Symantec Norton Internet Security 2008 review

Norton is one of the biggest names in computer security, but recently it's had a reputation for making intrusive software that slows your computer down.

With Norton Internet Security (NIS) 2008, Symantec has set out to dispel that perception. It's certainly less intrusive than previous versions of NIS. We didn't see a single alert from the firewall, despite us deliberately running unusual programs that needed network access and, when a virus was found, NIS quietly removed it and popped up a discreet notification onscreen.

When we tried out the package's ability to detect real malware it did excellently, equalling Kaspersky's exceptional 98 per cent score. It did a good job of spotting email scams, too. We tried picking up 10 different phishing emails and Norton intercepted every one.

Sadly, these strengths are offset by some concerning weaknesses. When we visited a range of websites known to install malware on your machine, Norton detected only 57 per cent of the attacks. Although we were pleased that the firewall didn't pester us, we weren't so happy when the GFI Security Scanner tool found six ways in to our 'protected' system.

The interface feels light, but it has got a fair weight behind it. This is partly due to extra features including personal data protection and home network management. Installing Norton on our test machine raised the boot time from 40 seconds to over a minute. Plus, Windows reported 264MB less free memory, which is one of the biggest footprints we've seen.

Symantec deserves praise for trying to address criticism, and the overall degree of protection offered by Norton Internet Security 2008 is better than many other packages we've seen. At £35 for three PCs, it's one of the better-value options, too. Next to Kaspersky, however, it still looks like a work in progress.