ESET Adds Smart Security, Updates NOD32 for Network Scanning NOD32 3.0, ESET Smart Security Set for Nov 5th Debut Andy Patrizio
It's been a busy month for antivirus software, and ESET is the latest vendor to offer a comprehensive security product with the release of its ESET Smart Security application. This integrated security product expands the company's NOD32 anti-virus product to add anti-spyware, anti-spam, and firewall security.
NOD32 remains at the core of the product, and will be upgraded for sale as a standalone product on its own. Because it's written in assembler language, it has a very small memory footprint, runs very fast, and has minimal impact on system resources.
ESET Smart Security's firewall will have aggressive scanning as data go up and down the wire, since so many forms of malware seek to get around firewalls by using certain ports or applications. The NOD32 engine will inspect all traffic going in and out of the computer through the firewall in real time without impacting performance, according to Andrew Lee, chief research officer for ESET.
"A lot of firewalls are rather static. They give port access to an application and then don't check the content coming through," he told InternetNews.com. "The network is our area of focus since everything goes through it. We inspect all network traffic with the antivirus engine."
The NOD32 scanning engine uses a heuristics scanning engine called ThreatSense, which ESET claims has not missed an in-the-wild-virus in Virus Bulletin VB 100 testing in the past nine years, while producing only one false-positive during that time.
NOD32 Antivirus 3.0 has been given a major overhaul of its own. For starters, it's much more user friendly and the UI is easier to navigate. Its confusing mix of component functions — AMON, IMON, etc. — has been renamed and the interface has a more Vista-like look.
It's also got quite a bit of power, with a system process monitor reminiscent of the Process Explorer utility from Winternals, the Microsoft subsidiary. It's possible to shut down a suspicious process and the personal firewall can be used to shut down an application that is acting suspiciously.
Different levels of security can be applied to applications. For example, Microsoft Word can have a normal level of security or ESET Security Suite can treat it as if it were a browser and apply the same kind of scrutiny to its disk and network activity as it would Firefox or Internet Explorer.
ESET Smart Security and ESET NOD32 Antivirus v3.0 will be available for sale on November 5 at ESET.com and, for the first time, at retail locations. The company is selling its software through the Micro Center chain of retail stores. The suggested retail price for ESET Smart Security is $59.99 and $39.99 for NOD32 Antivirus v3.0.
