AntiVirus Reviews

Panda has recently released their 2012 range of suites, and this Spanish developer has decided to put up the same three solutions that Panda previously had, including, Antivirus Pro that offers essential protection, the Internet Security suite that allows you to stay safe online, and finally, there is the Global Protection, which offers you the complete package of information integrity and total protection. Every computer deserves at least an antivirus, else it will be infected, by god knows what. A complete protection package offers a lot more layers of protection.

In the following review, we will see about one such complete protection packages, the Panda Global protection 2011 that is equipped with everything you can expect out of a complete package, such as, backup, system tune-up and even has a few extras that you usually do not expect. We feel that Panda has jumped into the 2012 version too quickly, but it does offer the company an opportunity to make changes and also improve the suite. One thing we know for sure is that, it has everything that a complete package has, let us see if it delivers on performance.

The antivirus and firewall components of the Panda Global Protection 2012 are very similar to the ones found in Panda Antivirus Pro 2012. Some of the other identical features include USB Vaccine, Safe Browser and a few of the other bonus features.

User Interface:

The first thing that we found to be new in the Global Protection 2012 is the new user interface. This user interface has been designed to address most of user’s complaints about the previous version.

Installation:

The installation of the suite was just fine, and the download was quite reasonable at 70 megabytes and comes with nice and significantly cut down definitions. Like most of the current antivirus suites, a pre-existing malware intruded with the installation of Panda’s Global Protection 2012. Fortunately, it was able to install and run in Safe Mode, that solved most of the issues, and its SafeDisk bootable rescue CD was able to fix the rest of the remaining process. You do have quite a few customisation options, so make sure that you read them. With the custom installation, you will be able to install individual components, and you also get an auto learning firewall option for common programs, and even permission to send questionable files to the cloud. The installer did ask for a restart, but it started regardless.

There are about four scanning options to scan; your entire system, hard disk, mail, other items and detect vulnerabilities. We felt the absence of a quick scan, but the real time shield does a pretty quick job. The complete system scan is also pretty quick at 5 to 16 megabytes per second. We found the suite to be possessing some excellent multi-core efficiency when compared to the other average antivirus systems. In just 20 minutes, the suite scanned about 20000 files.

 

Lab ratings:

As far as independent lab testings are concerned, even though Panda’s suite does not always manage to be the topper or even get close to the high scores obtained by the other leading antivirus suites such as F-Secure, Norton, Kaspersky or a few others, it still does a decent job and stays above average. In one of the whole product test conducted by AV Comparatives org, Panda secured the 5th spot out of 17 suites that were tested. In this test, the suite blocked about 97.4% of the threats, while the top scorer Norton caught a whopping 99.3%.

Mastering the Scareware:

At the time of testing, Panda Global Protection 2012 Suite was able to detect about 85% of the threats, however, failed to completely finish off what it managed to find. For instance, it left behind heaps of root kit samples that continue to be active even after the suite allegedly removing the threats. What the Global protection 2012 excelled at was scareware, with cent percent detection.

Malware detection:

While most security suites do a much better job of keeping out the malware in an already clean system, the Panda Global protection 2012 just roots out to the malware that already exists. Overall, the malware blocking skills of this suite was not so impressive. Most of the total security suites managed in detection and elimination of over 75% of threats on-sight, but Panda Global Protection 2012 caught just 30%, and it did stop most of the remain threat while launching or at the time of installation, which works out to be an overall detection rate of 83%. When we tried to download those samples again, the suite stopped about 11% of the threats at URL itself and the rest 33% was eliminated once the download is completed. The G Data Internet Security 2012 was capable of blocking 79% of the samples and McAfee Total Protection 2011 blocked 87% of them.

Firewall:

The firewall component in Panda Global Protection 2012 is quite similar to what you can find in the optional module of Panda Antivirus. This firewall component does all of the basics quite well. While testing, it was capable of acquiring all of the ports and also make the system invisible outside attack. Just like G Data, by default, it runs in automatic mode, taking own decisions on the which program should be allowed to access the internet on its own. There will be pop up questions coming up only when the firewall is taken out of the automatic mode.

