Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced the U.S. and online availability of its new Norton Internet Security and Norton AntiVirus 2010 products, both of which feature new enhancements, and continued “fast and light” performance, a Symantec executive said.
New to the 2010 suite of Norton products is what Symantec has codenamed, Quorum, a new technology that tracks files, applications and attributes to help determine the reputation of a file.
Dan Nadir, director of product management at Symantec, said Quorum is not designed to be a standalone or replacement technology, but rather, it’s designed to work with other anti-malware mechanisms.
Quorum enables files, applications and their attributes, such as the digital signature, download source and so forth, to be tracked. Once these attributes are collected, they are combined using complex algorithms to determine a reputation.
Nadir says for the most part, users will “almost never” see Quorum in action.
“This is all happening automatically,” he said. “If we think something is bad, we’ll silently block it, or we’ll let it through if we think it’s good. Users may see Quorum if they download a brand new file that doesn’t have a reputation. They’ll get a pop up box that tells them they’re one of the first users to download the file. This gives the user a chance to not download (a file or application) right away, which helps prevent them from installing any potentially malicious code.”
Even with the new technology addition and other enhancements, Nadir says the lightweight and speedy nature of the solutions have not been compromised. This offers the channel a good value proposition to take to market and to end-users, he added.
“In spite of adding new features and technology, our internal teams were tasked with finding additional efficiencies,” he said. “In many areas, our teams exceeded the goals and improved the performance of 2010 beyond what we saw in 2009.”
Symantec claims that Norton Internet Security 2010 can install in under a minute, uses less than 10MB of space and can run a scan in as little as 64 seconds.
Other new features include System Insight, which provides users with a performance profile of the applications that are currently installed on the PC.
“It lets users see what may be slowing down their computer,” Nadir explained. “A user can see how the installed applications have impacted the usability of their system.”
Nadir mentions that Symantec has also revamped the anti-spam portion of the Norton product as well, to now be 20 per cent more effective than the previous anti-spam engine. Enhancements have also been made to the Identity Safe feature of the product, which helps users keep track of their personal information, such as credit cards. Now, users can take their profiles with them between computers, using a USB key. The Norton 2010 solutions are also usable across Internet browsers such as Firefox and Internet Explorer.
Every user that purchases Norton Internet Security 2010 will also receive a free subscription to OnlineFamily. Norton, a Web-based service from Symantec that’s designed for parents to help monitor their child’s online activities and Internet usage.
Norton Internet Security and Norton AntiVirus 2010 are both available today through U.S. retailers and through Symantec’s online store. The solutions will be available through Symantec’s Canadian retail channel by the end of September. Pricing for Norton AntiVirus is listed at $54.99 and Norton Internet Security is $79.99.