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Norton Smart Firewall and Norton Intrusion Prevention System

Don’t let your files and data leave your computer without your permission.


A firewall helps defend against unwanted intrusions to your computer. Protect your Windows PC or Mac from unauthorized access with Norton Smart Firewall and Intrusion Prevention System, part of Norton Device Security plans. Norton Intrusion Prevention System is also available as part of Norton Safe Web browser extension.

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What is a firewall?

As part of advanced online threat protection, a firewall is like a gatekeeper for your computer. You want to keep your personal information in and keep cybercriminals’ attacks and malware out. The firewall monitors network traffic and enforces rules about access to a computer.

Do firewalls protect against viruses?

A firewall is like a filter or barrier, but something has to inform the firewall of which rules to apply.

Learn more

What do firewalls protect against? 

You connect to the web through networks, and networks can be accessed by others.

Learn more

What is an Intrusion Prevention System? 

An Intrusion Prevention System is technology that looks at network (e.g. Internet) traffic to detect cybersecurity threats like unwanted access.

Learn more

Hacker attacking internet.

Who has access to your computer?

Problem

A cybercriminal may hack into your computer and take your valuable information.

Solution

The Norton Smart Firewall and Norton Intrusion Prevention System complement each other to help block unauthorized access and carefully inspect all traffic that is permitted in.

Close up of hands typing on laptop.

What is cryptojacking?

Problem

A cybercriminal attempts to hijack your browser and tries to run crypto-mining tasks using your computer’s resources. This is known as cryptojacking.

Solution

The Norton Intrusion Prevention System is built to detect cryptojacking attempts, and it helps prevent them from running inside your browsers.

Hacker working at night.

Keep your personal information where it belongs

Problem

Malicious apps or processes already installed on your computer can attempt to steal your private and sensitive data and put it in the wrong hands.

Solution

The Norton Intrusion Prevention System checks for potential leaks of private and personal data by analyzing the content and the reputation of remote hosts used in the communication. When a potential leak is detected, our Intrusion Prevention System helps stops the traffic and further remediates the process used in the malicious communication.

Online threats are complex. Advanced layers of security technology can help stop them

A firewall is one part of advanced security technology solutions that complement each other to help block online threats like malware, viruses and intrusions. The Norton security technology stack includes six layers of protection, and each layer works in a different way to help protect you from complex online threats:

6 layers of protection to catch malware

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Intrusion Prevention Wall

Our Intrusion Prevention System helps protect your browsers and operating systems. If there’s a hole in either one, malicious code might get through. Our Intrusion Prevention System inspects bytes of traffic coming to your device. It blocks almost 60% of attack attempts.

Windows PC, Mac

Antivirus File Scan

Malware writers frequently recycle pieces of code from previous attacks. The antivirus scans the files on your device, looking for known snippets of dangerous code. We immediately add new-found malware code to our global threat intelligence database.

Windows PC, Mac, Android

Reputation Database

Every file you download gets a reputation review. Files from reputable developers, with a recognizable signature, pass through quickly. Never-seen-before files raise a flag, and Norton quarantines them to check for potential threat.

Windows PC

Sonar™ Behavior Monitoring

Malware does things that legitimate software won't, such as access your email contacts or create a communication channel with an IP address in another country. Sonar™ Behavior Monitoring notices suspicious behavior and helps stop the action on your device.

Windows PC

Script Control

Scripts are used to add functionality to documents by automating certain tasks and makes them dynamic and interactive. Scripts can include ActiveX controls, macros, data connections, add-ins, Linked object linking and embedded OLE files, color-theme files, etc. Script Control helps protect you from malware in phishing emails that you receive or download as attachments.

Windows PC

Powerful Erase and Repair

Advanced remediation tools such as Norton Power Eraser and Norton Bootable Recovery Tool seek out and are designed to destroy deep-rooted malware.

