Norton Antivirus 2011

Price: $39.99

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Symantec sells two complete computer security suites, Norton 360 ($79.99) and Norton Internet Security 2011 ($69.99).These two differ in terms of features and functionality, but at the core of both lies Norton Antivirus 2011 ($39.99 per year), providing powerful antimalware protection.

A dozen major security suites were put through two months of rigorous testing by independent European lab AV-Test.org. For malware detection, Norton scored highest, followed by Kaspersky Antivirus 2011 and PC Tools Security 2011. These three were also at the top for the more important test of successful malware blocking, but here Norton took the top spot.
Symantec (Norton) was chosen as the top security vendor for 2009 by Independent lab AV-Comparatives.org. For six of the lab's tests Symantec achieved the top ADVANCED+ rating, and ADVANCED for the other two. Only Norton Internet Security 2011 and Kaspersky achieved the ADVANCED+ rating in a real-world test. Norton Antivirus attained ADVANCED+ in a test for low system-performance impact, sharing this result with 9 others. Avira AntiVir Premium Security Suite scored highest in this test.
Norton technology is certified by ICSA Labs and West Coast Labs for malware protection. Checkmark certifications for Trojan and spyware detection are added by West Coast.
Virus Bulletin has awarded Symantec its VB100% accolade for nine out of the last ten years, and it was Symantec Endpoint Protection that failed one year, not Norton Antivirus.
Norton Antivirus is quick and easy to install. It's just a case of launching the installer, clicking the 'Agree and Install' button, and waiting. After a few minutes all is finished. Most of the time, that is.
Trying to install on a system that is already infested with malware causes problems for many security suites. This could be because the malware has rendered the system generally unstable, or it could be that the malware is actively fighting back. Norton Antivirus normally handles these tough situations with aplomb. If the installer runs into interference from malware, it runs a pre-install scan, fixes the issue, and then completes installation. In some situations it automatically starts up the one-click help system, or launches an 'AutoFix' module to fix problems.
We ran an installation test on a system infested with malware that masquerades as a proxy server, so as to take control of Internet access. This caused some security products to fail at installation. Most Antivirus removed the malware but failed to correct the proxy settings, which effectively disabled Internet access for the target system. Norton Antivirus handled this situation perfectly - the suspicious proxy settings corrected, malware removed, and installation completed.
Despite all the built-in help, Norton Antivirus simply would not install on one of our test systems. Stepping through the One-Click help system led to a recommendation to use one-on-one chat-based help. The online support agent steered towards purchasing Symantec's $99 virus removal service.
Well, Norton Antivirus 2011 has a utility called the Norton Bootable Recovery Tool. (If you buy Norton AV at retail you can simply boot from the product CD - if you buy online and download the product, a downloadable ISO image is provided.) The online support agent should have suggested using this tool. This tool cleaned up the problem and allowed the installation to complete.
According to Symantec's official support policy, online agents are supposed to direct customers towards tools and utilities like the Norton Bootable Recovery Tool, so, if you ever speak or chat with a support agent, insist on getting actual help and not being sold an installation service.
Symantec's SONAR 2 (Symantec Online Network for Advanced Response) and Quorum technologies give the 2011 version of Norton Antivirus a significant boost. These technologies only come into play for programs that Symantec's normal signature-based scanning does not catch. SONAR 2 uses proactive monitoring and real-time online intelligence to provide an extra level of defense, analyzing programs for suspicious behavior - anything flagged by Quorum gets special scrutiny. Quorum monitors applications running on Norton-equipped systems. Any program never before seen by a Norton user will be flagged as more suspicious than one that has been around for years. And an application found on ten systems will be regarded as more suspicious than one found on ten thousand.
Quick and full scans are automatically scheduled to run at intervals in the background. After installation, it's a good idea to run a full scan. The initial run can be slow - sometimes taking more than an hour to complete. But subsequent scans are much faster - a feature called Norton Insight marks files that are known to be good so they will be excluded from future scans.
We awarded Norton Antivirus 9 out of 10 points in comparative malware removal tests. It was beaten only by Spyware Doctor with Antivirus 2011, which was awarded 9.1 points. Both Norton and Spyware Doctor detected 100% of all threats present, but Spyware Doctor performed slightly better at removing them.
Norton Antivirus was found to be extremely efficient at detecting and eradicating commercial keyloggers. We award Norton AV 9.1 out of 10. The only other product that came close was Double Anti-Spy Professional 1.4, scoring 8.4 points.
We awarded Norton AV 7.2 points for removing rogue security software (scareware), beaten by Ad-Aware Pro 8.1 with 8.8 points, followed by Spyware Doctor with 8.0 points. Norton AV, with 8.3 points, came best at removing rootkits, with Spyware Doctor a close second with 7.7 points.
Norton's Download Insight feature is extremely efficient at blocking malware. All downloads are analyzed and malicious ones are blocked before the download is finalized. We found that it caught every threat that made it as far as the download stage. On opening a folder containing previously-downloaded malware samples, Norton immediately destroyed half of them, without any user intervention. When we single-clicked on the remaining samples, Norton destroyed all but a few of them. The remaining ones were launched, then carefully checked to see if any installed successfully. Norton Antivirus scored an impressive 9.6 out of 10 in this test.
All in all, Norton Antivirus is very effective at malware removal, and even better at malware blocking.
Norton Antivirus intelligently takes advantage of system idle time and tries to do as many of its background tasks as possible during that time. You can also flip the main Norton window over to reveal a Performance Panel which gives you a view of CPU usage by Norton and other system processes. It will also show you which background tasks are finished, and you can manually launch tasks if you wish.
A further layer of protection is offered by built-in intrusion prevention technologies, designed to prevent fast-spreading Internet worms from infecting your system. Intrusion prevention is more commonly associated with firewall products than antimalware software, so this is an extra bonus to what is overall a very attractive Antivirus package.
Downside: The initial malware scan can take a little longer time to complete (though Norton Insight makes subsequent scans much faster). Support agents may improperly try to pitch Symantec's paid installation service instead of trying to solve issues over the phone/online.
Upside: Product receives high praise from independent labs comparison tests. Norton Antivirus 2011 takes advantage of system idle time to run tasks in the background. Many installation problems are intelligently solved - the built-in self-repair systems enable it to install and run on many malware-infested systems. Malware cleanup is extremely effective, and malware blocking is even better.