Symantec adds spyware scanning

Symantec has started beta testing it’s latest entry in the computer security world. Norton Internet Security 2005 Antispyware Edition is a public beta Symantec hopes will become the best solution for total PC protection.

“Consumers want a product that covers all the security bases. They want to keep it simple and have all the protections in one place,” Lane said in an interview with Ziff Davis Internet News.

Symantec’s latest offering, Norton Spyware Protection, will not be sold as a stand-alone program. Mr. Lane stated that, “If you try to do separate products, you only confuse consumers. It’s best to have one real-time scanner running and offering all the security technologies in a single interface.”. NIS Antispyware Edition will protect your PC in real-time from spyware/adware instead of having to run a program like Ad-Aware or Spybot - Search & Destroy after getting infected.

Personally, I have never liked the Norton Internet Security Suite. It does a decent job of protecting your computer but I’ve found that it is a major resource hog when it comes to memory. I have found other solutions, as I’ve stated before, that are free and do not require a yearly maintenance fee that perfrom as well or better than NIS.

The nice thing about the program is that it is an all-in-one solution (antivirus, firewal and soon antispyware) that is fine for the average consumer. Having a single point of update (Norton Live Update) for downloading the latest updates is nice for people that don’t want to be bothered updating their software from different locations.

Symantec is accepting applications for beta testers if you want to test NIS Antispyware Edition.

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19.Apr.05 Software, Technology