For those that are unfamiliar with ESET NOD32 antivirus software, ESET is universally liked by technology professionals and has done well in independent lab tests for virus and malware protection.
Who is ESET?
NOD32 is an Antivirus software solution developed by ESET, an IT security company that is based in Bratislava, Slovakia. ESET has been in business for more than two decades and has gradually improved its antivirus software to provide a user friendly interface, improved real-time protection, and high ratings with primary testing labs such as AV-Comparatives. ESET provides protection for more than 100 million users across 180 countries. The company employs more than 800 employees and has experienced a 524 percent growth rate within the last 5 years.
AV-Comparatives Testing.
AV-Comparatives is an non-profit independent testing lab that offers routine tests of security software to determine whether or not the software lives up to the claims made by the manufacturer. The testing lab runs two different tests which include a routine test and one that is subjected to old virus definitions.
How did ESET perform?
In the most recent AV-Comparatives lab tests, ESET NOD32 Antivirus received an Advanced+ rating on the test that involved old virus definitions and a rating of Advanced on the routine test. Advanced+ is the highest rating antivirus software can receive during AV-Comparatives independent lab tests. Additionally, NOD32 Antivirus scored high on tests that subjected the software to the newest virus and malware definitions to determine how well the software prevented the problem from taking control of a test PC. ESET received an Advanced+ rating in this test as well by AV-Comparatives.
In performance and real-world dynamic tests conducted by AV-Comparatives and Dennis Labs, another primary independent testing lab, ESET NOD32 Antivirus 7 received an Advanced+ rating by AV-Comparatives and AAA-level certification which is the highest rating offered by Dennis Labs.
ESET NOD32 Antivirus Software Features.
ESET NOD32 Antivirus 7 was recently released with a new Exploit Blocker and an Advanced Memory Scanner which provides protection against heavily encrypted viruses and malware that try to avoid detection. The two technologies are designed to work together to provide advanced malware protection, as well as a defense against web browser attacks. Other features include:
Social Networking Protection: ESET NOD32 provides enhanced protection when using social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. When it comes to your social media profile, you can control what information is public, plus you can change your profile to suit your preferences. When using Facebook, NOD32 Antivirus provides protection against malware from newsfeeds, as well as timeline messages from your friends. There are also advanced protection features to protect your Twitter posts, in addition to people that you follow on the Twitter site.
Real-Time Antivirus Protection: ESET NOD32 Antivirus performs frequent checks for the latest virus and malware definitions and automatically downloads them into the antivirus software. This ensures that the software is up to date with the latest definitions to enable it to identify and remove a threat that attempts to enter your PC.
Removable Media Scanning: Any removable media that you attach to your device is at risk of viruses and malware. NOD32 Antivirus offers a removable media scanner that proactively scans DVDs, USB flash drives, external hard drives, and CDs for malicious files. This prevents potentially malicious files from making their way into your PC. One drawback is that EDET does not have automatic scanning as a default setting and instead prompts you to do the scan. This is important to remember to prevent oversight of an important scan.
Email Protection: ESET NOD32 Antivirus is designed to easily integrate with email clients for additional protection against worms, viruses, malware, and infected email attachments. You can use NOD32 with Microsoft Outlook, Windows Live Mail, or the Mozilla Thunderbird email client. NOD32 will scan your email as you receive it for any potential threats before you open an email message or an attachment.
Gaming Protection: ESET NOD32 Antivirus offers a Gamer Mode which provides comprehensive protection during your gaming activities. This feature also helps to reduce performance impact and resource usage during multimedia-intensive gaming activities.
Anti-Phishing Protection: The anti-phishing protection feature automatically activates whenever a questionable web page is loaded using any web browser you have installed on your system. If a page is potentially risky, NOD32 will block access to the page and the phishing scam.
SysRescue: This feature provides a way to create bootable media that is loaded with an ESET security solution to allow you to perform a device scan in the event your system has become infected.
Tools: The Tools section on the interface menu provides basically the same tools as previous versions of ESET. The tools help you identify quarantined files, any malware running on your device, and protection statistics that measure the effectiveness of NOD32 in identifying and removing malicious threats.
Running Processes: The Running Processes tool allows you to see each executable (.exe) file that is currently running on your device. This feature also displays the risk level of each executable to help you identify any processes that should not be running on your PC.
Cloud-Powered Scanning: This is a new feature that assists with speeding up device scans by whitelisting files that are deemed safe. The files are identified via a reputation database to ensure the antivirus scan does not miss potentially malicious files.
