January 24, 2007

Norton Confidential (**** out of four) is designed to protect you against online identity theft by blocking fake Web sites, blocking crimeware (hidden programs such as spyware, Trojan horses, keyboard loggers and the like that are designed to steal your identity), protecting your passwords and personal information and authenticating popular banking and shopping Web sites. Linda McCarthy, author of the newly-published Own Your Space: Keep Yourself and Your Stuff Safe Online (www.amazon.com, $13.59), said in a recent interview, "Criminals have shifted from targeting the computer systems of financial institutions to targeting the personal computer user . . . programs such as Norton Confidential are a must-have to maintain your on-line security."

Online criminals are creating new and clever methods of stealing passwords, names, addresses, phone numbers, account and credit card numbers by tricking you into logging onto phishing sites or fake Web sites. These sites may closely mimic sites from your financial institution, shopping sites or other sites you know and trust. When you log on to these sites or enter personal, confidential info, the criminals capture that info, effectively stealing your identity and using it fraudulently to steal money from your bank accounts and/or to make unauthorized purchases.

Norton Confidential blocks known phishing Web sites by comparing them to constantly updated lists of such known sites, validating the legitimacy of the Web page’s security certificates and checking for and notifying you of sites containing hidden programs or sites exhibiting suspicious characteristics or behavior. The program does this by displaying a prominent status bar near the top of the screen: green for OK sites, yellow for suspicious sites, or a red bar for a site containing crimeware. In addition, the program blocks crimeware from being loaded into your computer.

An additional feature of the program is the protection and encryption of your passwords for popular Web sites and some Windows applications. The program also guards your personal data by managing the data with protected encryption, in addition to alerting you when confidential data is being submitted to unapproved sites. How good are your passwords? The program provides feedback on their "strength" and can optionally auto-fill login and password info on previously approved or authenticated sites.

Installation and activation of Norton Confidential was easy, and the program works well with other Norton Internet products such as Norton AntiVirus or Norton Internet Security. The program includes a one-year subscription for updates and Web site lists.

Take heart, Nancy Drew fans--the teenage detective is back again with her 15^th interactive PC mystery in Nancy Drew: The Creature of Kapu (****). The Nancy Drew novels debuted in 1930, making our teenager 77 years old and still going strong. The book titles, graphic novels and spin-offs have been published in 22 languages, with more than 100 million copies sold. Now we have a chance to help Nancy Drew do her detective work with this newest interactive PC adventure.

The storyline finds Nancy Drew traveling to Hawaii in answer to a "help wanted" ad to aid an etymologist as a research assistant. Her job, she thought, was to collect and categorize bugs, along with enjoying Hawaii. When she arrives at the exotic isles, she is delighted to find the Hardy Boys, Joe and Frank, who are there on a separate assignment. But Nancy is distressed to find that the etymologist’s camp has been ransacked, the scientist is missing and she’s suddenly stranded by a washed-out bridge. Now it’s up to you to help Nancy Drew investigate, find and gather clues, successfully complete puzzles, interview story characters and hopefully solve the mystery.

The entomologist, who turns out to be a bit of an eccentric, was researching why a native population of caterpillars has exploded in numbers, what its effect on the pineapple crop is and--what about the beetles? To add to this is the presence of a top-secret, rather suspicious and heavily-guarded bioresearch complex about which little is known. And then there’s the strange creature who has appeared off and on over the past 700 years as a omen of bad things.

Game play finds you directing the actions of Nancy: where she goes, choosing what to ask or answer to the others, exploring her surroundings and collecting necessary items and more. If you get stuck, call Bess or George on your cell phone for tips. As the game progresses, the Hardy Boys get drawn into the mystery, and you’ll have to play their parts as well. Along the way there will be puzzles to solve, such as what order to press buttons to open a case or which order to place photo cells to restore power to a radio to call for help. There are also some fun games, such as collecting seashells to make a necklace to appease Big Island Mike. Easy or hard levels of play are available. New to the series is a second chance feature, allowing you to try something again if you failed the first time.

The graphics are good, depicting several Hawaiian locations that are fun to explore and Nancy Drew fans will love the game.

Return to Main CD-ROM Archives Page