Norton AntiVirus (NAV) is a product of Symantec Corporation and is one of the most widely used antivirus programs. Its function is to detect and remove viruses, spyware, adware, and other potential security risks. Norton AntiVirus is sold as a standalone product and is also included as part of Norton Internet Security and Norton SystemWorks.
Norton AntiVirus 2006 introduced spyware and adware detection in full system scans as well as the auto-protect feature. On July 25, 2006, Symantec released a faulty Norton AntiVirus update affecting Norton AntiVirus 2006. Many users of Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2006 and any product that contained Norton AntiVirus 2006, experienced difficulties due to the faulty update sent via LiveUpdate.
After many years of customer complaints, Symantec responded with Norton AntiVirus 2007, utilizing 7-Zip technology. Norton AntiVirus 2007 automatically detects and blocks viruses, spyware, rootkits and worms. Several of its key features are Rootkit Protection which finds and removes hidden threats in the operating system, Internet Worm Protection that blocks viruses, spyware and worms without specific signatures, email and instant message scanning that detects, removes or blocks infected attachments and Full System Scan which performs a deep scan to remove existing viruses, spyware and other threats.
Norton AntiVirus 2008 was released on August 28, 2007. It includes new features such as SONAR (Symantec Online Network for Advanced Response) technology, which detects potentially malicious code before traditional virus definitions are available. Norton AntiVirus 2008 also includes Browser Defender (which protects Internet Explorer from drive by downloads and unpatched exploits).