How risks are detected

Norton uses several techniques to monitor and protect your devices from viruses, spyware, adware, and other security risks. The most common method is signature-based threat detection. Each time you run a virus scan, Norton obtains the virus definitions and performs a scan. It compares the contents of the files against the known threat signatures to identify threats.

Norton also uses heuristic detection to protect your device from threats for which signatures are unknown.

The following features in Norton continually protect your device from security threats:

Auto-Protect

Auto-Protect options let you customize the protection of your computer. The Auto-Protect feature does the following:
- Monitors your computer for any unusual symptoms that might indicate an active security risk.
- Loads into memory when Windows starts, providing constant protection while you work.
- Checks for viruses, spyware, and other risks every time that you use software programs on your computer. It also checks every time when you insert any removable media, access the Internet, or use the document files that you receive or create.
Full Scan

Checks all the boot records, the files, and the programs that are running to protect your computer from viruses and spyware.
Quick Scan

The security risks that are running on your computer affect most of the areas of your computer. Quick Scan performs a fast scan of those affected areas. Run Quick Scan if you do not have time for a Full Scan but suspect that a security risk is running on your computer.
Email Protection

Protects the incoming and the outgoing email messages, preventing your computer, and other computers from becoming infected.
Intrusion Prevention

Scans all the network traffic that enters and exits your computer and compares this information against a set of attack signatures. Intrusion Prevention protects your computer against the most common Internet attacks.

Intrusion Prevention monitors all applications that are installed on your computer and block malicious websites from accessing your computer.
Exploit Prevention

Protects the applications and files that are prone to exploit attacks. Exploit Prevention provides zero-day exploit protection and prevents external attackers perform malicious actions on your computer.
Browser Protection

Scans for malicious websites and helps block malware as you browse the Internet using your browser. It also prevents malicious scripts from being downloaded and run on your computer.

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