Norman is a Norwegian security company that provides business and home internet security products. For the purpose of this review, we looked at Norman Security Suite Pro, which is offered as their all-in-one product. This premium security suite includes parental controls, applications controls, track erasers and safe browsing tools. One one-year license can protect up to three PCs.
Regrettably, Norman software has yet to prove it can protect reliably. To determine antivirus protection capability we checked recent Windows 7 test scores as well as Norman's test results through the years. The most recent AV-Test scores are below standard, with an average of 39% for Windows 7 tests. VB100 tested Norman security products 72 times since 1998, and they passed 49 times and failed 23 times (68% pass). Their most recent VB100 fail was in August of 2011 running Windows Vista. They have not been tested on a Windows 7 VB100 machine since 2010. International Computer Security Association labs, West Coast Labs and AV-Comparatives also do not post test results for Norman. We were not mislead by the certifications Norman lists on their website. They are primarily software compatibility certifications rather than antivirus test awards.
Though Norman calls this product their "Pro" version, which should offer more advanced tools than their standard suite, it does not include the premium features we were looking to find. They do not provide automatic backup tools, and the privacy tools they include are track erasers not identity theft or privacy protection tools. Track erasers "erase" the URLs and search terms you use in web browsers. Whereas the privacy tools we were looking for protect your personal information such as SSNs, address and phone numbers from being shared without your permission.
Efficacy scores aside, we do like that Norman provides easily configurable settings and advanced tools for those who desire them. With Norman, you can schedule scan tasks, configure parental controls and enjoy secured browsing. However, we did run into what we consider a major problem. We found it difficult to run a simple scan. We clicked the Run Task button in the task editor, scheduled a scan and clicked the Scan button on the home screen – it never ran a scan. We consulted the help pages and did not find an answer to our problem. After searching the help files, what we concluded is that since Norman can be set to constantly scan, perhaps that mode interferes with requests to run a scan on request.
Should you require assistance with this security suite, you can contact Norman by telephone or email. However, telephone support is fee-based; you will have to pay a per-incident fee for direct telephone support. When we were testing the software, we could not get the help links in the support center to work. We then went to Norman's website and searched the terms "won't scan" and "will not scan" to attempt to obtain assistance with a problem, but Norman produced zero search results for what one might think would be a rather common problem. This was frustrating.
Unassisted support options on Norman.com include FAQs, a downloadable user manual, a forum, support articles and a free malware cleaner. For product and industry news you can follow Norman on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.
We respect the ambition and difficult, tedious work it takes to create security software. Norman's mascot, the test dummy, attests to their understanding that effective malware detection and removal software requires aggressive testing. However, at this time Norman has yet to accumulate an extensive collection of third-party proof that they can protect your computer. Norman Security Suite Pro also does not include the premium features we are looking to find in a premium product such as PC tune up tools, backup and restore functions, and identity protection.
