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Introduction

Contents page Aim..........................................................................2 Objectives .................................................................2 Introduction ...............................................................2-3 What is internet security ...............................................3-4 Mcafee internet security 2009..........................................4 Mcafee Pros and Cons...................................................5 Norton internet security 2009 ..........................................5-6 Norton Pros and Cons...................................................6 Zone Alarm ................................................................6 Zone Alarm Pros and Cons...............................................6 Conclusion....................................................................7 Plan of work................................................................8-9 Appendices..................................................................10 Bibliography................................................................23 Aim The aim of this presentation is to look and research a variety of different internet security packages and give an informative evaluation of each. I will be looking at the advantages and disadvantages of each, how user friendly they are, price, what users think of the software and how well they protect computers. I will also be interviewing a professional who works day to day with security programs. From this interview I will try to gain an understanding of how internet security is used in a professional environment. Objectives 1- Research internet security packages and find out how effective each is. I will do this by reading online reviews of the different internet security packages and using some of my own knowledge and experience 2- Show my findings in a clear and understandable format which is direct and informative to the reader. I will do this by presenting my research as a report and a conclusion which shows what I have found and I will give my personal view. 3. To show a clear comparison of the two applications and to show the positives and negatives of the applications. What is internet security? Internet security is the process of preventing unauthorised users gaining access to your personal computer. Internet security programs help prevent access and detect files which may be malicious to your computer. Internet security is very important. There are many examples which can be used to show this. If you purchase items off of the internet then your banking details will be stored on the system. If somebody gained unauthorised access to your personal computer then they could also have access to your personal banking details. ...read more.

Middle

This is seen in test run by individuals. These test show that without internet security you are guaranteed to contract a digital virus on your computer. Without internet security computer networks and the internet will cease to exist. Plan of work Evaluation Date Plan Was it complete? Sticking to the timetable was easy because I had clear dates for when certain task would be completed and the research was not difficult. There were some occasions when I had completed the research and could move onto another piece of the research. I choose to research Mcafee internet security 2009, Norton internet security 2009 and Zone alarm. I chose these three products because they are all popular and used by many different industries. I chose to do an interview because I felt that I could gain a lot more knowledge from a face to face interview with a professional who works in the industry rather than a general questionnaire. My interview was direct and to the point and I only asked questions which I felt were relevant to my research. However the original interview date had to be changed because on the actual day the person who I was going to interview was not available. This was not a major issue as we rescheduled a date which was convenient for both of us. The most difficult part of the project was completing my conclusion. This was difficult because all of the different software's claimed to do the same thing. So when I was giving my final thoughts I had to compile all three and show an overall understanding of how and why internet security is available and so important. I feel that this research project was very interesting and I learned many new facts about internet security which I did not previously know. Also I feel that if someone were to read my research they would receive a lot of useful information which could help them make an informed decision about the security package which they choose to purchase. ...read more.

Conclusion

We like the transparency, and think the presentation here is better than the line graphs used in some other security applications. Should you want line graphs, an icon will reveal how the system and Norton CPU usage has been since the system was last rebooted. Features Norton has, in the recent past, included some sophisticated technology from its enterprise products, which is good because it's cutting-edge, but it's also bad, because it doesn't necessarily integrate with the product, nor is it necessary. In Norton Internet Security 2009, they seem to have found the right balance. Whitelisting, the buzzword of security products for 2009, is included within the new suite, and by marrying it with other technologies, Symantec makes it more suited for the user. Files on a whitelist are deemed trusted, and thus do not need to be scanned as often. Not all "safe files" make it onto the whitelist. For those, Norton uses a community process, called Insight, similar to that used by other security products such as Haute Secure. The thinking is that if thousands of other people are using this suspicious file, chances are it's not a new piece of malware but a new application. On the other hand if only a few are using it, then maybe it's worth it to take another look to see if it's malware. Norton enhances its home network monitor, giving you a system administrator's perspective on the relative health and security of all the computers within your home. And Norton Internet Security 2009 brings back the concept of the Recovery Disk once popular in the early 1990s, but declines to include a backup solution (you'll have to buy another Symantec product for that). Gone is the awful LiveUpdate component of past Norton products. With 2009 products, Symantec is providing antimalware definition signatures every few minutes or so. On the interface you'll see a notice indicating how many minutes since the last update. We didn't see definitions older than four minutes in our testing. ...read more.

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