Windows PC

The first layer, the Intrusion Prevention Wall, inspects incoming traffic and helps blocks many attack attempts before they even reach devices. The other layers help defend against malware that does get onto a device. The Norton Smart Firewall and Norton Intrusion Prevention System work together at this first level of protection. A great number of online threats get onto computers through the network connection to the internet, and it's here that these technologies work together as part of the first line of defense for your devices.

Norton Smart Firewall + Norton Intrusion Prevention System

Norton Smart Firewall + Norton Intrusion Prevention System, and the other technologies that make up the network-based protection in Norton Device Security work together to help block malicious attacks before they even have a chance to reach your system.

Smart Firewall

Our Smart Firewall helps protect the personal information on your computer from unauthorized access to your personal files and financial information, by monitoring and helping block suspicious network traffic.

Intrusion Prevention System

The Intrusion Prevention System inspects traffic in a much deeper way than the Smart Firewall. Once the Smart Firewall lets permitted traffic in, the Intrusion Prevention System goes to work carefully examining the contents of all that traffic that comes through.

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Norton Safe Web feature

Network-level protection: Norton Smart Firewall + Intrusion Prevention System

In Norton technology, the Smart Firewall and Intrusion Prevention System complement each other to detect malware and intrusions from network traffic. Each has a different job, but they complement each other toward the same goal of detecting and helping block malware and intrusions at the network level.

You could compare the jobs of the Smart Firewall and Intrusion Prevention System in network security to the jobs of different security checks at an airport. The first security check at an airport checks passengers' identification and tickets, only allowing permitted passengers to pass through. Similarly, the Smart Firewall allows permitted traffic into a network and blocks unpermitted traffic from entering. At the next layer of airport security, security officers and x-ray machines inspect the baggage of authorized passengers who have already passed through the first layer of security. Likewise, the role of Intrusion Prevention System in network-based protection is to carefully examine the traffic that the Smart Firewall has allowed to enter in.

Many cyberthreats are caught at the network level, and for advanced malware that may sneak past, the other layers of Norton Device Security technology go to work detecting, quarantining and removing threats from your computer.

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Norton Smart Firewall + Norton Intrusion Prevention System

The Smart Firewall acts like a traffic cop, monitoring incoming and outgoing internet traffic to help prevent cyberthreats from reaching your computer. Complementing each other, the Smart Firewall and Intrusion Prevention System:

  • Help block unauthorized users from accessing your computers through the internet.
  • Create a shield that either allows or blocks attempts to access the information on your computer.
  • Warn you of connection attempts from other computers.
  • Warn you of connection attempts by the applications on your computer that connect to other computers.
  • Help block your data (passwords, keystrokes, files, tax returns etc.) from being taken by an outside source.

Smart Firewall is included in Norton 360

Frequently asked questions

A firewall is like a gatekeeper for your computer. You want to keep your personal information in and keep cybercriminals’ attacks out. The firewall enforces rules about access to a computer, and the Norton Smart Firewall checks not only what’s coming in, but also what’s going out. If a cybercriminal were to sneak in and try to take your information with them, they could be caught on the way out. The Smart Firewall helps block your data like passwords, keystrokes and files from going out the door. The Norton network layer of protection also includes AI-powered technology that analyzes the network traffic, quarantines anything suspicious, and updates the Smart Firewall when new protection rules come into play. A firewall is one key component of computer security protection.

As a key component in cybersecurity solutions, firewalls help protect your devices specifically by doing the following:

  • Helping preventing access by unauthorized users through the Internet
  • Monitoring communication between your computer and other computers on the Internet
  • Providing a filter that allows or blocks attempts to access the information on your computer, based on pre-set rules
  • Warning you if another computer attempts to connect to yours
  • Warning you if the applications on your computer attempt to connect to other computers

Firewalls are one component of protection for your computer. Cybersecurity solutions include several more key technological components that work together to help protect your devices in different ways, such as antivirus technology that works to help protect your information at the file level. Just as you would if you want to protect your home with security cameras and motion sensors, strong locks on the doors and windows, and a guard dog who barks stridently whenever someone approaches, cybersecurity solutions use multiple means for protection, including a firewall that is designed to protect against unauthorized access, and from the wrong data getting in or out of your computer.

