Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 Vs Norton Internet Security 2009: Comparitive Review

With the networks on web expanding, Internet Security has grown into a prime concern. Internet Security tools are designed to protect computer’s internet account and files from intrusion by unknown entities. For businesses as well as individual users using internet face security threats from  virus, malware, spyware, phishing, spams and such other infections. There are several Internet Security tools designed to annihilate such malicious elements. We would like to go for a comparative study of the two highly ranked Internet security tool - Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 and Norton Internet Security 2009. Let’s get into a comparative review between Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 and Norton Internet Security 2009.

Installation

Norton Internet Security 2009 comes with a lighter and sleeker footprint that installs within minutes. This essentially a hassle free installation.
Kaspersky suffers from installation glitches. Even after the files are loaded Windows Firewall asks whether to block Kaspersky. This could have been smoother .  When registering the product code cannot be copied and pasted. So you have to enter the code manually.

Uninstalling KIS is also not a clean process. Even after uninstalling and rebooting the program you might find some traces of Kaspersky within the system registry.  Kaspersky doesn’t provide its own uninstaller.

Interface

KIS 2009 doesn’t offer an overall smooth interface but with a few hitch ups. The messaging for system scan seems perplexing. Once a quick scan is over you can’t see a results page. Well, there might be no infection in the system but at a report could make thing clear. Some of the screens show half-hidden buttons that are hard to recognize.  Well, for a novice user it’s always half-chances.

NIS 2009 offers a cleaner and more sophisticated interface. Without having to tweak the configuration settings you can easily turn on and off the features easily. The configuration setting page can be easily accessed with a click. The interface is quite intuitive as it offers pop-up dialogs to explain specific terms. Unlike KIS, NIS offers a better presentation than line graphs. The report is somewhat in sync with Windows Task Manager.

Overall Windows resources and specific resources for Norton products are included in the left-hand panel.

Key Features

KIS 2009 includes antispyware,  antivirus, a personal firewall, antiphishing, antispam, and antirootkit protection. However, there are lot of additional features that stands out. KIS 2009 feature a Post Infected System Restore that takes you to the point where a virus or malicious software has caused a problem. KIS 2009 offers an important feature of Paternal Control at a time when vendors made this optional download.

KIS 2009 includes a virtual keyboard to escape the keyloggers, but clearly that doesn’t reduce the risk of keyloggers stealing passwords.

Norton has includes some sophisticated technology from its enterprise products. This gives it a cutting-edge, but it doesn’t necessarily integrate with the product. However, including better technologies makes the security suite more powerful. Key features in Norton Internet Security 2009 SONAR, behavioral rules-based protection and in-built browser protection.

Now it features pulse updates to enable smaller and frequent updates within 5 to 15 minutes.

Performance

To compare the performances of these security suites we take the excerpts from leading independent antivirus testing organizations.

According to the AV-test.org Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 found 98 percent of the malware and 98 percent of the spyware on the test system.

Results of the tests on Norton Internet Security 2009 by AV-Comparatives.org shows that on-demand scans with Norton Antivirus 2008 earned an Advanced + (highest) rating, catching 97 percent of all malicious software tested. In the antispyware test ratings Norton Antivirus 2008 was in the upper half of the top 10.

Speed

Kaspersky carries out a background checking that slows down everything from pc internet browser, media players, ms office and even games.

Norton doesn’t interfere with the running of programs. This doesn’t hamper the speed of the program. From media player to heavyweight games all runs smoothly without any glitches. NIS 2009 feature multiple sensors that monitor the activity levels of different components in the PC to take smarter decisions. For instance, gamers would prefer sensors that detect full screen mode while gaming; the non-essential alerts offer full protection in the background.

Firewall

Norton Internet security 2009 offers inbound as well as outbound monitoring plus controls to optimize the security of your wireless router. It can be set to ask permission whenever a new program tries to access the Internet. Kaspersky provides no such option. It allows any new program to access the internet. However, it can be done manually changing the firewall settings for any all such actions.

Kaspersky takes any program in firewall list irrespective of whether the program is really trying to access to the internet or not. This feature is of no use. Norton only lists those programs that you can really access. Further, Kaspersky offers a long list Windows operation system files on firewall that have access to the Internet.

Pre-installed configuration

Norton comes with many pre-installed configuration. This is why it is much easier for beginners.
Kaspersky doesn’t offer too many pre-installed configuration so its suited for the advanced users who want to get notified of everything and choose what to do when it happens.

Other Features

One of the unique features with NIS 2009 is its ability to detect when a battery-powered laptop is idle and delay the scan according to it. Kaspersky offers no such features.

Conclusion

KIS 2009 has been widely opined as a better internet security tool than Symantec’s NIS 2009. With some serious changes introduced to its malicious software engine and new security tools in the KIS 2009, and the latest release KIS 2010, they seems to be a step ahead of Norton’s Internet Security tool, especially in terms of additional security tools. However,  Kaspersky’s tools still suffer from intricacies where Norton has an edge with a simple and easy-to-use get up. Moreover, NIS 2009 has significantly improved on its security notes and technologies over the years. For more, they could expect to winover the jaded Symantec users with NIS 2010.