Most of the time, Norton 360 quietly protects your computer from viruses and other risks and threats so that you can use your PC with confidence.

The green badge on the Norton 360 status icon in the lower-right corner of your computer screen indicates that your protection is up to date and that you can use your computer with confidence. If the badge color changes to red, it means you should open Norton 360 to learn about the problems that Norton 360 has encountered.

Managing messages and alerts

Norton 360 displays messages in several ways and in several locations.

You might see messages in the following locations:
Notification area on your Windows desktop - Several types of Norton 360 messages appear in the lower-right corner of your Windows desktop. For example, if your PC was turned off, or if it has not been connected to the Internet for a while, you see a message that your protection may not be up to date.

A different alert appears if a security setting was turned off. This message warns you that your PC may not be secure and helps you to turn on the setting. In most cases you can click the alert to open Norton 360 and fix the problems.

Norton 360 main window overall status - Alerts and other messages appear in the top center of the main window. Their color indicates the urgency of the message. If the message color is green, everything is OK. If the message color is red, you need to follow the message instructions to ensure that you stay protected.

Norton 360 categories and details - Each category changes its color if its status changes. A green circle with a checkmark indicates that all the items in a category are in a good state. Orange or red circles indicate possible issues that you should investigate.

When you click any category, its details page lists anything that needs attention. In most cases, the description of what is wrong includes a link that helps you to fix the issue. If you are alerted about something that you do not want to change, you can adjust the message alert so that Norton 360 does not bother you about that issue again.

Types of risks

A risk is anything that can be exploited to harm your PC and its data, or that can be used to steal your data. Norton 360 protects your system from a variety of risks.

Risks fall into several categories:

Malicious software - These programs are deliberately designed to cause damage to your PC. They include threats such as viruses, worms, and Trojan horses. Malicious software is sometimes called "malware."

Spyware - These programs conceal themselves on your PC. They are designed to monitor what you do, or to look through the information stored on your PC, and to send the information back to their creators.

Vulnerabilities - These risks consist of flaws in legitimate software that can be exploited, either to cause damage, block data, or steal information. Vulnerabilities are usually exploited through network connections.

Types of threats

Threats consist of software that has been deliberately designed to destroy, modify, disclose, or block your data. Threats fall into the following categories:

Viruses - Viruses are small programs that attach themselves to other programs, and that duplicate themselves.
Worms - Worms are like viruses in that they copy themselves from PC to PC, but they do not attach themselves to other programs.
Trojan horses - These destructive programs claim to be some other type of program, but they cause damage when they run.

Norton 360 scans your PC for viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and other intentionally destructive software. It also monitors your Internet connection to protect you from Internet-based threats that exploit software vulnerabilities.

Types of viruses

A virus is a small program that is designed to alter the way your PC operates, without your knowledge or permission. To be a virus, a program must do the following:
* Run on its own, without you having to take any action.
* Make copies of itself so that it can spread to other PCs.

Although not all viruses are intended to cause damage, even harmless viruses can affect the performance and stability of your PC. Norton 360 attempts to remove all viruses from your PC.

Viruses fall into the following recognized categories:

File infectors - These viruses infect program files. When infected files run, they can attach the viruses that they carry to other program files. Norton 360 scans all program files on your PC to find and eliminate file infectors.

Boot viruses - These viruses attach themselves to the system areas of your PC and become active as soon as your PC starts. They can attach themselves to disks or other storage devices connected to your PC. Norton 360 scans the system areas of your PC to find and remove boot viruses.

Multipartite viruses - These viruses use the techniques of both boot and file infector viruses. Norton 360 scans for such viruses and eliminates them.

Macro viruses - These viruses attach themselves to data files that contain executable components, such as some spreadsheet, presentation, and word-processing files. These viruses spread when a program runs the executable portion of a data file. Norton 360 scans data files for macro viruses and removes them.

Norton 360 scans your PC for both known viruses and unknown viruses.

Known viruses are automatically detected and repaired. Unknown viruses are detected by analyzing each executable file for various characteristics common to viruses. In addition, Norton 360 automatically updates itself over the Internet to expand and refine its list of known viruses.