Norton (software)

Norton is a family of computer products and software focused on digital security, privacy, identity protection, and utilities. It is owned by the American company Gen. The brand was founded in 1982 by Peter Norton Computing and acquired by Symantec in 1990. Norton was originally a suite of utility software for IBM DOS, expanded into user guides for IBM DOS and then utilities and guides for Microsoft DOS in 1982, and eventually expanded into services for Microsoft Windows. After acquiring Norton Computing in 1989, Symantec merged their anti-virus software into the Norton package and rebranded it as Norton AntiVirus which was released in 1991. In 2014 Symantec separated their business into two units. One was focused on security, and the other was focused on information management; Norton was placed in the unit focused on security. Symantec was renamed to NortonLifeLock in 2019 following Broadcom’s acquisition of its enterprise division. As of 2025, Norton is a consumer cybersecurity brand of Gen, the parent company formed following the merger between NortonLifeLock and Avast. It currently covers a variety of products and services related to digital security, identity protection, and online privacy and utilities.