Clank!

Hear that? That's the sound of a virus or worm being fended off by Norton 360 ($79.99) from Symantec Corp. And it does this without sending you an alert boasting that it's actually doing its job.

This has got to be one of the least intrusive PC security products to come along in decades, allowing you to do your work without slowing down your computer, arbitrarilly denying you access to your favorite Web sites or preventing you from installing or using your favorite program or game. If it does have a weakness, it would be a nominally effective SPAM blocker. Although it's not in the box, the folks at Norton allow you to download it as a free add-on. But, truthfully, the anti-SPAM utilities that come with your favorite email service (or program) are a lot more effective.

Despite that, this is the quintensential program for anyone that seeks iron-clad protection from intruders and utilities to keep their PCs running smoothly, all in one package. Norton 360 gives you all-around protection (hence the name) by continuously monitoring your system, running in the background and using far fewer system resources than previous Norton products.

This means it is able to do its job without interfering with your ability to do yours. This is a big deal if you've ever been hit by a sudden slowdown as your anti-virus program scans your system or it downlaods and installs updates.

The program also:

• Monitors the performance of your computer by cleaning up old unwanted files, defragmenting your PC and tuning up your system.
• Offers complete phishing protection and Web site authntication to ensure your security when conducting trasnsactions on-line or just surfing.
• Can detect and eradicate any threats to your system using SONAR, which analyzes their behavior and zaps them even if there's no known anti-virus definition.
• Backs up essential files to any external device (CD, DVD, hard drive or USB flash drive) or another drive mapped to your PC, automatically detecting when these files have been changed and backing them up when your PC is idle.
• Updates all of its components in the background using Live Update.
• Provides two-way firewall protection.

More information can be found at www.symantec.com.