Symantec rolls out Norton 2010

Symantec has released the latest version of its Norton security suite.

The company said that the new Norton 2010 release would focus on reputation-based malware detection, which spots malicious applications based on behaviour rather than code signature.

To boost Norton's reputational detection, Symantec has developed a new component known as Quorum.

The tool is said by Symantec to weed out malware by analysing an application for such attributes as age, source and behaviour. The factors are then analysed and used to build a 'reputation' attribute which then allows Norton to track and isolate malicious software.

Quorum will also utilise a web-based network to track malware and allow systems to share malware data and deploy protections at a faster rate.

With the new tool, Symantec hopes to help progress beyond a signature-based model which vendors are increasingly shying away from due to a rising tide of new malware samples which makes constant signature updates nearly impossible.

Symantec is also among the vendors looking to improve by security software and overall system performance by lowering install size and memory footprint. The company said that the new software installs in roughly one minute and utilises 10MB of system memory when operational.