ESET Antivirus
ESET Antivirus is a very robust tool created by a group of security experts out of Bratislava, Slovakia. Eset was founded following the merger of two companies and they have released numerous security programs, most notably their antivirus program, which we’ll be taking a look at. ESET Antivirus originally started as NOD, for DOS, this was later rewritten into NOD32, for 32bit processors (DOS is 16bit), then around 2007, Eset finished updating their code base and ESET NOD32 Antivirus was born. The company also offers ESET Smart Security v4.0, which is an integrated antivirus and firewall solution. ESET Antivirus has been noticed and has won many awards, ESET Antivirus is the first program to receive 54VB100 (Virus bulletin 100) awards and ESET NOD32 Antivirus has not missed a single Virus Bulletin test in the past six years. ESET Antivirus has also been tested by ICSA Labs and West Coast Labs with similar findings. ESET NOD32 Antivirus has also won awards from Forbes, AC Comparatives, Maximum PC’s “Kick Ass” Award, SC Magazine, and been featured in the Consumer Best Buy Digest. Part of ESET NOD32 Antivirus’s success is in how it’s made. The software’s authors have used assembly code in many places to make the program very small and very resource-efficient. ESET have developed a scanning engine which is very heuristically (behavior based) in its operation, because of this, ESET NOD32 Antivirus uses a database of highly descriptive yet generic definitions for spyware, malware, and viruses.
When I loaded ESET NOD32 Antivirus I wasn’t sure what to expect. The software loaded quickly and I chose mainly default settings. The program’s interface has all of the function on the left pane. You may choose to view the advanced view which adds a little more verbosity and some other functions which I won’t go over here. The pane includes windows for everything the program does. There is even a Tools window which provides extended functionality. The scanning and updating are both fast and neither bogged my computer down as much as I had expected.
ESET NOD32 Antivirus costs $39.95 for a single user license per year. They offer two year licenses for a little more. In this writer’s opinion, the two year license is a great bargain. They also offer a mobile phone version, to counter the new emerging threats as mobile phones become “smarter”. The subscriptions for the phones are $24 and $40 for one or two year subscriptions, respectively. Their free trial is excellent and is 30 days in length. At any rate, it’s a good bargain and very effective.
In closing, ESET NOD32 Antivirus is very comprehensive, and very fast. The program did a great job of picking up my threats on the computer and protects the computer while I am banking or working. When I am using ESET NOD32 Antivirus I can feel confident I am the only one viewing my private information. Additionally, when I play games, there is no noticeable slow down! ESET is a fantastic company with a fantastic product! One final note, if you’re wondering, NOD stands for “Nemocnica na Okraji Disku” (hospital at the edge of the disk), which is a reference to a Czechoslovakian medical drama series by a similar name “Hospital at the edge of the city”!
