Qwest have long been a name in the whole “bundle” scene, providing high quality cell phone, telephone, voice, web and television service all for one low monthly bill, so it’s nice to see that they’re taking this same approach to internet security with their Qwest @Ease suite.
So what is Qwest @Ease, exactly? Besides its free version, Qwest @Ease is also offered, much like Qwest’s telecommunications services, in various bundles at various prices. They’re all competitively priced, but each will give you a different level of security for your buck. Free version of Qwest @Ease comes with each Qwest High Speed Internet package.
Here are the components that make up the different packages:
Norton™ AntiVirus Online for Windows Live™ customers
You’ve no doubt heard of Norton AntiVirus. Norton is pretty much at the top of the game right now, the most popular and highly rated antivirus program out there today. Qwest @Ease comes with Norton’s Online Solutions as well as Automatic Online Backup. This is part of the basic package, so regardless of which level of security you think you need, you’ll get the Norton programs as a part of the basic package.
Norton 360
This comes with the full package (which is only three bucks more than the next package down, and the basic package is free). Norton 360 offers pretty much unprecedented, unrivaled protection and peak performance. A lot of antivirus and security programs will slow your computer down, which is a serious trade off, but Norton 360 allows a computer to run safely, and at its peak. It may be more security than most of us will ever need, but when you consider that hackers get more aggressive all the time, you never know.
Automatic Online Backup
The bare bones package gives you two gigs of online backup, while the other packages give you fifty gigs. Online backup ensures that not only are you safe from people breaking into your system, but you’re also protected from things like hard drive crashes and so on.
Remote PC Tune Up
With the top tier packages, you get Remote PC Tune-up, which allows Qwest to check your computer out remotely and make sure everything is running as it should. Convenient if you don’t want to bother having to do this yourself.
So if you use Qwest, you should at least go ahead and get the basic, free Norton package to protect yourself. Otherwise, you could look into the other packages. In any event, you’ve got to protect yourself. Qwest may have become constitutional heroes for defending their customers’ privacy against the NSA, but there’s little that a service provider can do alone against hackers. You have to participate, too.