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:
Firewall, updater, and browser round out Baseline
Your security suite is an important component of your overall PC-security strategy, but it’s not the only one. A minimal security configuration for a PC also calls for a hardware firewall, a means of frequently updating all of your applications, and a secure Web browser. (Laptops don’t ordinarily use hardware firewalls and must rely on the personal-firewall features of an installed software suite.)
Windows Secrets has no test lab and doesn’t run its own security tests. Instead, WS writers study the published tests that are available and summarize for you which products get the best overall scores. Based on the latest findings, the WS Security Baseline currently includes the following four elements:
1. Use a hardware firewall. For home PCs, Netgear’s RangeMax WPN834 and the Linksys Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router WRT610N currently enjoy high ratings for security and usability.
Read more 2. Install a security suite. Norton Internet Security Suite 2009 (see above).
3. Check for updates regularly. For novices, WS editors recommend running Microsoft Update at least monthly. For small businesses, patch-management software such as PatchLink Update and GFI LANguard Network Security Scanner are highly rated.
After you update Windows, you should immediately run Secunia’s Software Inspector, an online service that scans your system for application and operating-system patches you may still need.
Read more 4. Select a more-secure browser. The safest way to surf the Web is to use Mozilla’s Firefox browser, which has repeatedly been demonstrated to have fewer security holes than Internet Explorer 7.
Read more TUNE IN TO HEAR MORE. Ryan Russell and WS editorial director Brian Livingston discuss the new Security Baseline on the Computer America syndicated radio program, Fri., Feb. 27. The show begins live at 10 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Pacific. Visit the listen to Computer America page beforehand to learn how to get the streaming audio via Windows Media Player or find a station near you that carries the program.
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Ryan Russell is quality assurance manager at
BigFix Inc., a configuration management company. He moderated the vuln-dev mailing list for three years under the alias “Blue Boar.” He was the lead author of
Hack-Proofing Your Network, 2nd Ed., and the technical editor of the
Stealing the Network book series.
Reviewers rate Norton the No. 1 security suite
