Concerns about using Norton 360 VPN on iPad and iPhone

Norton is somewhat of a dirty word around here because the last version of it that did NOT degrade Mac stability and performance was released about 1999.

We are seeing a rise in performance complaints here in Mac computers, phones, and tablets that prove to be solely due to the unadvised installation of a client-side VPN not issued by an employer. "Client-side" are the ones supported by millions in scary adverts pushing their wares in your face hourly.

IHMO, even Windows no longer needs all the cr@pware poured upon users through fear marketing. I ran Win 7/64 Home Edition for years using only the built-in Windows protection and never had an issue with malware.

Sticky772 wrote:

To clarify, I have no desire to use Norton’s anti-virus software - just the VPN. Any concerns about this?

Lots of them:

VPN: What you need to know - Apple Community

Norton now owns Lifelock, a company that, despite what it purports to do, had breaches that exposed customer data to bad actors. Just something to think about.

I was one of those people who spent the better part of a day trying to remove Norton from my Mac back in the day.

Sticky772 wrote:

I’m from the UK but temporarily living overseas. We like to watch and listen to the BBC but cannot without a UK IP address, not all VPN’s can get get around the BBC’s security but Nord and Norton can (as do others probably). I am paying for Nord on my iphone and iPad, but the subscription expires soon. If I already have a VPN available via Norton, why pay twice?

If your aim is to bypass geo-restrictions, a VPN or proxy service will be required. If minimal cost of VPN provision is your aim, then you have already answered your own question. If you seek validation of this choice, you are unlikely to receive any affirmation by senior contributors here. Your selection of VPN provider is your choice alone.

Instead of using the associated Norton App, with features and functionality that are unwanted and of questionable benefit, consider simply subscribing to a specialist VPN service that meets your need. The better service providers are not reliant upon an installed App - but also support manual configuration of the iPad's native VPN client.

Whether you use the native VPN client, or an installed App, all traffic will be routed via the VPN provider's VPN Gateway.

There are no true Antivirus Products available for iOS/iPadOS. Those that claim to provide AV protection are little more than “snake oil”, have negligible (if any benefit) and for Apple devices should generally be avoided. Very often, Apps of this nature introduce more issues than added benefit.

Unlike traditional Operating Systems with which you may be familiar, iOS/iPadOS uses a sandboxed security architecture. Apps cannot access any data outside of their own sandbox - and cannot access the storage and resources of other Apps. As such, it is impossible for an Anti-Virus App to scan or otherwise protect the filesystem.

For iOS/iPadOS, the Norton 360 App employs a potentially dubious network proxy - that attempts to intercept and examine network traffic.

What are you attempting to achieve in using a VPN connection? Are you connecting to a Corporate/Business network - or trying to use a commercial VPN operator to improve privacy over public WiFi networks? Something else?

Insofar as public WiFi hotspots are concerned, where your internet traffic can be both monitored and potentially manipulated by bad/malicious actors present on the WiFi network, use of a properly configured reputable VPN service is certainly recommended by knowledgable Infosec Professionals.

Enterprise applications may use VPN technologies to securely connect remote users to corporate systems - security benefit being derived through the entire path being protected. Commercial VPNs, as used by private individuals, do not offer protection over the entire path as the encrypted tunnel terminates at the VPN Gateway from which your traffic is routed over the internet to its destination(s). Properly configured commercial VPN services do, however, provide useful mitigation against very specific threats. In using these services, It is important to understand the risks against which a commercial VPN can provide useful protection - and those that it can not. A commercial VPN cannot provide total protection against all monitoring of your internet traffic - as the end-to-end path is not protected by the VPN in its entirety.

Consider that a high proportion of your traffic (such as browser traffic) already benefits from encryption (e.g., TLS) without use of a VPN - but some protocols (such as DNS) are entirely “in-clear” and can be intercepted and manipulated. Header and routing information are also unencrypted - and is available to anyone that is able to monitor your local network connection. Where utilised, VPN encapsulation ensures that all your traffic, including unencrypted data, is contained within the VPN tunnel away from prying eyes and threat actors.

One of the arguments against the use of commercial VPN is that all your traffic is routed via the VPN provider”s VPN Gateway. This of course is completely true - however, in many cases presents no greater risk to you, or your privacy, than routing all your internet traffic via your ISP or mobile phone operator.

If you are connecting to an Enterprise/Business VPN, your IT Security Administrators will provide the required settings - and instruction upon how to set-up the VPN.

If instead you propose to use a commercial VPN Operator, you will likely use their own VPN App - or will use settings recommended by the operator. When using a commercial VPN, completely avoid free services - as these are unsafe. Choose one of the reputable “subscription” VPN Operators - as these should fully fund their service from fees - and not through monitoring/mining your exposed data or unwanted advertising.

I wouldn't, it would just create a hole in your security for the iPad or iPhone that could be exploited by a data breach on their servers where alll your network traffic is being routed. The only legitimate use of a VPN is when needed in a Work/School environment to "tunnel" into their servers, but in that case it would be their IT department that specifies the VPN and the settings to use.

• https://gist.github.com/joepie91/5a9909939e6ce7d09e29
• https://overengineer.dev/blog/2019/04/08/very-precarious-narrative/

You would probably be better off contacting the Norton support team about that, to make sure you can use their service (VPN) without having other subscriptions to their different services.

the only device I use vpn on is my work laptop for when I work from home and needs my computer to be on the company network

this is what vpn does Virtual private network - Wikipedia

though some attempt to peddle it as an extra security feature, for

to get you pay for a subscription for ever

if they give you for free them they are likely selling all your data to third party actors.

Why do you think you need a VPN?

I’m not a fan Nord or Norton, and the anti -malware side of them for iOS is rubbish, but yeah I get it. Tunnel Bear might be a possibility, but likely pricier than you want.