service, but the service's lack of success at entry doesn't seem to negatively affect our relationship.) The NAV log tells me that, since installation, only one active Mac virus has been discovered and, of course, neutralized. And, not that it was ever a problem, but it seems as if the "stable as a rock" OS is even more stable, if that is possible.

Is there a downside? Well, I no longer see any of those Visual Basic attachments, so it's fair to say that my VB-for-the-Mac programming skills have never really left the starting block. But, then, neither have Microsoft's, so I'm not complaining.

An interesting aside: In preparing this review, I did a websearch on the "Alfred E. Newman" brief description at the top, wanting to make sure that it ended up being punctuated correctly. Among the search "hits" I found was one for a Peachpit Press book on internet security for the Macintosh, having precisely this title. My apologies to Peachpit Press. But, well, a good idea is STILL a good idea, irrespective of its originator.

Highly recommended for all Mac users.

Bob Zeidler

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Truly Easy to Install

When I received this pkg. I was prepared to call my "computer literate" friend but decided to see how far I could proceed in installing this on my own. The directions were clear and everything went smoothly. Now, I'll not be accused of passing any viruses nor will I receive any!


WARNING!

The Norton Anti Virus is excellent - The Personal Firewall is NO good for MacOSX - the product description should be QUITE clear about that! - I purchased this - and it will not work on MacOSX - and there are NO updates from the manufacturer! So, it is of NO use to MacOSX users!

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