ESET NOD32 Antivirus 8 (2015 Edition)

In business for 22 years, ESET has been a well-known Internet security company for most of that time and continues to create exceptional antivirus products to this day. In fact, ESET is often the preferred choice for IT service management organizations deploying antivirus software to multiple PCs because it is simple, effective and affordable.

While there has never been a question about the effectiveness of ESET NOD32 as an antivirus tool, previous versions of the software have left much to be desired in terms of ease-of-use and the overall user experience. A plain, difficult to navigate UI has plagued ESET for years, but the company was determined to change that for 2015 by completely revamping the interface. The new face of ESET is more user friendly while retaining the award-winning protection the company has been providing customers for years.

Overview:

The improved user interface is the big news for ESET NOD32 this year. A sparse window with tabbed navigation along the left side of the screen provides users with a variety of options including Scan, Update and Settings. ESET has kept it simple while upgrading the overall look and feel of the program so that it more closely resembles the modern Windows OS.

In addition to the improved interface, ESET provides access to online video tutorials about computer security directly from the main window – a feature that is extremely helpful for those willing to take the time to learn more about Internet safety and security at their own pace.

It should also be noted that ESET offers excellent customer support within the United States. In fact, if a PC becomes infected with malware after ESET has been properly installed, free removal assistance is included in the licensing cost. Many competitors charge as much as $100 for a similar service.

Although lacking many of the bells and whistles found on other antivirus products, ESET NOD32 8 is a contender for top honors in independent testing and its small footprint means system performance won’t be adversely affected while using this software at home.

New features:

As previously mentioned, the vastly improved user experience of this version brings ESET into the spotlight as a truly user-friendly anti-malware option like never before. A clean layout and easy-to-configure design make ESET NOD32 easy to use for PC users of all experience levels.

Exploit Blocker is a new feature that seeks out malware specifically designed to avoid detection by most antivirus solutions. Web browser attacks, infected PDFs and Java-based exploits are also blocked thanks to this new addition to ESET’s offering.

The Advanced Memory Scanner has been improved for 2015 and includes algorithms to detect an assortment of persistent malware employing multi-layer encryption techniques to avoid detection. This includes support for many new malware variants that hide in system memory without affecting the file system.

ESET also integrated a cloud-based scanning engine this year which results in extremely small updates and faster scans. The addition of cloud-based scanning also allows NOD32 to detect threats that may not have been added to the latest virus definition update for a safer online experience.

The Social Media Scanner monitors privacy settings for Facebook and other social media platforms, scans incoming links for potentially dangerous activity and prevents users from accidentally engaging in phishing activities commonly disseminated through social media outlets.

Performance:

ESET NOD32 has always performed very well in independent lab testing and this year is no exception. Other than Bitdefender, ESET was the only antivirus solution that received a VB100 certification from Virus Bulletin in all 12 of the latest tests performed.

AV-Comparatives awarded ESET its highest rating this year, Advanced+, in all five major testing areas: malicious file detection, detection using outdated signatures (zero day attacks), whole product dynamic testing, performance testing and malware removal testing. ESET also received the highest rating from Denis technology Labs (AAA certification) for 2015.

In our own testing, ESET was able to detect 80% of malware threats, but where this program really shined was in its ability to block malicious URLs (both verified and unknown). Although not the absolute highest in the industry, the program was able to block an impressive 81% of all malicious URLs – many of which were previously unverified as malicious sites in the first place.

In terms of system scanning speed, our test took 26 minutes to complete. This is about average for all products tested this year and shouldn’t be considered either a pro or a con for this version of ESET NOD32.

Conclusion:

The major overhaul of ESET’s user interface – combined with stellar testing performance across a variety of testing platforms – results in an excellent product that can contend with any other antivirus product available. What ESET NOD32 8 lacks in additional features it makes up for with exceptional customer support and a solid platform that won’t rob PC performance while running.

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