Maximize Your Norton 360 Protection with These Essential Settings

 

Maximize Your Norton 360 Protection with These Essential Settings
Image credit: Norton official website 

Norton 360 antivirus is designed to protect your computer right out of the box, blocking malware and preventing unauthorized access to your webcam. But to truly leverage its robust features—like cloud backups, VPN, dark web monitoring, and a built-in software updater—you need to customize a few settings. Here’s how to get the most out of Norton 360.

Getting Started with Norton 360

To begin, open Norton 360 from your Start menu or system tray. In the My Norton window, you’ll find various features and settings.

1. Customize Your Notifications

Norton 360 can be quite vocal with its notifications, which may not be to everyone’s liking. Here’s how to tailor them to your preference:

1. Access Settings: Click the gear icon in the My Norton window, then select Notifications.
2. Display Preferences: Under "Alert categories," change from "All Alerts" to "Warning" or "Critical Only" to reduce notifications.
3. Special Offers: Uncheck the Special offers box to stop seeing promotional alerts.
4. Silent Mode: Default settings are generally sufficient, automatically enabling Silent Mode during full-screen activities like gaming or streaming.

Image credit: Norton official website 

2. Configure the Built-in VPN

Norton Secure VPN provides a secure browsing experience by routing your internet traffic through a protected tunnel. However, it doesn’t activate automatically. Here’s how to set it up:

1. Open VPN Settings: Click the gear icon and select VPN, or click the down arrow next to “Secure VPN” and choose Settings.
2. Auto-Connect: Enable this to connect the VPN whenever your computer starts or wakes.
3. Auto VPN: Activate this for automatic VPN connection on unsecured Wi-Fi networks, like public hotspots.
4. Kill Switch: Turn this on to block all traffic if the VPN disconnects, ensuring continuous privacy.
5. Ad Tracker Blocking: Enable this to block advertising trackers.
6. Split Tunnel: Use this to exclude certain applications from the VPN, allowing them to connect directly to the internet.

For optimal security, consider activating Auto VPN and Kill Switch.

3. Set Up Cloud Backups

Norton 360 offers a cloud backup tool to protect your important files. Here’s how to set it up:

1. Initiate Backup: Click the Set Up button next to “Cloud Backup” in the My Norton window.
2. Storage Allocation: Depending on your plan, you may have up to 250GB of cloud storage.
3. Save Settings: Accept Norton’s default backup settings, or customize which files to back up and when.

Cloud backups are invaluable for recovering data in case of malware attacks or hardware failures.

Image credit: Norton official website 

4. Enhance Dark Web Monitoring

Norton 360’s Dark Web Monitoring alerts you if your personal information appears on the dark web. Enhance this feature by adding more details:

1. Activate Monitoring: In the My Norton window, enable Dark Web Monitoring.
2. View Alerts: Sign in on the web to add additional details.
3. Add Information: Include email addresses, phone numbers, credit card details, and other sensitive information to receive alerts if any of this data is found on the dark web.

At the very least, add your frequently used email addresses to maximize protection.

5. Enable Automatic Software Updates

Norton 360 can automatically update itself and other applications on your computer. Here’s how to set it up:

1. Scan for Updates: Click the Scan button next to “Software Updater” in the My Norton window.
2. Update Applications: Click Update to install available updates.
3. Auto-Update: Flip the Auto-Update switch to have Norton 360 automatically look for and install updates in the background.

This feature ensures your software remains up-to-date with the latest security patches.

Conclusion

By adjusting these settings, you can fully utilize Norton 360’s comprehensive protection suite. Whether it’s reducing notification noise, setting up a secure VPN, backing up crucial files, monitoring the dark web for your data, or keeping your software updated, these steps will help you stay secure and efficient.