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Norton Security 2010 Now Available

Jason Barry — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:43:24 -0500

Symantec announced the newest version of its popular Norton security software. In particular, they elaborated on Norton 2010’s new file analysis technology codenamed “Quorom”.

The new technology attacks the problem faced by most security software: the overwhelming abundance of unique malware applications. Malware creators are able to churn out innumerable amounts of unique malware based on similar vulnerabilities and exploitations in hopes of bypassing standard signature and behavior-based detection. Quorum aims to use the uniqueness of the software as a means of threat detection itself.

Further, the new software was developed to maintain its light footprint and quick operation. Passmark Software benchmarked Norton Internet Security 2010 and its competitors. Norton reportedly installs in less than 60 seconds and occupies less than 10 megabytes of operational memory.

Norton Internet Security and Norton Antivirus both support all versions of Windows 7 and Vista (32-bit and 64-bit) as well as Windows XP SP2. They are currently available for purchase in the United States.

Symantec Releases Public Beta of Norton Internet Security 2010 and AntiVirus 2010

Paul Lilly — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:19:54 -0500

Many of our readers were taken off-guard when we rated Norton Internet Security 2009 a 9/Kickass in last year's antivirus roundup, and we even admit to being surprised at Norton's transformation from a resource-heavy sloth to a lean and competent antimalware package. We hope the trend continues, and we'll have a chance to see if it does now that Symatec has released beta versions of its upcoming 2010 releases to the public.

The new version features a new protection model codenamed Quorum and will put a heavier focus on reputation-based malware detection. While it won't replace existing signature-based detection for known threats, Norton says the reputation model can detect zero-day malware that's never been seen before.

"Our new approach changes the rules by both enhancing traditional security techniques to make them more aggressvie and by making it dramatically more difficult for attackers to evade detection by simply changing their malware," said Rowan Trollope, Symantec senior vice president, Consumer Business Unit.

Other features include an overhaul to parental control and spam filtering, more detailed information provided by Norton Insight, which identifies known good programs for faster scanning, and a new feature called Autopsy, which is designed to help the user understand what just happened when Norton automatically removes an infection.

Norton Internet Security 2010 Beta
Norton Antivirus 2010 Beta

Image Credit: Symantec

Symantec's Spins Faster Performance in New Norton 360 Release, Launches Official User Forum

Paul Lilly — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 10:00:58 -0600

To the surprise of many (including ourselves), Symantec shed its old bloaty ways with the release of Norton Internet Security Suite 2009, a svelte security suite that earned a 9 verdict and KickAss award in our Antivirus Software Roundup. Now Symantec says its ready to do it again with a revamped version of its Norton 360 software. Has the world turned topsy-turvy?

"Norton 360 has become one of Symantec’s most popular consumer offerings in just two years due to the all-in-one convenience it delivers and the solutions value we have built directly into the suite,” said Janice Chaffin, group president of Symantec’s Consumer Business Unit. “With version 3.0, we are combining the unmatched performance of our 2009 security products with Norton Safe Web to create even more convenience and value for our customers."

Just like NIS 2009, Symantec says its new Norton 360 version 3.0 takes about a minute to install and consumes less than 10MB of system memory. Not only that, but the company claims users will see faster boot times once 360 turns off "unnecessary" startup programs. Other new features shipping with version 3.0 include pulse updates, idle backup routine, botnet protection, and a web rating service called Norton Safe Web.

Coinciding with the 360 v3.0 release, Symantec also announced the official launch of the Norton Users Discussion Forum. Prior to the launch, the forum had been in beta since April 2008 and currently boasts 1,200 new users and 7,000 posts every month.

Norton 360 is available now with an MRRP of $100 (includes 25GB of secured online storage) for the Premier Edition, $130 for the Small Business Edition 5 User Pack (plus 10GB), and $250 for the Small Business Edition 10 User Pack (plus 25GB).

Image Credit: Symantec

Symantec Releases Public Betas of Norton Internet Security 2009 and Norton Antivirus 2009

Paul Lilly — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:28:14 -0500

Ping any enthusiast forum about security software and you'll likely get conflicting recommendations. But one thing most advanced PC users seem to agree on is that there are better, faster alternatives than Symantec's Norton software. With the release of Norton Internet Security and Norton Antivirus 2009, Symantec is telling those users to take another look.

Helping them do that, Symantec today has gone live with public betas for both programs, which the company purports are "designed to set a new industry standard for speed and performance." Symantec calls it their "zero-impact" performances goal and says it has implemented more than 300 improvements running the gamut from scanning engine tweaks to a better user interface. Even the installation looks to waste no time, with Symantec touting a one-minute install time and "less than half the memory usage of the next leading competitor."

Why the sudden interest in speed? "Based on customer feedback, we viewed performance as the key feature for this release. Our goal is to create the fastest security product in the world, hands down," said Rowan Trollope, Senior VP of Consumer Products.

