ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 Upgrades Protection

ESET announced Monday the release of new versions of its NOD32 Antivirus and Smart Security products. The new versions add removable media security features and more advanced features for checking archives and seeking out rootkits.

According to ESET, the biggest difference between their products and their competitors' is that most security programs focus on signature-based detection of malware. This means that until an update is installed, the program is unlikely to detect a new threat. ESET's main focus is heuristic-based detection, which can sniff out malware based on its behavior, even without a signature.

Jeff Chen, product marketing manager at ESET, said that new malware spreads quickly on the Internet and new varieties of existing malware show up so often that signature-based detection can struggle to keep up.

"As the number of threats is growing rapidly, we've been able to keep up," Chen said.

Chen also talked up the ability of ESET software to scan quickly and use fewer system resources than other products. He said ESET's small footprint makes in popular for use in virtual machines. He also said that in some cases, switching from a competitor to ESET makes enough of a performance difference that computer equipment's useful life can be extended, saving the cost of a hardware upgrade.

For more information about ESET's products, and free trials, visit the ESET site.

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