What's up with NOD32?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Peter
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Peter

I see the number of glowing reports for NOD32 in this newsgroup BUT there
seems to be a general aggreement that while the program is excellent at
catching virus's, it is only very average at detecting Trojan's.
Considering the similarity of the two, how can it be so good with one and
not the other. I have seen some mention they have an "anti-trojan" (what
program is this?)as well as "antivirus" program. Surely a program as good as
NOD32 should do the lot.

Peter
 
It's not really all that good at viruses either. You can test for yourself
actually. I was able to secure from the CS department at my school a package
of abot 950 different viruses and trojans. Sadly (since I had it installed
on my home computer) it missed about 5% of those I tested it against. Only
Symantec Corp, Mcafee, Kaspersky and Panda found them all.

I think if you look around the Web you should be able to find a similar
virus collection to download and test. Try it. It's about the only way you
can be sure that the AV solution you have is worth it (unless you just want
to go be reviews).
 
I see the number of glowing reports for NOD32 in this newsgroup BUT
there seems to be a general aggreement that while the program is
excellent at catching virus's, it is only very average at detecting
Trojan's. Considering the similarity of the two, how can it be so good
with one and not the other. I have seen some mention they have an
"anti-trojan" (what program is this?)as well as "antivirus" program.
Surely a program as good as NOD32 should do the lot.

Peter
Click to expand...

Well, I don't have a problem with NOD32 as it has caught a *AD* Trojan that
was able to make it to one of my machines. However, the only way that it
was picked-up by NOD32 is when BlackIce was doing its Baseline scan
which makes it access every file on the machine.

Then I came up with the *brillant* idea of setting NOD32 to scan all file
extention types and doing *Deep Scanning*, which it had never been set to
do before.

Don't you just love it when someone comes flying in with *I did a test and
my facts are this*, because I am a *verified secrity testing lab*. <g>

Duane :)
 
It's not really all that good at viruses either. You can test for yourself
actually. I was able to secure from the CS department at my school a package
of abot 950 different viruses and trojans. Sadly (since I had it installed
on my home computer) it missed about 5% of those I tested it against. Only
Symantec Corp, Mcafee, Kaspersky and Panda found them all.

I think if you look around the Web you should be able to find a similar
virus collection to download and test. Try it. It's about the only way you
can be sure that the AV solution you have is worth it (unless you just want
to go be reviews).
Click to expand...

One of the things that works against NOD32 is the fact that it ignores
anything that isn't a virus. This might sound stupid, but I won't pick
up AV simulation files and it won't pick up damaged viruses that are
unable to infect your system.

So are you sure that each and every virus in this pack was not only
fully functional, but also a threat to your system?
A lot of W98 viruses still knocking around for example are completely
incompatible with XP. And therefore not a threat.
 
I see the number of glowing reports for NOD32 in this newsgroup BUT there
seems to be a general aggreement that while the program is excellent at
catching virus's, it is only very average at detecting Trojan's.
Considering the similarity of the two, how can it be so good with one and
not the other. I have seen some mention they have an "anti-trojan" (what
program is this?)as well as "antivirus" program. Surely a program as good as
NOD32 should do the lot.

Peter
Click to expand...

Well ESET has in the past made the distinction that NOD32 is an
antivirus and not an antitrojan. NOD has always been weak at trojan
detection. However ESET has in recent months been working hard to
improve NOD's trojan detection and I believe you will see it handles
most of the new threats well. As with any program you must update the
sig files regularly for it to be fully effective however. Now I also
believe many antivirus programs are weak in the antitrojan area, not
all to be sure. KAV for one is excellent in both virus and trojan
detection, but no one program is perfect. I have both NOD32 and KAV,
one as a backup to the other. I use NOD for on access scanning and KAV
as on demand. I also run BOClean as a resident antitrojan, I believe a
layered defense works the best not trusting one program alone. I also
have TDS-3 as an on demand antitrojan scanner, it is one of if not the
best as a dedicated antitrojan program. As I said a layered defense,
what one program might miss another may catch. If I was going to use
just one program alone as an AV/AT KAV would be my choice, again it is
not perfect, poor POP3 scanning for instance which is another reason I
have NOD, but you will not find many that outperform KAV in serious
testing.

Pat
 
Pat wrote:

However ESET has in recent months been working hard to
improve NOD's trojan detection and I believe you will see it handles
most of the new threats well.
Click to expand...

Actually, IIRC, NOD started paying attention to Trojans and Backdoors
well over a year ago. I remember looking at each and every sig file
update to see what was included and a significant number of definitions
were for other than viruses.

If there were more recent comparatives to look at, then the discussion
of how well a given product does against tojans and backdoors might be
meaningful.
 
One of the things that works against NOD32 is the fact that it ignores
anything that isn't a virus. This might sound stupid, but I won't pick
up AV simulation files and it won't pick up damaged viruses that are
unable to infect your system.

So are you sure that each and every virus in this pack was not only
fully functional, but also a threat to your system?
A lot of W98 viruses still knocking around for example are completely
incompatible with XP. And therefore not a threat.
Click to expand...

Therefore it would not see a virus as a threat on your system, allowing you to
send it on to someone where it could a threat!? That doesn't sound very clever
to me.
 
Nod 32, has been proven to be effective at antivirus defences. It has the
grunt where it counts. you just have to realise it is focused on viruses and
not Trojan. SO!!!! So get an anti Trojan for the other side of the coin. I
use NOD32 and TAUSCAN along with SPYBOT and ADAWARE, this is my layered
defence and it has never let me down. NOD32 is perfect for email worms and
they seem to be the greatest threat these days. Try Nod32 on trial and see
what you think. I have never had a problem with it and I'm a high risk pc
user
 
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