Comodo vs Symantec

As far as the Matousec Proactive Security Challenge goes I hear more great things in computer security forums all over the web about the software that are at the top of the results than the ones at the bottom.

Yes, it is true that not all Security Suites use HIPS software which is so powerful and accurate in its detection that for many expert users it has replaced the outmoded definitions blacklist of traditional 20th Century Antivirus technology with its exceptional Zero-Day Malware protection.

In this day and age of an estimated >40,000 Malware released into the wild each and every day it would be hard to recommend any Security Suite that didn't include a HIPS software to protect the computer against the kind of Zero-Day Malware that is so prevalent these days and it is the proficiency in this State of the Art 21st Century Security Standard is what the Matousec Proactive Security Challenge tests for and to use a computer security software that does not meet these 148 Zero-Day Malware and Exploit challenges puts a computer at a much higher risk on the modern day ever increasingly Zero-Day Malware infested Internet which Antivirus software programs have no definitions for.

~Maxx~

malexous said:

And my point is that Maxxwire may not have come across these "malicious sites". The three of us go to new sites all the time and haven't come across any in many years (or so it appears; we use Norton afterall).

I used to use NIS 2009 and I surfed the Internet as just as blissfully unaware of Zero-Day Malware as you and your friends do because Norton Malware detection like many other Security Suites depends on Antivirus definitions and in an age when there are estimated to be some >40,000 pieces of Malware released into the wild each day that no Antivirus can detect so of course it seems like smooth sailing.

With modern State of the Art HIPS detection and Behavior Blocking software that many top rated computer Security Suites have developed the Zero-Day Malware that goes undetected by Norton and the other Secuirty Suites that depend on outmoded 20th Century blacklist definition based Antivirus software are detected immediately by computer Security software that uses HIPS and/or Behavior Blocking technology.

As I said I used to use Norton and thought it was great and that the Internet was fairly Malware-free until I picked up a Downloading Trojan and Norton didn't even blink and I was totally unaware of it in any Norton scan until a 3rd party scanner detected it and that was the end of using Norton for me!

~Maxx~

Sonar actually seems to work quite well.

Maybe just me, but it doesnt seem as if it says much in the tests.
However, in the real world or the wild, it does quite well.

How is it so different from a test enviroment to a "in the wild" enviroment?

Wishmaster said:

Sonar actually seems to work quite well.

Maybe just me, but it doesn't seem as if it says much in the tests.
However, in the real world or the wild, it does quite well.

How is it so different from a test environment to a "in the wild" environment?

Wishmaster- I'm glad that Norton Sonar is working for you, but I had Norton Sonar activated when my computer got infected by Malware in the wild and Norton with Sonar does not do well when tested alongside the world's top computer security software in extensive testing.

I don't mean to sound like a broken record, but I'm sure that there are a lot of people who just bought a new computer with NIS 2011 pre-installed and have to make up their minds as to whether to pay to keep Norton or uninstall NIS and install a computer security software that scores much higher on independently administered tests.

~Maxx~

malexous said:

The only software that score better have full-blown HIPS but they are usually not user-friendly (the exception regarding user-friendliness is the new Comodo at non-default settings and even then it causes problems/annoyances for some).

You're right Comodo v5.0 is very easy to use at its default settings by new users and has amazingly few pop-ups for such a high level of computer security. For those who want to explore more advanced settings there is plenty of expert help on the Comodo Forums for them to become more familiar with the advanced computer security that Comodo can provide.

~Maxx~

malexous said:

It's not quite as user-friendly as I thought.

Norton and Comodo have completely different roles in the world of computer security in that Norton is pre-installed by default on 1,000,000's of computers sold each year and it therefore must be 'set and forget' super simple enough for even the most computer skills challenged person to operate and still offer an adequate amount of protection.

Comodo on the other hand is so granularly programmable that the user can literally set rules for each and every program on the computer for the ultimate in personalized computer security and able to have advanced State of the Art computer security features like registry and file virtualization plus Cloud Based Malware Scanning and Behavior Blocking which computer enthusiasts are interested in having as part of the Comodo Suite of layered security.

Using the threat of the number of pop-ups in Comodo only effects users with the very lowest levels of computer security skill in that each pop-up is explained in detail although since I have been running Comodo 2011 there have been surprisingly few pop-ups which in a way is a disappointment because dealing with pop-ups is a great way to gain a deeper level of understanding about the inner workings of my Win 7 x64 computer.

~Maxx~