Norton Internet Security 2009 beta

How is it looking?

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Pros

  • Install time, user interface, Norton Insight, silent mode

Cons

  • Location of CPU usage meter may be a little obscure, AntiPhishing issues

Bottom Line

The beta of NIS 2009 shows that Symantec is on track to vastly improve performance in Norton. The UI is clear and uncluttered, putting front and centre only the elements most users need to see, while allowing for easy drill-down for those who want more. Having said that, we'd like the CPU usage meter to be easier to access. It would match the product's one-click ease of use in other areas. Still, with so much performance enhancement, such quibbles get left in the dust of this speedy, smooth new suite.

Would you buy this?

  • Price

    Free (AUD)

Analysing and fixing risks

All that said, Norton's fix-it functionality hasn't changed much from the same easy-to-intuit interface Symantec offered in Norton Internet Security 2008. The security suite provides details about detected risks and then suggests the appropriate action, which is initiated with a single click. Drilling down into the risk details pinpointed just where we picked up the two tracking cookies it found.

Security-wise, NIS 2009 serves up the whole enchilada: browser protection against web-based attacks, Symantec Online Network for Advanced Response protection (behaviour-based malware detection that tracks applications to identify new threats in what Symantec says is real time), and intrusion-prevention system capabilities, as well as anti-rootkit, antivirus, antispyware and anti-bot technologies.

The Risk Impact window gives a concise summary of a risk's potential effect on system performance and privacy, how involved the risk removal will be, and its level of stealth, which refers to the number of tactics a given risk uses in order to conceal itself. In this instance, the cookies weren't exhibiting any sneaky hiding behaviours; hence, a low stealth level was given.

It's not new — it debuted in Norton Internet Security 2008 — but one thing that's still fun to play with is the suite's Security History. Here, you can access, for example, a firewall activity history that time-stamps the specific applications that have attempted outbound connections and identifies which ports they use, remote IP addresses, bytes sent and received, elapsed time, and which protocols they use, such as TCP or UDP.

Other log views include Firewall Network and Connections, Intrusion Prevention, Resolved Security Risks and Scan Results. These logs are exportable. It's hard to imagine what a typical home user would do with a collection of such reports, but it's nice that a consumer security suite has the added bells and whistles to satisfy the uber-security-conscious.

Stellar support

Searching for the CPU Meter prompted me to try NIS 2009's One-Click Support, a free support service that connected me almost instantly to live chat with a service technician. Before we could chat, however, we needed a Flash update, which was automatically fetched and downloaded without sending us off to a separate site to get it - a smart play when you're talking about supporting an ever-more-unsophisticated user group.

Symantec offers one-click, in-product support for its software, featuring free email and chat support besides its paid phone support. These support channels are open as needed to customers both during installation and beyond.

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