- Hey, everyone.
Mike here.
We at CyberNews think that a good antivirus program,
well, it must be effective,
but testing it, that's not always an easy task.
That's why today, I will risk my security
by allowing malware on my PC
and checking to see if Norton antivirus
will be able to deal with it.
Look, if you like these types of exciting and honest tests,
let us know by slamming the like
and subscribing button for more.
(upbeat music)
All right, first let's perform some malware tests,
EICAR and WICAR specifically,
then let's test Norton's performance against real malware
I've downloaded on my PC.
And lastly. I'll give you a brief Norton antivirus review
and remind you of what it has to offer.
Now, if Norton impresses you after this video,
I'll link some exclusive discounts in the description below,
including some other top recommendations for you to compare.
All right, let's commence the Norton test.
I'll start with the EICAR malware test.
You might be familiar with it already.
This test uses fake malware in four different forms,
in MS-DOS executable, a .txt file,
and an executable hidden within a single
and double-layered archive.
If you saw my previous malware test with Kaspersky
and Bitdefender,
which we also have discounts for link below,
you should remember that they have detected and deleted
the first two types as soon as I've downloaded them.
And I'm happy to say that Norton does exactly the same.
Both the Ms-DOS and .txt files containing fake malware
were deleted instantly,
but with the archive malware,
I had quite a strange thing happened to me.
The double-layered archive was detected
and quarantined immediately,
not even showing up on my desktop.
But the single-layered archive was not detected at all.
I've tried downloading it several times,
and Norton didn't even raise an alert even once.
So now I have three zip archives on my desktop.
Awesome.
Turns out the real problem was with Norton,
not detecting malware during download.
Trying to scan the archive,
deleted malware from it and trying to run the file
from the unpacked archive led to Norton deleting it as well.
Still, I managed to download and even unpacked it
without Norton batting an eye.
And well, that's not how it should be.
On the flip side,
Norton passed the WICAR test with flying colors.
Now we're a Bitdefender and Kaspersky
gave me liberty to access potentially malware
infected websites at my own risk,
Norton, straight up blocked them.
No warning, just a completely unloaded page
and a notification in the security history
telling me an intrusion attempt from the website was made.
So Norton just blocked it.
Now personally, I prefer this to the warning approach
of Kaspersky or Bitdefender,
allowing users to make the final decision is good and all,
but I wouldn't always give users the liberty to do so.
Sometimes, users especially inexperienced ones
should be protected from danger,
even if it requires software to take a little more control.
And the hilarious thing happened
when I was preparing for the real test,
Norton decided to do a random scan as it sometimes does
and wiped off most of the malware
I tried to leave for it to detect.
I guess that would be considered a success.
And to be completely honest,
the fact that Norton initiates a quick scan by itself
from time to time,
trying to keep you secure as possible
is sign of great dedication to the cause.
Especially, since Norton's quick scan,
barely uses any of your computers performance.
I've had scans running alongside some heavy software
or even games,
and I haven't encountered any significant lags or slowdowns.
Okay, back to business.
Now I've waited for Norton to ruin the work of my past hour
and then try it again.
This folder with active malware was scanned, analyzed,
and step-by-step plunged into the depth of quarantine
or even shredded in a matter of minutes.
I don't doubt the effectiveness of Norton scan
and yet the EICAR test still boggles me.
Anyway, that's it for the test.
Next up, the best features of Norton quickly summed up
with some personal touches.
Look, I actually liked the design of Norton's app.
It's really not too simplistic.
And I guess it could be a bit hard to navigate,
but it is pleasant to work with.
And when you want just the scan and the antivirus features,
well, you get a window with only those features
and all the additional things like password manager,
VPN, dark web monitor and parental controls,
well, they all have separate windows for them as well.
The individual window of the antivirus is by nature,
slim and focused.
All the important buttons and settings are in plain sight,
which is great for beginners.
With Norton, you can run a quick or deep scan,
protect your camera and microphone,
see the history of security checks completed
and the threats uncovered.
And Hey, you can even adjust the performance of Norton
or create a backup of the most important files.
Though, I would have preferred the advanced functions
to have explanations within the app,
I'm okay with all explanations being available
on their website.
These can be found by clicking on the question mark
on the corner of the screen anytime
if you're not sure what you're doing.
While Norton might not be as flexible as Kaspersky
in terms of settings and customization,
I found it very user-friendly.
With Norton, almost guiding me by hand
when I was performing scans.
Norton's extra features are a little less comfortable.
You know, the dark web monitor
is located on a separate website page
and password manager has a separate app altogether.
Only the VPN is actually built into the main Norton app,
but it's also quite limited in its functionality
and not customizable enough in terms of security protocols
and connectivity features.
So in conclusion to this Norton review,
I can say that it really is a comfortable
and effective antivirus software.
But before I give my final thoughts,
I invite you to check out our discounts once again,
'cause you won't regret it.
A little advice with Norton,
perform scans often
or at least let Norton do its automatic scans
without interruption.
Though, I don't think the situation I had with EICAR
is common,
it's clear that Norton has a less thorough check-up
of downloaded files than it does when it scans.
Other than that, it's doing the job
of eradicating malware perfectly.
It's additional features might not be all that effective
or comfortable to use,
but their password manager is nice
and the dark web monitor is functional.
As for Norton VPN,
just get a separate VPN that offers more functionalities.
We have loads of recommendations for them.
Heck, I'll even add them down in the description
if you're interested.
And of course, if you subscribe to our channel
and check out more of our videos,
well, you're gonna find a lot more cybersecurity content
to satisfy your curiosity.
All right, thanks for watching,
and I'll see you soon enough.