Symantec launches Norton 2009 in India…

Symantec has announced the launch of”Norton Internet Security 2009 and Norton AntiVirus 2009 in India, setting a new standard for speed and performance with improved security against next-generation network threats and risks, maintaining the goal of “zero-impact” on the performance of PC.

Norton 2009 has been compared to existing security products in the market by independent test labs PassMark Software and AV-Test in a lead up to its global launch. The Norton 2009 just takes 52.77 seconds to install along with least boot-up time and least memory usage.

David Freer, Vice-President – Consumer Business, Asia-Pacific and Japan, Symantec, said, “We looked at performance in recent releases, but with an eye for mapping to an industry standard. The big shift with 2009 is that we are redefining what a security product should look and feel like running on a PC. It was no longer acceptable to simply match the performance of others if they were still bloated and causing a performance drain on system resources. We re-engineered Norton 2009 to be the company’s fastest security product, so light and fast, you never know it is there until you need it.”

“Norton 2009 is a significant product in our history given the advancements over our existing product lines, in response to both user feedback and the rapidly evolving, complex nature of security threats and risks. Both products are supported by more than 300 improvements that span nearly every aspect of the product, from the scanning engines to the user interface,” said Vishal Dhupar, Managing Director, Symantec India. 

According to Gartner’s recent report released in September 2008, all PCs sold in India are from the top 20–100 cities. The same report estimates that by 2012, the Indian market will ship nearly 24 million PCs (including mobile PCs). This is about 120% over the 10.29 million total numbers of PCs and notebooks shipped in India in the last year, as stated by IDC.

In India, the company expects new users of the Norton products to come from Tier 2 and 3 cities as these markets are driving the rapid PC penetration in India. Symantec has already expanded its reach in Tier 2 and 3 cities by 30 per cent over the last six months. It expects to double the number of locations covered in FY2008 by FY2009.

Informs Annette Martis, National Sales Manager – Consumer Products and Solutions, India,–“We have already started to ramp up our distribution network and will expand our reach to 300 locations including all state capitals by FY2009.”

Symantec has also now announced free unlimited English language support in India by chat or phone support during local business hours for a period of one year from initial product installation at just the cost of the local phone call or Internet access.

Norton Internet Security 2009 and Norton Antivirus 2009 provide fast and up-to-the-minute protection against all types of online threats, securing your computer, your identity and your home network with the goal of zero-impact on the performance of your PC. 

Talking about increasing piracy in India, Freer said, “In India, more than piracy, duplication is an issue. People here take just a component of the software and duplicate it. We are well aware of this problem and are trying our best to fight it out. The education of the reseller is more important than that of the end-user. We are actively trying to educate our resellers. We have a loyalty programme in place, which tracks down people who are not selling genuine products. People who are involved in such tactics are de-certified. We also have a Brand Protection Team in place that shares the cracks on the web and tells the engineer to close them. The new product will come with a hologram to help consumers distinguish it from the pirated versions.”

New features include: 
* Innovative new architecture engineered for speed, dramatically reduces boot time impact, scan time, memory usage as well as the system footprint and install time. 
* Norton Insight reduces the need to scan all files.  Leveraging data from millions of Norton Community members, it allows the Norton security products to avoid scanning files that are commonly found on most computers and statistically determined to be trusted. 
* Smart Idle Time Scheduler runs quietly in the background to let you work and play without disruption. 
* Silent Mode ensures your games and movies are never interrupted by alerts and security updates. 
* Enhanced Browser Protection blocks browser exploits and protects against infected websites (now supports Firefox). 
* Expanded SONAR Protection offers real-time protection against new and unknown threats without requiring the user to make confusing security decisions.

Web-based attacks are the fastest growing type of online threat. With Norton 2009, users can enjoy online gaming, download movies and music and surf the Internet with confidence and minimal disruptions. Testing by independent test lab, PassMark Software, to benchmark Norton 2009 against top competitive security software on key metrics revealed the following: Fastest install — Norton Internet Security 2009 installs in only 52 seconds

Least working memory usage — Norton Internet Security 2009 uses less than 7MB Fastest quick scan—— Norton Internet Security 2009 scans in only 33 seconds Independent security software testing firm, AV-Test recently pitted the Norton Internet Security 2009 Beta against 33 other well-known suites and virus scanners as part of their malware protection analysis of the 2009 security suites. Norton Internet Security 2009 beta ranked at the top of the list by: Detecting 98 per cent of malware Detecting 95 per cent of spyware Producing no false positives

Pricing and Availability 
Norton Internet Security 2009 and Norton AntiVirus 2009 in the English–Hindi language packaging is now available in India through retailers and the Symantec online store as well as various retail locations and online.

The suggested retail price for Norton AntiVirus 2009 is Rs.1,645 for a one PC licence and Rs.2,585 for a three PC licence, which includes a one-year service subscription to use the product and receive Symantec’s protection updates. The suggested retail price of Norton Internet Security 2009 is Rs.2,115 for a one PC licence and Rs.3,290 for a three PC licence, which includes a one-year service subscription to use the product and receive Symantec’s protection updates.