Community Effort

To help it achieve the zero-impact performance goal, Symantec has implemented a new technology called Norton Insight. This makes it so files need to be scanned less often, and instead relies on data harvested from oodles of Norton Community members to avoid scanning common files "statistically determined to be trusted." If that sounds familiar, it's because PC Tools' Threatfire (reviewed as part of Maximum PC's Internet Security 2.0 feature) works in a similar fashion.

Other Goodies

Several features find their way into Norton 2009, including a Silent mode that suspends nagging alerts and updates automatically to avoid untimely interruptions. If you've ever been kicked out of a game because of a software alert, you know how well this feature might be received.

Also making an appearance into the Internet Security suite will be certain Antibot features. One of the criticisms attached to Antibot when it was first released was that it didn't come included as part of any security packages, requiring existing Norton owner to make a separate purchase.

Give it a Spin!

While it wouldn't be fair to issue an assessment before the final product ships, Symantec has put it out there for all of the world to try. Let us know what you think below!

Image Credit: Symantec

Powerful PC Protection

The Maximum PC Staff — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:08:37 -0500

How much antivirus and firewall protection do I need? I just purchased a laptop that comes with Norton Security 2007. I had also planned on using Webroot AntiVirus, which includes a firewall and anti-spyware protection. I also thought about using ThreatFire after I read about it in Maximum PC (February 2008), as well as Spybot Search & Destroy. Is all this overkill? What do you recommend?

—Evan Jr. Valdez

The Doctor applauds your concern for safety, but your Fort Knox approach is a bit of overkill. Your Norton Security suite should have everything you need for antivirus, anti-spyware, and firewall protection. While it might seem like you’re being extra safe by doubling up on programs, you could actually be doing more harm than good.

By running multiple programs for similar chores you invite the potential for conflicts among the apps as well as a hit to your system’s performance.

SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION Are flames shooting out of the back of your rig? First, grab a fire extinguisher and douse the flames. Once the pyrotechnic display has fizzled, email the doctor at doctor@maximumpc.com for advice on how to solve your technological woes.

Hotfix Here for Vanishing Device Manager and Network Connection After XP SP3 Upgrade

Mark Edward Soper — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:53:57 -0500

What happens if you blow off Microsoft's advice to disable antivirus applications before upgrading Windows XP to SP3? If you're lucky - nothing. If you're not lucky, you might not be able to finish the installation, or if it finished, you might have a system with an empty Device Manager listing and/or an empty Network Connections listing.

Hey, What Happened?

According to KB953979, this happens when the Fixccs.exe process, which creates and then cleans up temporary registry keys during the upgrade, can't remove some registry keys because an antivirus program says, "U can't touch this". The entries aren't actually missing from Device Manager and Network Connections - but if you can't see them, you can't touch them, either.

Many reports fingered Norton Antivirus as the cause, but it can happen with other antivirus programs if they're running during the upgrade process.

Hey, How Do I Fix This?

Microsoft provides a downloadable hotfix at KB953979, or you can click here and get it immediately. The hotfix is only for XP SP3.

If you still have XP SP2, follow the advice in KB949377 and in our comprehensive coverage of XP SP3 installation problems and solutions - and have a good upgrade!

Image courtesy Techmixer.com

Watchdog: March 2008

The Maximum PC Staff — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:20:53 -0600

Chanel, watchdog of the month

Fuzzy Math

A dog pound full of readers barked that the Dog used some bad math in his February column that took iPodMechanic.com to task for its handling of Esther Wheat’s iPod repair. To sum up, the Dog called iPodMechanic.com on the carpet for recycling Wheat’s iPod without giving her a chance to reclaim it. The Dog also chided iPodMechanic.com for not honoring its 180-day warranty policy. The problem, readers pointed out, is that the dates the Dog reported (December 8, 2006–June 16, 2007) add up to 190 days (or 183 or 191, depending on which reader you ask), which is just outside of Wheat’s 180-day warranty.

What went wrong? Rather than breaking out a calendar and a pen (which is difficult for someone with paws), the Dog relied on an Internet time calculator, which either had a burp or, possibly, the Dog got distracted by a Frisbee and entered the wrong dates. Wheat, who did receive a replacement for her recycled iPod, maintains that the dates iPodMechanic used for her warranty period are not correct, that she was within the 180-day period, and that the warranty was not the main issue concerning her experience with the company.

Although the Dog stands by his assertion that iPodMechanic.com erred when it recycled Wheat’s iPod without giving her a chance to get it back, he obviously erred on the warranty times and apologizes to iPodMechanic.com for that error. Woof.

KillerPings.com Killed

We have been renting Halo game servers and a TeamSpeak voice chat server from KillerPings.com for the past two or three years. The pings were always some of the lowest and the service was excellent; our primary Halo server has been ranked in the top 10 in the world for quite a while.

Back in mid-November, we paid for another three months of service. Unfortunately, only a day or two after that, many customers’ servers went offline (including ours), reportedly due to a massive hardware failure. I figured, “Fine, that could happen to anyone.” Because of our past good experience with KillerPings, I trusted that the company would fix the situation, even though it was taking a long time and its customer support seemed to be too busy to respond as quickly as it used to.

