Changing My Virus Software?

by Bob Seidel

My "love affair" with Symantec (Norton products) may be coming to an end after many years.

When I first started my consulting business, I was fairly open as to what anti-virus package my clients were using - as long as it was one of the major branded products I wasn't too concerned. But over time it became apparent to me that I needed to recommend a package that was stable and usable. I needed to be able to install the package with confidence that it would continue to run and be easy to use for my clients. Back in the old days, Norton fit that bill. Availability was also a plus - if I needed a package to refill my stock, it was available at local outlets. I also found its daily updating system (Live Update) to be very effective.

My choice was possibly influenced a bit by the fact that the Norton engine was originally the IBM Anti-Virus engine, which IBM sold to Symantec when they went out of that business. It's also interesting that Symantec subsequently acquired a number of its top executives from IBM. But having former IBM executives running the company is not necessarily a good thing. Symantec corporate direction swung to large corporations and enterprises, with I believe less emphasis on the home and small business segment.

I have found Norton Internet Security (NIS) to be increasingly "cranky". I have had some problems with the integration of the anti-spam function into email programs, and the anti-spam technology itself has become less effective over the years as the spammers have found out how to fool it. I have also found that NIS increasingly causes performance problems, some severe. The severe problems can often be cured by reinstalling the product, but you shouldn't have to do that.

Another annoyance is that lately it seems to constantly ask to be re-activated. You should only have to activate this product once a year, but many of my clients have seen this re-activation problem and it's very annoying.

So, I have begun to look for another program to use myself and to recommend to my clients, and I am starting to use a package that is free to Road Runner users - the Computer Associates (CA) eTrust EZ Armor and Firewall. This package is apparently a merger of two packages from two companies - the CA anti-virus program, and the Zone Alarm firewall from Zone Labs. The combination is sold by both of them, under different names. You can download this package at http://help.rr.com. The installation is straightforward and the package seems to be very usable and effective - it's certainly worth the price. If you are not a Road Runner user, the package is also available commercially at the usual outlets or online.

One area that I think this product is better than Norton is the anti-spam. The Norton program attempts to figure out what is spam and what is not by reading and analyzing the spam itself. As I noted above, this technique is becoming less effective. eTrust uses a different algorithm. It simply assumes that all email that is not from someone you know is spam unless you specify otherwise. You still need to look inside the anti-spam folder once in a while, but a single click lets you specify the email sender as "Allow" or "Deny". The program automatically imports your Contact List (Address Book) during installation.

I now have this package installed on two of my three active PCs, and have started to install it at my clients that are Road Runner customers. I am going to hold off a bit for formal recognition as Symantec has recently changed their update policy from yearly to whenever, and there are rumors of a new version coming. We'll see…

(Bob Seidel is a local computer consultant in the Southport - Oak Island area. You can visit his Website at www.bobseidel.com or e-mail questions or column ideas to him at bsc@bobseidel.com. For specific inquiries, please call Bob Seidel Consulting, LLC at 278-1007.)