Norton 360 VPN on IMac

First, there is no reason to ever install or run any 3rd party "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus, VPN or security apps on your Mac.  This user tip describes what you need to know and do in order to protect your Mac: Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community.  

There are no known viruses, i.e. self propagating, for Macs.  There are, however, adware and malware which require the user to install although unwittingly most of the time thru sneaky links, etc.   

Anti Virus developers try to group all types as viruses into their ad campaigns of fear.  They do a poor job of the detecting and isolating the adware and malware.  Since there are no viruses these apps use up a lot of system resources searching for what is non-existent and adversely affect system and app performance.

There is one app, Malwarebytes, which was developed by a long time contributor to these forums and a highly respected member of the computer security community, that is desshoigned solely to seek out adware and known malware and remove it.  The free version is more than adequate for most users.  

Also, unless you're using a true VPN tunnel, such as between you and your employer, school or bank's servers, they are useless from a privacy standpoint.  Read these two articles: Public VPN's are anything but private and Former Malware Distributor Kape Technologies Now Owns ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, Private Internet Access, Zenmate, and a Collection of VPN “Review” Websites. 



The general consensus in the Communities is that anti-virus, clean up, speed up and VPN software is unnecessary on the Mac, often interfering with the built in macOS security process. VPNs are noted as somewhat less secure than they are made out to be and should not be installed unless required by an employer or institution.

I agree with this general recommendation, my point of view being that of pro and casual IT support.

Unless you're using a true VPN tunnel, such as between you and your employer, school or bank's servers, they are useless from a privacy standpoint.  Read these two articles: Public VPN's are anything but private and Former Malware Distributor Kape Technologies Now Owns ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, Private Internet Access, Zenmate, and a Collection of VPN “Review” Websites. 

That being said one of the most respected contributors to these forums and a respected developer has said good things about NordVPN.  So if you absolutely have to use a VPN it may be more secure than most of the other public VPNs.

Also do not install or run "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus or VPN apps on your Mac. They are totally unnecessary and usually do more hard to performance than good.

I would recommend reading macOS - Security - Apple, Apple provides a pretty good overview. As a Mac OS user for over 20 years I have never had any type of third party security added to my system. In those years I have always been rewarded with stable, fast, and secure Macs. At last count in those 20 years I have had about 15 different Macs including:

• iMacs
• Mac Minis
• MacBook Pros
• MacBook Airs

I have run many many Mac OS versions of Mac OS and including all the other functionality, the one thing it always delivers on is security and being stable. So why interfere with that?

All I do to keep my system secure is to restart it 1x per week and keep Mac OS up-to-date. Otherwise enjoy your Mac and leave Mac OS alone.

NO! DO NOT install any Norton products on your Mac.