Heimdal Review: Is It a Smart Investment in 2024?

#1 Heimdal Antivirus Review in 2024

Heimdal is not your typical antivirus solution. It's a thorough cybersecurity package that goes beyond just protecting against malware. As someone who's been in the cybersecurity field for years, I was curious about Heimdal's approach. They claim to use powerful machine learning based protection, which caught my attention.

I decided to thoroughly test Heimdal's premium home antivirus solution to see if it lives up to the buzz. In this Heimdal antivirus review, you'll learn:

• How well Heimdal protects against various threats
• The unique features that set it apart from other antivirus solutions
• Its impact on system performance
• How user-friendly it is for home users
• Whether it's worth the investment for your digital security

Let's examine what Heimdal Premium Security Home has to offer!

In a Hurry? Here's a Quick Summary

If you're short on time, here's a quick overview of what I found out about Heimdal Premium Security Home:

What You'll Like:

• Strong ransomware protection
• Advanced firewall capabilities
• Automatic third-party software updates
• Real-time threat prevention

What You May Not Like:

• Interface might be complex for average home users
• Some features feel more suited for business environments
• Limited customization options for the user interface
• Above average resource usage

What Makes This Heimdal Antivirus Review Different?

Many antivirus reviews out there simply repeat information from the product's website. They don't actually test the software or investigate its features. That's not how I do things.

For this Heimdal antivirus review, I purchased Heimdal Premium Security Home and installed it on my own devices. I spent over two weeks testing every feature, running simulations, and pushing the software to its limits. I used my Dell XPS laptop as the main testing device, running Windows 11 with an Intel i7-1065G7 CPU and 16 GB of RAM.

Throughout my testing, I captured numerous screenshots to give you a real look at the software in action. You'll find these scattered throughout the review, showing you exactly what to expect if you decide to use Heimdal.

I'm not just relying on what Heimdal says about their product. Every feature, every claim, and every protection measure has been personally tested and verified by me. So when I say something works well (or doesn't), you can trust that it's based on real, hands-on experience.

Buying Heimdal Antivirus

My experience with Heimdal started on their website. They offer three versions for home users: NEXT-GEN ANTIVIRUS HOME, THREAT PREVENTION HOME, and PREMIUM SECURITY HOME. I went for the full package - Premium Security Home - to test all the features.

The purchasing process was simple. I had options for 1, 2, or 3-year subscriptions, and I could choose to cover 3, 5, or 10 devices. There was also an option to buy installation and setup service, which might be helpful for less tech-savvy users.

One thing that surprised me was the payment options. Only credit card was available - no PayPal, wire transfer, or cryptocurrency. This might be problematic for some users who prefer alternative payment methods.

After completing the purchase, I received two important emails: one with the license key and download link, and another asking me to confirm my email to activate the subscription. Make sure you check your inbox for these!

Installation

The installation process for Heimdal Premium Security Home was surprisingly quick and simple. It took about 2 minutes from start to finish, which is faster than many other antivirus solutions I've tested.

When you run the installer, you're presented with a few options:

• Language selection (10 languages available)
• Installation location
• License key entry or free trial activation

Heimdal's installer offers language options and license key entry

I appreciated the language options - it's more than what many competitors offer. The ability to choose between entering your license key or activating a free trial right from the installer is also convenient.

One thing that stood out to me was how the installer uses the term "Endpoint" throughout the process and its interface. This is typically used in business settings to refer to work computers. It's a small detail, but it hints at Heimdal's enterprise roots, which we'll see more of later.

Interface

After installation, I was greeted by Heimdal's user interface. The first thing I noticed was its clean, professional look. It's not flashy, but it's functional and easy to navigate.

Heimdal's main interface is clean and professional

The interface is divided into two main sections. The first is a blue left sidebar with links to:

• Home view (main dashboard)
• Threat Prevention
• Patch & Asset Management
• Endpoint Detection
• General Settings
• Support
• External Links

The other main section is white main area where the selected feature's details are displayed. The color scheme is simple - mostly white background with blue buttons. "Checked" icons are green, indicating when a feature is working properly.

The color scheme is simple - mostly white background with blue buttons. "Checked" icons are green, indicating when a feature is working properly.

