Symantec's Norton Antivirus 2011 Gets High Marks

Symantec’s Norton Antivirus 2011 software utilizes a multilayered virus-protection system. The first tier of protection comes from the traditional core security programming typical to most antivirus software. The second tier comes from programming designed to identify malicious software based on file behavior. The last tier uses reputation technology, a cloud system, to identify malware based on data gathered about files from the millions of users in the Norton community. On the whole, this three-tier protection system effectively provides a high-quality virus-protection service with good performance and functionality.

Detection Rate
When it comes to spotting worms, Trojans, backdoors, viruses and other malicious software based purely on the behavior of the malware, AV Comparatives, an independent IT security testing lab, found that the Norton Antivirus 2011 software has a 51-percent proactive heuristic detection rate. A proactive detection rate of 50 percent or above is considered advanced. Nevertheless, while 51 percent is a good rating, this ranking does trail behind many competing antivirus products such as G DATA Antivirus 2011 and Panda Antivirus Pro 2011, which both have proactive detection rates above 60 percent.

The proactive detection rate alone, however, does not provide a complete picture as to the quality of software’s virus-protection performance. To get a more accurate idea of how the Norton Antivirus 2011 software stacks up against competitors in identifying malware, you must take into account how the software performs in conjunction with up-to-date virus definitions. Norton’s Antivirus 2011 software has an overall malicious software detection rate of 98.7 percent when using the on-demand scan feature and current virus definitions. While there were a few antivirus software applications that did fair a little better in this test, the difference was marginal. In performing its most basic function - detecting malware - Norton’s Antivirus 2011 is a high-quality product.
Other Performance Considerations
There are a couple of significant improvements in the 2011 edition of Norton's Antivirus software. For one thing, the 2011 edition installs much faster and moves through its initial set up much quicker than previous editions. The software incorporates scan technology designed to identify and only scan files that are at risk of infection. Because of this smart technology, the quick-scan function generally takes a minute or less to complete. The full scan function typically takes between one to two hours to complete.

The impact Norton Antivirus 2011 software has on the overall performance of your computer is negligible, which is a marked improvement over earlier versions of the software. The 2011 edition does an excellent job of operating inconspicuously in the background of your computer system with minimal interference.

New Features
Norton has added a performance alert feature to the 2011 edition that informs you when something on your computer is using a high percentage of your computer’s resources and slowing down its overall performance. There’s also a new Facebook scan feature that allows you to identify potential malware threats present on a Facebook webpage.

User Interface
From a visual standpoint, the Norton Antivirus 2011 user interface looks similar to the 2010 edition. It is somewhat dark and futuristic looking. While the interface is highly interactive, relatively easy to navigate, and very slick looking with its sliding panels and other modern graphic stunts, the interface also has the potential to be little tiring on the eyes.

Bottom Line
The 2011 edition of Symantec’s Norton Antivirus software is a good representation of why Norton is such a trusted name in virus protection services. It’s a high-quality product that contains significant improvements over earlier versions.

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