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By Ryan Russell

Norton Internet Security Suite 2009, the top-rated security suite this year — as it was last year — now uses fewer system resources than before without skimping on protection.

If you're not a fan of Norton products, there are plenty of other contenders worthy of consideration that can challenge the long-time security-software leader.

Windows Secrets writers periodically analyze the ratings of trusted reviewers and summarize for you in the WS Security Baseline which personal-protection products are currently getting the best marks. Based on reviews from PC World, PCMag, Maximum PC, and others, today's security-suite winner is Symantec's Norton Internet Security 2009 (photo at right).

This product may seem like a repeat from last year's tally of ratings. Scott Dunn's Jan. 24, 2008, Top Story reported that Norton Internet Security 2008 had received the most Editors' Choice awards of any suite. However, the latest release of NIS is faster and less resource-hungry than previous versions, according to reviewers.

Symantec has not been deaf to the complaints of Norton Internet Security users about the program's spendthrift ways with your PC's memory and CPU cycles. In its review of the program, PCMag.com says, "this is definitely the slimmest, most unobtrusive Norton ever." (See below for links to this and other reviews of the product.)

As with most of the leading security-suite contenders, Norton Internet Security protects against infection by viruses, spyware, and rootkits. The program's components include a software firewall and a content-filtering utility for browsers and instant-messaging clients.

Runner-up suites challenge Norton products

If you're one of the many people who've sworn never to install a Norton or McAfee security product again, I understand your pain. More than once, I've had to venture into the Windows file system and Registry to manually uninstall security programs from the two biggest names in the field, ripping the pieces out one by one.

The good news is that there are a lot of other, strong contenders for security-suite top dog. Maximum PC lists ESET Smart Security as its second choice; the program matched Symantec's score of 9 out of 10. The magazine's reviewers gave a lot of weight to performance and the impact the program has on system resources.

PCMag.com gives Trend Micro Internet Security Pro 2009 and ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 2009 a tie for second place, trailing only Symantec's product. The site also weighted performance heavily, particularly the boot times of the programs it tested.

PC World rates BitDefender Internet Security 2009 as the second choice, yet again trailing the rating for Norton Internet Security. The review names the BitDefender suite a value and also singles out Avira Premium Security Suite 8.2 as the best malware detector.

For those who'd rather select their security program solely on the results of independent antivirus test labs, you'll find several testing organizations described and linked to in Scott Dunn's Feb. 14, 2008, Known Issues column: "Labs provide alternatives in evaluating suites."

(Disclosure: My employer, BigFix Inc., sells a couple of different brands of anti-malware software to enterprises. While the company competes with many of the firms that are mentioned in this review — and partners with at least one of them — BigFix doesn't sell products such as the ones mentioned above to consumers.)

Finding the sweet spot of security suites

From my point of view, the most important criterion for selecting a security suite is whether the program includes all the components you need.

Nearly all of the top-rated security suites provide a firewall and a range of anti-malware tools. The programs are differentiated by their auxiliary security components. For example, youngsters and inexperienced users may require first-rate Web-content filtering and antiphishing tools. More-experienced PC users may find such features less important.

In terms of which programs offer the best virus detection, I'm afraid the days of ranking an antivirus engine the best because of an advantage of a few percentage points in detection tests are over. It never was a really useful measurement. The myth that an antivirus app will protect you from the latest infections is even less credible now.

The sheer volume of new malware has outstripped the ability of AV vendors to create and distribute their virus-definition updates. No security program made today can prevent all PC infections. The virus-detection rates of the top-rated apps are so similar, it makes sense to give a little more weight to the tools' design, performance, and range of features. A tool people can't understand and use is no protection to them at all.

For more information on the ratings, see the following security-suite reviews:

• PC World: Top Internet security suites
  
• PCMag.com: The best security suites for 2009
  
• Maximum PC: Antivirus software roundup — protect your PC from guys like this!
  

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By Dennis O'Reilly McAfee's SiteAdvisor security service leaves some Web developers scratching their heads over inconsistencies in its green-yellow-red ratings. The company's promises of more-frequent reviews of its site classifications are welcomed by site owners struggling to win SiteAdvisor's approval.

• "SiteAdvisor is talking rubbish about dealing with complaints promptly. I complained by e-mail and by letter to the [McAfee] CEO about every page on my site having a yellow rating in October 2008. I also requested that my site be revisited after I had removed the [offending] link, which I removed only because I have probably been losing visitors for years because of this lousy service.
  
  "My entire site [PC Buyer Beware] still has a yellow rating for a link to this page, which SiteAdviser has given a green rating! [The page contains] a valid fix for the Smitfraud virus.
  
  "You only have to search the Web to find a number of site owners who have had their sites' existence threatened by SiteAdvisor errors. Thanks for taking this 'service' to task."
  

• "In the recent article on SiteAdvisor's retesting policy, I and most others certainly read between the lines and know what to expect if [we] continue to use the 'service.' I suspect that many users — including myself — are uninstalling SiteAdvisor. If we can't trust the [service's] red warnings, we can't trust the green warnings, either.
  
  "Now the only problem is how to uninstall the beast! It certainly can't be found [by clicking] Start, All Programs, and I don't have any other McAfee software on my system. It sounds like they are hiding it someplace. It's getting to sound almost like another virus to worry about!"
  

• "Just a heads-up for another free alternative to SiteAdvisor. I have been using the Finjan SecureBrowsing software [more info] for several years with no problems. They have both IE and Firefox versions."
  

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By Katy Abby It happens every time: just when you think you've got the newest, slickest, most-awesome gadget on the market, a new model comes along that makes your posh purchase look like peanuts. Nowhere is this more apparent than with cell phones. Today's latest smartphones top their predecessors by offering mind-blowing features that we could barely dream of in years past. Enter the Pomegranate. It does absolutely everything you'd ever want a cell phone to do, and then some! Just don't tell your iPhone .... Play the video

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TOP STORY By Ryan Russell Reviewers rate Norton the No. 1 security suite Runner-up suites challenge Norton products Finding the sweet spot of security suites Firewall, updater, and browser round out Baseline KNOWN ISSUES By Dennis O'Reilly Site owners stung by SiteAdvisor rating errors SiteAdvisor plug-in may not be easy to remove Another possible SiteAdvisor alternative WACKY WEB WEEK By Katy Abby My smartphone is smarter than your smartphone!

	LANGALIST PLUS By Fred Langa Tame Windows' Volume Shadow Copy Service Still on the prowl for missing disk space Thunderbird can't keep up with your keyboarding A fix for Windows' broken installer utility Edit Windows' Group Policies without GPedit
	BEST SOFTWARE By Scott Dunn Sync services let you update files from anywhere Top file-sync choice offers the most features Powerful features with an easy-to-use interface The sync service that's sweet on photos This sync service takes an à la carte approach Free service suffers from a poor interface
	PATCH WATCH By Susan Bradley New viruses target recently patched IE holes Microsoft Word documents may be infected Exchange Server patch is a mini–service pack .NET update blocks Exchange's out-of-office tool SQL Server patch doesn't know when to quit ActiveX kill-bit update affects business apps Windows Home Server gets another backup fix Watch out for zero-day attack on Adobe apps AutoRun patch can auto-wait until next month Don't open unexpected Excel e-mail attachments

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