While the interface is well-organized, I did notice a few limitations:

• The window is not resizable
• There's no option to choose a different theme or color scheme
• The term "Endpoint" is used throughout, which might confuse some home users

Despite these minor issues, I found the interface easy to use and navigate. It might take some getting used to for users who are more familiar with consumer-oriented antivirus products, but it's not overly complicated.

Major Features

We’ll now delve into the specifics of Heimdal Antivirus. We’ll outline its critical features and discuss why it might be a strong candidate for protecting your system.

Real-Time Protection (Vector Detections)

Heimdal's real-time protection is provided through its Vector Detections layer. This is the first line of defense against all types of malware, such as spyware, trojans, keyloggers or adware. The others are DarkLayer Guard and TTPC (Threat-to-Process Correlation), which means behavioral analysis designed to link malware activity to the specific process it is targeting on the compromised machine. That's basically an advanced malware detection method.

The Threat Prevention window allows you to access the web and anti malware features.

I accessed Vector Detections via the Threat Prevention tab. Here's what I found:

The Vector Detections window displays:

• Probability of infection
• Number of threat detections
• A search box to find specific intercepted threats
• A list of blocked malware patterns, risks of infection, TTPC, date, and action taken

The Vector Detections window shows detailed threat information

At the bottom, there are buttons to access the blocked threat list and quarantine.

What impressed me was the Vector Detection engine. This feature uses advanced Machine Learning algorithms to detect hidden threats, providing HIPS/HIDS and IOA/IOC capabilities. It looks for patterns in blocked domains, such as:

• Multiple blocks of the same domain in a short time
• Daily blocks at a specific time
• Multiple domain blocks in a very short period

The engine can detect different malware patterns:

• Infostealer strain
• APT strain
• Botnet strain
• Attack blocked (at least 4 blocked attacks in a minute)

If you prefer to use another program for real-time detection, you can disable Vector Detections in Settings > Threat Prevention. However, I'd recommend keeping it on for maximum protection.

Web Protection (DarkLayer Guard)

Heimdal's web protection is provided by a feature called DarkLayer Guard. This analyzes your internet traffic in real-time to prevent attacks.

DarkLayer Guard provides real-time web protection

In the DarkLayer Guard window, you can see:

• Analyzed traffic count
• Number of prevented attacks
• Percentage of blocked traffic
• A search box for analyzing specific domains
• A list of blocked traffic, including malware blocked, TTPC, date, and action taken

There's also an Allow List where you can configure domains you want the firewall to ignore.

To test the web protection for this Heimdal antivirus review, I visited several malicious test websites. Here's how it performed:

• Malicious website test - Failed to block
• WICAR - Blocked the entire website
• AMTSO - Blocked 12 out of 15 threats
• EICAR - Blocked 2 out of 4 threats

Heimdal's web protection performance on test websites

While Heimdal's web protection is generally good, there's room for improvement. It missed some threats that other top antivirus solutions such as McAfee and Kaspersky typically catch.

Scan

Heimdal's scanning features are found in the Endpoint Detection tab under Next Gen Antivirus. This section also includes shortcuts to Infection, Quarantine, and Exclusion windows.

Heimdal offers various scan options

The main Endpoint Detection window has a large button for performing a quick scan and displays when the last scan was performed. It also shows information about malware detections, including the number of infected files, quarantined files, and zero-trust blocks.

Detailed view of Heimdal's quick scan results

For this Heimdal antivirus review, I tested several scan types:

1. Quick scan: Took 10 minutes and 47 seconds, scanned 142,450 files, detected zero threats.
2. Full scan: Took 75 minutes, scanned 650,320 files, detected 3 threats (moved to quarantine automatically).
3. Active Processes Scan: Scans all currently running processes.
4. Hard Drive Scan: Scans all files on the hard drive, ignoring external media.
5. Local Drive Scan: Scans all local disks including hard drives, optical drives, and external storage.
6. System Scan: Scans the system directory.
7. Removable Drive Scan: Scans files on flash, optical, or external drives.
8. Network Drive Scan: Scans files on Mapped Network Drives (detects infections but doesn't remove them).

Heimdal also offers scheduled scans:

Setting up a scheduled scan in Heimdal

You can create multiple scan profiles with different settings, which is great for customizing your protection.

Ransomware Protection

Ransomware is a growing threat, so I was particularly interested in testing Heimdal's ransomware protection. I used a ransomware simulator to see how effective it was.