Host-Based Intrusion Prevention: NOD32 Antivirus offers a host-based intrusion prevention system that provides you with tools for setting rules associated with the system registry and active programs and processes. It helps to increase security by allowing you to customise in detail the behavior of your operating system.
Idle Scanning: Viruses and malware can still enter your PC while it is sitting idle. The idle scanner helps to identify inactive threats and provides an in-depth system scan while your device is sitting idle.
Portable Device Control: ESET added a new feature for controlling your portable devices. The Portable Device Control feature provides a way for you to block DVDs, external hard drives, USB flash drives and other devices from connecting via serial/parallel ports, Bluetooth, or FireWire. There are also tools that allow you to block unauthorised copying of your PC information and data to external devices.
Training: ESET provides a section in its software application that offers training on steps you can take to avoid viruses and malware, as well as how to stay safe while surfing the Internet. The purpose of the program is to raise awareness of how hackers operate so the average PC user can better protect their identity and their device when connecting to the Internet.
The NOD32 interface is designed with a clean and simple appearance and is user-friendly and easy to understand. The left hand navigation bar clearly identifies familiar features with links under each section to additional settings and features.
Operating System Compatibility and Requirements
ESET NOD32 Antivirus 7 is compatible with Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1. The minimum system requirements include at least 512MB of Random Access Memory and minimum free hard drive space of at least 320MB for NOD32 to function properly on your device. Minimum processing performance is 1GHz to ensure effective scanning and functionality.
Why ESET NOD32 is Advantageous for Business users.
To raise awareness among businesses, the ESET Technology Alliance helps businesses implement the right security solution for their specific type of IT infrastructure. The members of the ESET Technology Alliance are carefully selected based on technical achievements and help to educate businesses on real world threats. This helps ESET to provide the right products and services that will effectively support a layered security model.
Recently, at the Infosecurity 2014 Conference in held in London, law enforcement professionals said that the best cyber defense strategy is to improve knowledge and awareness of current threats.
Lee Miles, the head of the National Cyber Crime Unit in the UK said in a presentation at Infosecurity 2014, “While security technology will help, a contemporary and dynamic awareness of real-world risks and threats is very important.”
The above information was quoted in the ESET blog which is an indication the company is concerned about protection for businesses. This is evident with its line of ESET Endpoint Solutions which have been recognised for the level of protection the solutions offer, similar to its NOD32 Antivirus 7 software.
In addition to the use of the highly recognised ESET NOD32 Antivirus software, businesses can increase awareness of real-world threats by learning what they are and adding some of ESET’s Endpoint solutions. ESET Endpoint Security which provides advanced remote management, device and web control, enhanced email filtering, encrypted communication scanning, proactive malware detection and high performance scanning and is one in a line of security Endpoint solutions by ESET.
According to GoldenTree Asset Management based in New York City, a case study revealed that the main reason why GoldenTree switched to ESET NOD32 Antivirus and Endpoint Solutions was due to three goals which include:
- To locate malware that other AV products were not identifying,
- Improve security in a financial environment, and
- To witness virus protection doing what it is designed to do.
Since the installation of ESET, GoldenTree has experienced no drive-by downloads, improved malware and virus protection, better overall security, and improved Return on Investment (ROI). The details of the tests were outlined in a case study listed on the ESET website.
Other advantages of using ESET solutions include:
Mobile Security: ESET also provides a series of mobile security solutions for business, in addition to security solutions that support Mac OS X, Linux Desktop, iOS, and Android operating systems.
Multilayer Security: If you are a large enterprise that operates your own Internet gateway, ESET also provides solutions for enterprises that enforce multilayer security at critical enterprise endpoints including personal firewalls, device control, advanced security features, and content filtering, to name a few protection features.
Email Security: For enhanced email protection ESET applies NOD32 technology to business mail servers to provide an extra line of defense against email threats before they have a chance to enter the network. A line of security products include ESET Gateway Security for Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway, Gateway Security for Linux, Solaris, and BSD, and NOD32 Antivirus for Kerio Control.
Conclusion.
Our IT Department is happy to recommend ESET NOD32 Antivirus software to our clients and anyone that is reading this review. The above features and solutions are what set ESET apart from other antivirus and network protection products on the market. In addition, ESET provides an entire line of solutions for specific industry sectors including business, financial, healthcare, education, and others.
Article by Our IT Department Ltd. Unlimited Onsite and Remote IT support services for small businesses located in London and the Home Counties.
The post ESET NOD32 Antivirus 7 Software Review. appeared first on Our IT Department - IT Support London.