ESET NOD32 Antivirus Review

ESET Antivirus Software

ESET was founded in 1992. It is a software company specialising in computer protection and security solutions. It has worldwide production headquarters in Bratislava Slovakia and worldwide distribution headquarters in San Diego. Its first Antivirus product was NOD (Nemocnica na Okraji Disku - Hospital at the edge of the disk) and was originally designed to run on MS-DOS computers.

The first Windows version (NOD32) appeared in 1998 and there have been several new editions since then. The antivirus product range has been expanded to include ESET Smart Security which enhances the functions of NOD32 with the addition of a firewall and anti-spam features. Both products use the award winning Threatsense® Antivirus engine. This uses a combination of malware signatures and heuristic detection and has a solid record of top performance in independent tests. It has not missed a single threat in the VB100 tests in 7 years, with an enviable run of 55 passes.

The new version 4 editions of ESET Smart Security and NOD32 Antivirus were released in March 2009 and this review concentrates on these.

NOD32 runs faster than any other antivirus program and uses fewer system resources. A unique feature is that much of the program code is written in Assembler rather than a high-level programming language. This enables the program to run very efficiently and use very little memory or processing power.

ESET Product Range

The current product range includes the latest version of ESET NOD32 Antivirus. There is also an Internet Security Package (Launched in 2007 to compete with the likes of Symantec, Kaspersky and McAfee) called ESET Smart Security 4. . This includes additions such as a firewall, anti-spyware and anti-spam.

ESET Antivirus Product Detail

ESET products have been used extensively in Eastern Europe for some years and have established a reputation for dealing with malware threats capably and effectively. Because of their outstanding performance the products are becoming better known in the rest of the world and are a moderately priced alternative to the better known brands.

The Threatsense® Antivirus engine on which both products are based scores highly in independent tests - up to a 96% detection rate. The scanning speed is much faster than most competitors. During our trial we thought it was a bit too fast and that it was missing something, but we checked our settings and it was fine. It was correctly set for a full system scan and was not missing anything out. Because of its combination of defined signatures and heuristic techniques ESET products based on Threatsense® have an excellent record of detecting known malware as well as new threats which have not had their signatures defined yet. This means that it is effective at dealing with new threats, which are often the most dangerous.

This is an economically priced software package, giving performance on a par with the likes of Kaspersky and F-Secure but with much faster scan speeds.

ESET Software Installation

Installation of both NOD32 Antivirus and ESET Smart Security is straightforward and should not give any trouble to a novice computer user.

If there is another antivurus program already installed it will prompt for it to be uninstalled before commencing installation.

A reboot of the computer is required after installation. The User Interface is intuitive and clear. It has been updated since the previous version, but existing users will find it familiar.

This really is install and forget software. Within a few minutes of installation the latest updates will be downloaded and you will be ready to carry out your first scan.

Operation of NOD32

ESET NOD32 and ESET Smart Security are both very easy to use for a novice computer user. The main screen (above) gives a good summary of the program status. It is clear and simple, which should be sufficient for most users, but the advanced options can be accessed easily by experienced users or system administrators.

When a scan is taking place there is a progress indicator, the file being scanned is listed and any alerts are displayed:

When the scan finishes the following summary screen is displayed:

Support is excellent with a comprehensive context-sensitive Help system. The ESET website has a comprehensive User Manual that can be downloaded as well as an extensive FAQ section.

Here is an example of an alert produced when NOD32 detects malicious software:

Independent tests verify that ESET is up with the leading brands on detection rates, particularly for viruses where it typically detects and removes about 96% - 98% of viruses it encounters. The spyware detection rate is lower than expected at around 92%.

The program comes into its own with tests on the generic detection method - the Threatsense® heuristic scanner constantly comes ahead of competitor's heuristic scanners in independent tests. The point of a good heuristic scanner is to identify suspicious behaviour and flag it up as possible malware with as few false alarms as possible. ESET constantly delivers this.

Positive Points

Negative Points

ESET have consistently delivered exceptionally high performance at a competitive price and we recommend them as a lower cost alternative to Kaspersky or F-Secure.

It is important that you install an effective defence against malware today. If you like the features ESET offer with their products, download and install one today by clicking on the following link:

Fully functional 30-day free trials of ESET NOD32 Antivirus and ESET Smart Security are available (see on-line shop options).