Speed is of essence for next-generation Symantec products
Users hit start-up times, hard-drive scanning slowdowns
May 23, 2008 12:00 PM ETIDG News Service - Symantec Corp. is setting a high bar on performance for the new versions of its security products, due in 2009.
The chief complaint that Symantec hears from customers is how much of a drag the software is on PC speeds, from start-up times to hard-drive scanning, said Con Mallon, product marketing director for Symantec's consumer division in Europe, on Friday.
Symantec has "certainly taken a hit" over performance in the past two years, Mallon said. But the company has charged its chief engineering team, located in Culver City, Calif., with making several of the products in its Norton line less bloated.
Installation times now range from eight to 10 minutes, Mallon said. The new goal is for that time to be one minute or less.
Symantec's latest consumer suite, Norton 360 Version 2.0, takes between 20 and 30 seconds to load after a PC is started. Symantec would like to trim that to 10 seconds or less, Mallon said.
Another target is to reduce the overall size of its programs to no more than 100MB, which, in some cases, would mark a fourfold reduction.
Those goals aren't easy to reach, as each requires major modifications to the software. "From a technical point of view, this is tough new stuff," Mallon said.
Engineers will be working on the improvements for the next versions of Norton Internet Security and Norton AntiVirus, both of which have antispyware, antivirus and other functions. Eventually, the improvements will be worked into the next version of Norton 360, Mallon said.
The last chief goal is to speed up scanning times, one of the most laborious tasks for security software that consumes processor power, since files are checked on the entire hard drive, Mallon said. Symantec is developing technology that would allow the scanner to skip certain trust files, such as core components of Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet program, in order to speed up the overall scan.
However, other countermeasures will have to be included so that the security software doesn't reveal which files are not scanned, which could tip off hackers, he said.
Reprinted with permission from
Story copyright 2009 International Data Group. All rights reserved.
Symantec
Additional Resources



Learn the important issues you must consider before starting your next mobility initiative. Get your mobility white paper from IDC now, compliments of Sybase.
White Papers & Webcasts
Share our Strength
Download Now
Lower the Cost and Complexity of a Mobile Workforce through Automation
Download This Resource Now!
Top 10 Things to Know about Data Protection
Download Now
Managing Mobility: Improve Data Security, Compliance and Manageability
Download This Resource Now!
Managing Secure File Transfer to Save Time, Money and IT Resources
Learn how companies are using innovative technology to overcome these challenges and improve user productivity by offloading e-mail attachments and replacing FTP with...
Ponemon Study: The Business Risk of a Lost Laptop
Download Now
Security Convergence Equals Network Security Cost Savings
Listen to IBM Internet Security Systems' take on network security convergence.
Airport Insecurity: The Case of Lost Laptops
Download Now
Disaster Recovery 2008: Reduced Costs and Improved Performance
How long can your Enterprise afford to be without your data? With an accelerated disaster recovery program, you never have to answer this...
