Smart Symantec Security Software Revealed
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Symantec has launched a new line of smart security software that claims to be able to detect malware based on a file’s reputation.


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According to the company, the Norton Internet Security 2010 and Norton AntiVirus 2010 will use a new model of security called ‘Quorum’ that is able to ‘track files and applications and dozens of their attributes such as their age, download source, digital signature, and prevalence.’

As a file is distributed across the Internet and these attributes change, Quorum updates the reputation of the file. This reputation is especially important when a file is new, likely to be a threat, and traditional defences are not likely to detect it.

Symantec’s Senior Vice President, Consumer Products and Marketing, Rowan Trollope said, “One in five people will become a victim of cyber crime. We know that hackers don’t destroy computers, they destroy lives. The powerful new reputation-based security in Norton 2010 gives people the power to deny digital dangers wherever they are found online.”

“Symantec’s reputation-based security technology for 2010 represents a new and important safeguard in a multi-layer antivirus defence. I believe it’s likely that the internet security industry will be building on technologies like Quorum for the next ten years,” says Jon Oltsik, Senior Analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group.

 

The Norton 2010 products have maintained an eye on performance, in spite of adding significant new protection technology to the release. According to an independent 3rd party test lab, PassMark Software, the Norton Internet Security 2010 installs in about a minute, uses just over 10MB of memory, and performs a hard disk scan in 61 seconds (solid state drive scan only takes 31 seconds).

Other features of the new security software include Norton Download Insight that analyses and reports on the safety of new files and applications before users install and run them, Norton System Insight that provides features and easy-to-understand system information to help keep PCs performing at top speed, Norton Threat Insight that provide details on threats that have been detected on your PC, and Norton Insight Network that uses a statistical analysis of file attributes based on billions of scans on millions of computers to identify the trust level of a file.

In addition, the Norton security suite comes with SONAR 2 that detects new threats based on their suspicious actions, as well as Antispam, Safe Web, and Family protection (for its Internet Security 2010).

The Norton Internet Security 2010 is available now for $99.95 (three PC license), while the Norton AntiVirus 2010 is available for $59.95.