The results were impressive: Heimdal successfully stopped 20 out of 22 ransomware simulation scenarios. This is significantly better than the average success rate of 15 out of 22 for most antivirus solutions.

This high success rate gives me confidence in Heimdal's ability to protect against real-world ransomware attacks. It's particularly reassuring for users who store sensitive data on their devices or use their computers for business purposes.

Firewall

Heimdal's firewall is more advanced than what you'd typically find in a home antivirus product. It allows you to control the Windows Firewall from the Heimdal Management Portal.

Heimdal's firewall interface shows firewall alerts and lets you configure firewall rules.

The firewall not only manages Windows Firewall rules but also intercepts brute force attacks and automatically blocks the RDP Port to stop such attacks.

In the Firewall Alerts section, you can see alerts triggered on your computer, including information on Local IP, Attempts, Detection Type, and Date.

Detailed view of Heimdal's firewall rules

The Firewall Rules view displays a table with details like Hostname, Username, Application, Port, Profile type, Protocol, Direction, Permission, and Timestamp.

To test the firewall's effectiveness for this Heimdal antivirus review, I used a popular firewall test tool - ShieldsUp. Heimdal passed this test, showing that its firewall is indeed effective.

You can enable or disable the firewall for public, private, or domain networks, giving you fine-grained control over your protection.

Patch and Asset Management

One unique feature of Heimdal Premium Security Home is its 3rd Party Patch Management solution. This automatically installs updates for third-party applications based on your configured policies.

Heimdal's patch management interface includes a list of 3rd party app list.

This feature silently deploys patches to your devices as soon as vendors release them, without needing reboots or user interruption. Heimdal provides fully tested, repackaged, and ad-free updates using encrypted packages.

Detailed view of Heimdal's patch management

You can install or update applications using one of three methods:

1. Automatic (force) install
2. Automatic update
3. Manual install

There's also an Application Blocklist feature that allows you to uninstall specific applications from your devices.

In my Heimdal antivirus review tests, this feature successfully detected and installed patches for Chrome, Logi Options, and Firefox. It's a great way to ensure all your software stays up-to-date and secure.

System Performance Impact

I was curious about how Heimdal would impact my system's performance. Using my Dell XPS laptop with an Intel i7-1065G7 CPU and 16 GB of RAM running Windows 11, I monitored resource usage during scans.

While running a full scan, Heimdal consumed about 35% CPU power and 100 MB of RAM. The CPU usage is slightly above the average of 25% for most antivirus solutions, but the RAM consumption is below the average of 300 MB.

This means that while Heimdal might be a bit more CPU-intensive during scans, it's quite light on memory usage. For most modern computers, this level of resource use shouldn't cause noticeable slowdowns during normal use.

Heimdal Antivirus Review: Conclusion

After meticulously tests, I've come to some interesting conclusions for this Heimdal antivirus review. It's not your typical home antivirus product - and that's both its strength and its weakness.

Heimdal does an excellent job at keeping threats and malware at bay. The ransomware protection, in particular, impressed me with its high success rate. If you're someone who uses your computer for business purposes or stores sensitive data, this level of protection is comforting.

However, I can't ignore that Heimdal Premium Security Home feels like a slightly less refined version of their enterprise products. The interface, while clean and functional, might be overwhelming for average home users. Terms like "Endpoint," "Vector" and others are scattered throughout the UI, which could be confusing for those not familiar with business IT terminology.

So, would I recommend Heimdal Premium Security Home? It depends on your needs and technical expertise. If you're an advanced user who wants powerful protection and doesn't mind a more complex interface, Heimdal could be an excellent choice. However, if you're looking for a simple, plug-and-play antivirus solution, you might find Heimdal a bit daunting. 

Seeking antivirus alternatives? Norton, Bitdefender, and TotalAV offer robust security. View our list of the best antivirus software for 2024.

However, if you're looking for a simple, plug-and-play antivirus solution, you might find Heimdal a bit daunting. Its enterprise roots show in its feature set and interface, which could be excessive for basic home use.

Octav Fedor (Cybersecurity Editor)

Octav is a cybersecurity researcher and writer at AntivirusGuide. When he’s not publishing his honest opinions about security software online, he likes to learn about programming, watch astronomy documentaries, and participate in general knowledge competitions.