Heimdal Next-Gen Antivirus Home is a paid antivirus program for home Windows PCs and Macs. It finds and removes malware such as viruses, ransomware, exploits and advanced persistent threats. Each file passes through several checks in turn: a local signature database, a cloud lookup, a sandbox and a behavior monitor. The program runs inside the Heimdal agent, which also stores results, quarantined files and settings. A home license covers several computers for a yearly subscription.
How a file is checked
Heimdal Next-Gen Antivirus Home combines four layers of detection. The first three handle files. Each layer runs only when the earlier one can’t settle whether a file is safe. The fourth watches programs while they run.
- Local signatures. The program first compares files with a signature database stored on the computer. It catches known viruses, exploits, ransomware and data-leaking code at this point without any network round trip.
- Cloud scanning. The program sends a file to Heimdal’s cloud system if the local database does not recognize it. There, machine learning models judge whether it is malicious. This covers new samples that have no signature yet.
- Sandbox and backdoor inspection. The program can run a suspicious file in an isolated sandbox to see whether it behaves like malware. The program also watches whether the file tries to contact outside servers through a backdoor and blocks that communication.
- Heuristic and behavior monitoring. The program watches running processes for suspicious actions and code changes. This targets attacks that only reveal themselves while they run, such as ransomware starting to modify data.
Real-time protection
When real-time scanning is on, Heimdal Next-Gen Antivirus Home checks files as they are read, written or executed. It can catch a threat when it first touches the disk.
On-demand scan types
For manual checks, the program offers scans with different scopes. Only one scan runs at a time.
| Scan | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Quick | Critical operating system locations that malware commonly targets. On Windows these include the Windows folder, System32, SysWOW64 and the Common Files folders; on macOS, /System/Library |
| Active processes | Every process currently running |
| Full | All local files on the computer |
| System | The system directory |
| Hard drive | All files on internal hard drives, excluding external media |
| Local drive | All local disks, including optical and external storage |
| Removable drive | Flash drives, optical discs and external disks |
| Network drive | Mapped network drives |
| Custom | A single file, started from the right-click menu with “Scan with Next-Gen Antivirus”; results open in a separate window |
Network drive scans only report infected files. Heimdal Next-Gen Antivirus Home cannot move a file on a network share into its local quarantine folder. You therefore have to deal with those detections yourself.
Infections, quarantine and exclusions
The Infections page lists detections with their category, strain name and detection date. From that list you can quarantine an item, delete it, or exclude it if you trust the file. Quarantined files sit in a separate list where you can restore them to their original place or exclude them from future scans.
The Exclusion list holds the files and folders that scans will not quarantine or delete. It is meant for trusted files and folders that you do not want scanned or flagged. An Activity Reports log records what the agent did and when. This helps you work out when a detection or quarantine took place.
Windows Firewall check
Heimdal Next-Gen Antivirus Home does not have its own firewall. On Windows it checks that the built-in Windows Firewall is enabled. It switches the firewall back on if it has been turned off. This prevents a computer from being left without network filtering because someone, or some program, disabled it.
The Heimdal agent dashboard
The home screen of the Heimdal agent shows the time of the last scan and whether real-time protection is active. It also shows how many infections and quarantined files there are. A corner of the window shows the number of days left on the subscription. Notifications can report malware, scan status, updates and security news. General settings cover showing the license type and its validity, and choosing English, German or Danish. They also cover switching between light and dark themes and setting up a proxy.
Next-Gen Antivirus or Premium Security
Heimdal sells Next-Gen Antivirus Home on its own or as part of Premium Security Home. The bundle adds Threat Prevention Home, a separate module that works on network traffic rather than files. It detects and blocks malware and phishing in network traffic before the threat reaches the PC. It also keeps installed applications updated to close security holes. With Next-Gen Antivirus Home alone, protection is limited to scanning files and processes, plus the firewall check.
