Symantec today launched Norton Antivirus 2008 and Norton Internet Security 2008. The latter also features Norton Identity Safe to protect users’ identities when they trade and browse online.

"Our 2008 products bring about new protection technologies to block threats before they get a foothold in the system. We have also made significant product improvements to enhance the end-user experience," said Vishal Dhupar, managing director, Symantec India.

Both products include SONAR behavioral detection technology that protects against malicious code. In Norton Internet Security 2008, SONAR (Symantec Online Network for Advanced Response) will run a full scan every time an application attempts outbound communication, further protecting identity information by improving the firewall’s effectiveness against unknown threats.

Norton Antivirus 2008 and Norton Internet Security 2008 are backed by Symantec Security Response, which provides customers with Internet security expertise. The security information is delivered to customers on a daily basis to ensure they remain fully protected.

The features of Norton Antivirus 2008 are threat interceptor browser defender, home network mapping, SONAR, enhanced internet worm protection, kernel level rootkit protection, optimized performance and one click support.

The product is available for Rs 1,719 for a one-PC license that includes a one-year service subscription to use the product and receive Symantec’s protection updates. It is also available in three, five and 10-user licenses available for Rs 2,579, Rs 3,869 and Rs 6,499 respectively.

The features of Norton Internet Security 2008 are threat interceptor browser defender, Norton identity safe, SONAR, phishing protection, SONAR smart firewall, protection for home networking, one-click support and improved performance.

The product is available for Rs 2,319 for a one PC license which includes a one-year service subscription to use the product and receive Symantec’s protection updates. It is also available in three- and five-user licenses available for Rs 3,009 and Rs 4,729 respectively.

On being asked why both the products are not integrated, Dhupar said, "We want our users to choose whatever they want. Norton Antivirus 2008 is only for basic computer protection while Norton Internet Security 2008 is for overall Internet protection. We strongly recommend our users to buy Norton Internet Security 2008."

The system requirements for both products are:

• Windows Vista Home Basic/Home Premium/Business/Ultimate
• Windows XP with Service Pack 2 Home/XP Pro/XP Media Centre Edition
• 300 MHz or higher processor
• 265 MB of RAM
• 300MB of available hard disk space
• Email scanning supported for standard POP3 and SMTP-compatible e-mail clients
• Supported instant messenger clients like AOL – 4.7 to 5.9, Yahoo – 5.x to 6.x, Microsoft – 6.0 or higher and Trillian – 3.1 or higher
• Internet browsers (for phishing protection) – Internet Explorer 6.0 (32-bit only) and later and Mozilla Firefox 2.0 and later