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PCMag UK

Norman Antivirus 11

Neil J. Rubenking
 & Neil J. Rubenking Principal Writer, Security

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

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65 EXPERTS
43 YEARS
41,500+ REVIEWS
Norman Antivirus 11 is a bare-bones antivirus that scans for malware and protects against attack in real time, nothing more. The best products offer more layers of protection, and they score better with the testing labs too. - Antivirus
2.5 Fair

The Bottom Line

Norman Antivirus 11 is a bare-bones antivirus that scans for malware and protects against attack in real time, nothing more. The best products offer more layers of protection, and they score better with the testing labs too.

Pros & Cons

    • Decent score in our hands-on malware-blocking test.
    • No protection against fraudulent or malware-hosting URLs.
    • So-so lab results.
    • Poor blocking of malicious downloads.
    • Some interface oddities.

Some antivirus products suffer a kind of feature creep. The addition of a spam filter, firewall, or other bonus features makes them start to resemble miniature security suites. Norman Antivirus 11 ($46.95 per year for three licenses) bucks this trend with a total focus on antivirus protection. It doesn't even try to keep its users away from malicious URLs or phishing sites. While it did a decent job in my hands-on malware blocking test, the few labs that rate it don't give it the best marks. It's definitely not the best antivirus available.

As with many modern programs, Norman's installer is a stub that downloads and installs the very latest program version. I was a little surprised that it made me choose 32-bit or 64-bit installation—typically the download component makes that determination automatically.

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Final Thoughts

Norman Antivirus 11 is a bare-bones antivirus that scans for malware and protects against attack in real time, nothing more. The best products offer more layers of protection, and they score better with the testing labs too. - Antivirus

Norman Antivirus 11

2.5 Fair

Norman Antivirus 11 is a bare-bones antivirus that scans for malware and protects against attack in real time, nothing more. The best products offer more layers of protection, and they score better with the testing labs too.

About Our Expert

Neil J. Rubenking

Neil J. Rubenking

Principal Writer, Security

My Experience

When the IBM PC was new, I served as the president of the San Francisco PC User Group for three years. That’s how I met PCMag’s editorial team, who brought me on board in 1986. In the years since that fateful meeting, I’ve become PCMag’s expert on security, privacy, and identity protection, putting antivirus tools, security suites, and all kinds of security software through their paces.

Before my current security gig, I supplied PCMag readers with tips and solutions on using popular applications, operating systems, and programming languages in my "User to User" and "Ask Neil" columns, which began in 1990 and ran for almost 20 years. Along the way, I wrote more than 40 utility articles, as well as Delphi Programming for Dummies and six other books covering DOS, Windows, and programming. I also reviewed thousands of products of all kinds, ranging from early Sierra Online adventure games to AOL’s precursor Q-Link.

In the early 2000s, I turned my focus to security and the growing antivirus industry. After years of working with antivirus, I’m known throughout the security industry as an expert on evaluating antivirus tools. I serve as an advisory board member for the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO), an international nonprofit group dedicated to coordinating and improving testing of anti-malware solutions.

The Technology I Use

Much of the testing I do, particularly testing with real-world ransomware, is just plain dangerous. To perform such tests safely, I sequester them inside virtual machines managed by VMWare Workstation. For cross-platform testing, I use a MacBook Air, a Google Pixel 4, and a 6th-generation iPad.

I rely on my Delphi coding skills to create and maintain small applications. These include programs to check whether an antivirus correctly handled the malware it detected, launch dangerous URLs and record the security program’s reaction, and analyze the malware that I collect for use in testing. I also wrote a tiny browser and text editor for use in testing security apps that have predefined reactions for known products.

I do my writing and research on a Dell OptiPlex desktop, relying on Microsoft Word (my fingers know all the shortcuts). Many of my articles include charts and analysis; Excel is my go-to for those. When work hours end, though, I escape the bounds of Microsoft and Windows. There’s an iPhone in my pocket, I relax with my oversized iPad, and my Kindle Oasis is always loaded with the best science fiction and fantasy.

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