Most security companies offer an entry-level antivirus program along with a more comprehensive security suite. Quite a few add what I call a "mega-suite" to the product line, with all of the suite's components plus bonus features like backup, system tuneup, and more. Norton 360 (2014) is Symantec's entry in this field, and it's a top-notch product. Note that "(2014)" isn't actually part of the name; Symantec dropped version and year numbers last year.

Norton Internet Security (2014) uses a predominantly grey background, while Norton 360's background is mostly white. Four large buttons represent four major product areas. Behind the security button you'll find all of Norton Internet Security's features. The Identity button relates to Norton's Identity Safe password manager tool. Backup and Tuneup round out the collection; these two are the major features that distinguish Norton 360 from Symantec's other suite.

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The user interface as a whole is different from that of Norton Internet Security. You'll find a different layout on the Settings page, for one thing. A bank of checkboxes lets you toggle often-used features; you can click links to dig in for more fine-grained configuration. The new Tasks pane offers easy access to common tasks like launching a scan, running a backup, or invoking one of the tuneup tools.

Multi-Layered AntiVirus
In addition to its core antivirus protection, Norton AntiVirus (2014)£24.99 at NortonLifeLock offers phishing protection, password management, and other useful security features. Do please read my review of the entry-level antivirus. I'll summarize my findings here.

Symantec's policy is that a valid antivirus test must exercise the whole product, not just one component. They particularly don't approve of static tests that simply launch a scan and note the percentage of samples detected, and they're not willing to allocate resources just to passing tests. Norton came out OK in AV-Test's certification, but didn't pass the latest from AV-Comparatives. For help interpreting the lab results chart below, see How We Interpret Antivirus Lab Tests.

Norton 360 (2014) lab tests chart

My own malware removal test is as real-world as they come. I install the antivirus on twelve malware-riddled systems and challenge it to clean up the mess. Getting Norton installed required help from Norton Power Eraser, the Norton Bootable Recovery Tool, as well as a multi-hour remote-control session with tech support. Once in place, it managed a respectable 6.3 points in this test. Of all the products tested using the same malware collection, only AVG Internet Security 2014£30.37 at Amazon UK and Bitdefender Total Security (2014)£24.99 at Bitdefender UK scored higher. The article How We Test Malware Removal offers full background on this test.

Norton 360 (2014) malware removal chart

Symantec's ideal malware blocking test would cover the whole process starting from the fateful moment when the threat first appeared on the system. Indeed, when I tried downloading from known malware-hosting sites Norton blocked them all. It didn't do quite as well with samples that were already present on the system, scoring 8.5 points for malware blocking. AVG and Ad-Aware Pro Security 10.5 share the top score for recent products, 9.4 points. Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security 2014 and McAfee Internet Security 2014£34.99 at McAfee UK tied for second place with 9.2 points. For details on the way I perform this test, see How We Test Malware Blocking.

Norton 360 (2014) malware blocking chart