Symantec is betting heavily that program behavior is the future battlefront of security, and is making a big push in its 2010 security program lineup with a behavioral engine called Quorum.
Debuting on Wednesday, both the basic Norton AntiVirus 2010 and the more robust Norton Internet Security 2010 will use Quorum, which Symantec is calling an advanced security network based both on traditional malware signatures and reputation for both files and software.
The Quorum system uses the uniqueness of mutating malware against the threat itself, said Dan Nadir, director of product management for Norton AntiVirus and Norton Internet Security.
Multiple variations of a single threat have become a potential risk to the efficacy of definition-based antivirus, so a system such as Quorum--in which the unfamiliarity of a new threat becomes the tool by which the threat is neutralized--could drastically improve security programs.
Symantec noted that it has not abandoned last year's pledge to improve Norton's performance, and it is keeping the quick scan to about one minute. An in-progress scan conducted with the beta version used about 70MB of RAM, while the program used about 15.5MB when idle.
Symantec also exposes how much memory the program is using in the main pane. Symantec said that in the final version, Norton users should expect to see working memory usage at less than 10MB, and that the "quick scan" should be completed in 64 seconds.
The Quorum technology is designed to expose system and threat-detection data, so users who want more than just "set-it-and-forget-it" information can customize Norton's responses.
The Insight Network incorporates Quorum and uses statistical analysis of file attributes to judge the trustworthiness of a file.
Norton Threat Insight provides information on detected threats, such as the URL of a threat. Norton System Insight uncovers system information and can be used to detect system slowdowns. Norton Download Insight uses Symantec's cloud data to determine the safety of a downloaded file before it runs.
The more robust Norton Internet Security includes new enterprise-level anti-spam algorithms, which Symantec says should not require any "training" from users. These have been incorporated from Brightmail, a company that Symantec bought more than five years ago.
Norton Internet Security also includes OnlineFamily.Norton, Symantec's new parental control system, and Norton SafeWeb, which is a search results and e-commerce rating component.
Norton Internet Security 2010 costs US$69.99 for a three-PC licence, and Norton AntiVirus 2010 is US$39.99 for one computer.
This article was first published as a blog post on CNET News.
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