You connect to the web through networks, and networks can be accessed by others. Someone who gains access to your computer through the internet can access your valuable information. Remote access to your computer can mean cybercriminals can access sensitive files or your saved log-in information. In cybersecurity solutions, firewalls help protect against unauthorized access and data going in and out of your computer. They help block your data like passwords, your keystrokes, or files like your bank statements from going out the door, so to speak, of your computer. Specific cyberthreats that firewalls help protect against include:

  • Improper Connection Attempts - Be warned about connection attempts from other computers and of attempts by programs on your computer to connect to other computers
  • Port Scans - Cloak the inactive ports on your computer thereby providing protection against attacks through hacking techniques such as port scanning
  • Intrusions - Monitor the network traffic to or from your computer for suspicious behavior and helps stop attacks before they threaten your system

A firewall is designed to protect against these types of intrusions to your computer and works in conjunction with the other layers of security to provide advanced online threat protection.

An Intrusion Prevention System is technology that looks at network (e.g. Internet) traffic to detect security threats like unwanted access. In Norton Device Security, the Intrusion Prevention System works together with the Smart Firewall to detect malware and intrusions from network traffic. The Intrusion Prevention System inspects traffic in a much deeper way than the Smart Firewall. Once the Smart Firewall lets permitted traffic in, Intrusion Prevention System carefully examines the contents of the traffic that comes through.

A firewall is like a filter or barrier, but something has to complement the firewall with information of which rules to apply. In Norton Device Security feature, another part called the Intrusion Prevention System, or IPS, uses machine learning to look at millions of data points of what good traffic and bad traffic does. The IPS complements the Norton Smart Firewall with its learnings. This is particularly important for security in the case of new cyberattack methods that cybercriminals try to use to infiltrate computers or home networks, or to help protect against attacks that use old malicious code re-purposed in different ways to bypass security filters. IPS and Smart Firewall are part of the layer of the Norton Device Security feature that helps protect your computer at the network level, and they work in conjunction with other parts of the Device Security feature like antivirus that provides protection in additional ways. With all of the features and technologies that make up the Norton Device Security, you can have peace of mind that viruses and malware that attempt to enter your computer can get caught by one of the layers of advanced security technology.

All Windows™ and Mac® computers have a firewall built in, but a firewall is just one part of cybersecurity. The Norton Smart Firewall provides more advanced firewall features monitoring incoming and outgoing traffic, and is complemented by the Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) which informs the Smart Firewall about what “good” and “bad” traffic to allow or block. Because it looks at communications between your computer and other computers on the Internet, it helps protect your computer by:

  • Warning you if other computers or programs on your computer attempt to connect to other computers
  • Cloaking inactive ports (where internet traffic comes in), providing protection against hacking techniques that use them
  • Monitoring network traffic coming into and going out from your computer for suspicious behavior, and helping block attacks before they intrude onto your system

While a built-in firewall in a computer is one step toward security, cybersecurity solutions that include a firewall provides much more thorough protection against various sorts of cyberthreats like malware, viruses and intrusions.

Virus Protection Promise: To be eligible, you must have a qualifying subscription with automatic renewal. If a Norton expert is unable to remove the virus from your device, then you may receive a refund based on the actual price paid for the current term of your qualifying subscription. If you have a bundle (a qualifying subscription from Norton purchased with either another offering from Norton, or a third party offering), your refund will be limited to the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price of only your qualifying subscription for the current term, not to exceed the total bundled price paid. Any refund will be net of any discounts or refunds received and less any shipping, handling and applicable taxes, except in certain states and countries where shipping, handling and taxes are refundable. The refund does not apply to any damages incurred as a result of viruses. See Norton.com/guarantee for complete details.

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