Symantec Corp. has announced Norton Personal Firewall 2000 that protects home PC users against unauthorized connections to and from the Internet without requiring any special configuration or complex setup. Users can block connections to their PCs, preventing hackers from gaining access to important files, passwords, banking numbers or other confidential data stored on the PC. In addition, users can configure which applications are allowed to access the Internet and are notified when an unauthorized program, such as a Trojan horse, tries to send information from the PC. Norton Personal Firewall 2000 configures the firewall automatically for the most common Internet applications, saving time and minimizing unnecessary security alerts. Users can choose one of the pre-configured protection settings or customize the firewall with the intuitive, step-by-step RuleAssistant. Norton Personal Firewall 2000 also includes enhanced security features not found in competing personal firewall products, such as the ability to prevent Web sites from downloading specific or all Java applets and ActiveX controls. Norton Personal Firewall 2000 provides event logs and statistics detailing intrusion attempts, the IP address of potential attackers, and authorized connections. Information from the logs can be used to track the source of attempted attacks. The product also protects the user’s anonymity while surfing the Web by blocking cookies on a per-site basis, preventing Web sites from tracking the user’s movements around the Internet. Additionally, Norton Personal Firewall tracks and records which personal information has been sent, and when cookies, e-mail addresses, and other events were blocked. Norton Personal Firewall 2000 is available now at an estimated price of $69.95. Symantec of Cupertino, Calif., is at http://www.symantec.ca.
Prices listed are in US currency.