NortonLifeLock Makes Norton™ 360 For Gamers Available Globally

Features Dark Web Monitoring for Gamer tags, Secure VPN, and Fewer Product Notifications to Combat Game Disruption

Over 60,000 Dark Web Monitoring for Gamer Tag Notifications Sent to Gamers Since June

NortonLifeLock (NASDAQ: NLOK), a global leader in consumer cyber safety, today announced the global availability of Norton™ 360 for Gamers, security reimagined for gamers.

“It’s never been more critical for gamers to have strong security in place and build good safety habits to protect themselves,” said Mark Gorrie, Senior Director at NortonLifeLock. “With two-thirds of New Zealanders playing video games and nine out of 10 households owning a video game device1, gaming has become an integral part of the way in which we communicate and interact with friends. This means gaming accounts and the personal information tied to them have become a lucrative target for cybercriminals. Norton 360 for Gamers is part of our vision to protect and empower people to live their digital lives. We want gamers to continue enjoying the gaming world, safe in the knowledge they have a cyber safety plan in place to help stay one step ahead of the cybercriminals.”

With online gaming on the rise during the pandemic, cybercriminals have taken aim at the lucrative industry that boasts more than 2.7 billion gamers globally2. A new survey among nearly 3,000 gamers commissioned by NortonLifeLock and conducted by The Harris Poll found that many gamers are concerned about the trajectory of gaming security, with 68 percent of New Zealanders surveyed worried that gaming will become less secure in the future. Further, 35 percent of those surveyed around the world say they have had a gaming account hacked. Locally, that number is similar with 32 percent of gamers in New Zealand having had a gaming account hacked, including 8 percent who have had their account hacked more than one time. Experts at NortonLifeLock warn that gamers will need to be more vigilant this year as cybercriminals recognise the value of their accounts and personal information.

Today’s gamers are faced with challenges that extend well beyond the game. From casual to hardcore PC gamers, personal information and digital assets abound in the gaming universe and are valuable to cybercriminals, putting gamers at risk for device vulnerabilities, phishing attacks and identity theft. A typical gaming account can include the gamer’s name, birth year, mailing address, email, mobile number, payment information, and other personal information that, with the right mix of information, could be used by an identity thief to wreak financial havoc. Gamer tags are ransacked for virtual items and personally identifiable information that are bought and sold for real money on the Dark Web. Once a gaming account has been breached, the gamer’s other accounts, from banking to social media, are at a much higher risk for account takeovers and fraud3.

Norton 360 for Gamers was designed by gamers at NortonLifeLock to help protect PC gamers with advanced, multi-layered protection, including Dark Web Monitoring Powered by LifeLock, a first in cyber safety, which monitors up to 10 gamer tags and notifies gamers if their gamer tags, usernames and email addresses are found on the Dark Web. To date, NortonLifeLock has issued more than 60,000 notifications informing customers their gaming information was located on the Dark Web. Norton 360 for Gamers also offers optimised notifications, permanently silencing messages except the most essential, eliminating the tension between wanting security and gaming.

“Gamers pour their passion, time and money into their gaming PCs and accounts, but they’re notoriously apprehensive about security because they just don’t want to be interrupted or experience slowness, or they may think the free stuff is good enough,” said Bob Shaker, Head of Gaming at NortonLifeLock. “Many of us at NortonLifeLock are gamers ourselves, and we wanted to reimagine how we approach security and develop features tailored to gamers’ needs, like limiting notifications that could interrupt a game and adding gamer tag monitoring among the personal information we look out for on the Dark Web. We are excited to now offer Norton 360 for Gamers globally to help keep PC gamers safe.”

In addition to Dark Web Monitoring, key Norton 360 for Gamers features include:

· Secure VPN4: Browse anonymously and securely by masking your IP address with a no-log VPN to help protect against DDOS attacks, doxxing and SWATing.

· Notification Optimisation: We’ll only notify you if your PC is under attack, your protection is at risk, or you aren’t using a feature you’re entitled to use — and give you control over product reminders.

· Full-Screen Mode Detection5: Device security for PCs that detects when you’re using full-screen mode, and silences all but critical security alerts.

· PC SafeCam6: Helps protect against potential stream bans and embarrassment with alerts on attempts to access your webcam so you can block them.

To learn more, please visit the NortonLifeLock gaming blog and join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Norton 360 for Gamers offers protection for up to 3 PCs, Mac®, smartphones or tablets and has a New Zealand MSRP of $154.99.

About the NortonLifeLock Gaming and Cybercrime Study

The survey was conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of NortonLifeLock among 6,124 adults age 18+ in 5 countries including 2,985 adults who currently play online games that require an account where they provide personal information (defined as “gamers”). The survey was conducted 16-26 December 2020 in the United States (n=2,017; n=1,136 gamers), UK (n=1,019; n=473 gamers), Australia (n=1,014; n=453 gamers), Germany (n=1,010; n=428 gamers) and New Zealand (n=1,064; n=495 gamers). Data are weighted where necessary to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population. Weighting variables varied by country and included one or more of the following: age, gender, race/ethnicity, region, education, employment, household income, household size, marital status, internet use, and propensity to be online.

About NortonLifeLock Inc

NortonLifeLock Inc. (NASDAQ: NLOK) is a global leader in consumer. Its vision is to protect and empower people to live their digital lives safely through a comprehensive product portfolio that helps secure the devices, identities, online privacy, and home and family needs of approximately 50 million consumers. NortonLifeLock is the consumer’s trusted ally in a complex digital world. For more information, please visit www.NortonLifeLock.com.

References

1. Brand, J. E., Jervis, J., Huggins, P. M., & Wilson, T. W. (2019). Digital New Zealand 2020. Eveleigh, NSW: IGEA.

2. “2020 Global Games Market Report,” Newzoo, April 2020

3. Seok, S., & DaCosta, B. (2019). The cyber awareness of online video game players: an examination of their online safety practices and exposure to threats. International Journal of Cyber Research and Education (IJCRE), 1(1), 69-77.

4. Secure VPN and Dark Web Monitoring are not available in all countries. Full details available on product landing page.

5 and 6. Norton SafeCam and Full-Screen Mode Detection features are only available on Windows.

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