Over the following several weeks, KillerPings moved some servers to its “partner,” Art of War Central, but said the billing would remain with KillerPings. Our server has not worked since the move, and I suspect it is because of a misconfiguration.

But that’s not the worst of it. Around 10 p.m. on January 1, 2008, all servers still hosted by KillerPings went offline, and the company’s website says it has been suspended by its ISP. Happy New Year, indeed! Several customers have posted on various forums that KillerPings packed up and disappeared, taking everyone’s money. Other customers report that the contact information has been changed, but a Google search for KillerPings pulls up an unofficial support page put together by customers. Someone mentioned that PayPal has a claim process that allows you to recover your payments. I tried this, but since my claim was placed 47 days after my payment, PayPal automatically closed the claim (PayPal’s site says you should file a claim within 45 days). Still, I emailed PayPal support asking them to reinstate the claim, but I don’t know if they will do anything.

What happened to KillerPings? And more importantly, what recourse do we have at this point? Are we out the $130 we paid KillerPings back in November or is there still some way to recover it?

— Rob Zerr

Continued on Page 2 >

Rob, after much gumshoeing, KillerPings.com’s disappearance is still a mystery, but the Dog has discovered that the company has left perhaps a few hundred customers in the lurch.

On New Year’s Eve, one of the owners of KillerPings, Chuck Lowney, showed up at the company’s Chicago co-location provider, Gigenet.com and began disconnecting its servers.

An employee stopped Lowney and police were called to the office as well. About 15 servers were left in place as collateral. KillerPings.com, according to Gigenet.com, is behind on its bills to the tune of about $26,000.

According to Steve Phallen, owner of Art of War Central, his company had agreed to take on some of KillerPings.com customers after the company had a hardware failure. Phallen said he had also been in talks to buy KillerPings
and was prepared to cut a check when the company simply shut down and all of its customer data was lost.

“We would have liked to have added it to our business,” Phallen told the Dog. “We don’t know what happened, but the whole thing just sort of fell apart over there.” Phallen says he doesn’t understand why the owners of KillerPings.com didn’t just sell the company to him. Phallen went on to say that the 80 or 100 KillerPings.com customers still being hosted on Art of War Central hardware will be contacted and offered a chance to sign up with his company.

The possible sale of KillerPings.com also came as a surprise to former employee Tom Smith, who told the Dog that he had no idea the company was in trouble. Smith, who also runs the game support site Alliedwarclans.com, said that if KillerPings.com’s owners knew they were going to shut down the company, why not let the employees and its customers know in advance so they could back up their files first?

Smith said many people lost gigabytes of custom maps, websites, and customized server scripts when KillerPings.com folded. Even worse, some customers are unable to move their domains away from KillerPings.com.

“I’m really pissed off at the way they treated their customers,” said Smith, who also said he believes the company was still processing new orders in December as things were falling apart. Smith went on to say that as far as he knew, the business was going well, and he estimated the company had close to 1,000 clients at one point. He said the owners had invested in custom applications and had just finished doing a redesign of the site. Support had been top notch and the pings were truly killer. Smith said KillerPings.com did have a setback when Electronic Arts did not select it as one of the companies to host ranked Battlefield 2142 servers. The company also didn’t make the cut to host ranked servers for Enemy Territory: Quake Wars either.

Smith hasn’t had any contact with the owners of the company since the meltdown and said the handful of other employees were also kept in the dark about a possible sale to Art of War Central. Smith said there was chatter that a falling out occurred between the owners, but no one really knows.

What do the owners have to say? Nothing. The Dog’s phone calls and emails to Lowney and co-owner Alec Kopman were not returned.

Rob, the Dog believes you are sadly out of options. Customers who paid with credit cards, however, may be able to get refunds through their credit card companies.

Reading the Fine Print

I want to warn people about Norton AntiVirus retail packs with a “three user license.” I went to install my third license last night on my mom’s PC, and it had only 43 days remaining! I contacted Symantec support only to be told that all three licenses start on the day you install the first one! How big a scam is this? According to Symantec, this policy is spelled out in the EULA. Too bad I can’t find it on the box. Long story short, I’ve got a three-user license that is totally worthless. I thought I was being a smart consumer. Shame on you, Symantec!

—Greg Garrett

The Dog spoke with Symantec officials who said that while they feel your pain, the company does actually spell out its policy quite clearly on the box. Printed on the box for a three-PC license of Norton AntiVirus 2008 is this statement: “1 YEAR PROTECTION—With this service you receive the right to use this product on one PC or on the specified number of PCs during the service period, which begins upon initial installation.”

The writing is small, but even the Dog has a problem faulting Symantec since the front of the box directs the consumer to the top of the box for more information. Just under where it says “1 year protection for up to 3 PCs per household” it also says: “See top for details.”

Got a bone to pick with a vendor? Been spiked by a fly-by-night operation? Sic the Dog on them by writing watchdog@maximumpc.com. The Dog promises to answer as many letters as possible, but only has four paws to work with.