When we tested the suite with about thirty attacks, it recognised and stopped just six of them. The Symantec Norton 360 identified and blocked each and every one of it, and it even identified each of it by name, whereas the Kaspersky Pure Total Security identified all but one. Though none of the intruders breached security, we expect that at least the firewall should be able to identify such attacks. The Panda Global Protection did not provide direct attack over its Registry settings or activate the processes, but we were able to easily disable it by just changing the configuration of eight of its services. We strongly believe that the self protection should be able to prevent attacks on these services too. When the firewall is considered as an added bonus, this is just sufficient, but when taken as a main component where the firewall protection is essential, the firewall component of Panda Global Protection 2012 can be considered only as average.

Safe Browser:

The Safe Browser feature of Panda is usually included in both the antivirus suite and the Global Protection. But, this module can be downloaded even without purchasing any of the Panda products. The Safe Browser is simply a modified version of Firefox that runs under Linux inside of a virtual machine within the Sun’s VirtualBox application. It is worth mentioning that the Safe Browser is quite a huge part of installation, and it is pretty slow to load in comparison to products such as SafeCentral 2.6 and the other sandbox parts of the Avast Internet Security 6.0, as well as Kaspersky Internet Security 2011. The safe browser needs to be streamlined into a single install with the correct components.

We did run into a few issues while testing the module. This feature does completely isolate your browsing from other activity and secures your privacy by deleting the browsing history and also completely resisting the Windows centric web attacks. We think that most of the users will end up finding this module to be extremely slow and quite awkward too.

USB Vaccine:

As we had mentioned previously, the independent antivirus suite of Panda and the Global Protection 2012 seemed to have a lot of the bonus features in common. One such tool is the USB Vaccine, which can also be downloaded for free. The USB Vaccine stops the spread of malware that enters through the USB drives. It does so by disabling the auto run in either some specific USB ports or just the complete system. There is also a vulnerability scanner that gives a report on the missed patches and even comes up with a Windows Update link for a fix.

Network Management:

There is also a Network Management module that gives a report on the computers in the network that are running on Panda and if you are out of date. The module also presents a network blacklist, which allows you to view all the devices that are connected to the network and gives you the ability to block any of them from connecting to your computer.

Spam Filtering:

The features that we have seen so far, are also available in the Panda Antivirus standalone suite of 2012, but the Spam Filtering module is available only in the Global Protection 2012. This module filters all of the POP3 mail and can even handle any sort of account in case you make use of Microsoft Outlook for your email client. The settings involved with this module are quite minimal, and most of you may not want to make a lot of changes from what is set as default. When we measured the download speed, with and without the Spam Filter ON, there was no significant difference. This is not something that you can take for granted, because, in G Data’s suite, with its spam filter module on, the email downloading too about four to five times longer than usual. No effect on the download speeds does not mean that the filtering job was accurate; while testing, we found that, in about 8000 real-world mails, Panda Global Protection 2012 filtered over 10% of valid personal mails as spam. It also tossed about 1.4% of bulk mail, and about 7.3% of absolute spams were able to secure a spot in the inbox.

In some of the recent antivirus suites, only the eScan Internet Security 11 was capable of putting in more false positives than Panda, with over 25% of valid mail in the spam folder. The 2011 version of the Panda Global Protection suite missed just 1% of the valid mail, and let about 15% of valid mail slip through. We feel that marking valid personal mails as spam is a much bigger issue than letting the spam mails in the inbox. If you receive innumerable mails every day, we suggest that you use Cloudmark DesktopOne Basic 1.2 for spam protection, instead of losing your important messages. This suite is available for free online. This suite does not block any valid mail, though lets a negligible amount of spam into the inbox.

Identity Theft:

As far as Identity Theft is concerned, Panda Global Protection 2012 tackles it in two different ways. Firstly, it requests for the confirmation of any of the time specific user defined confidential information, when it is about to be sent from the system, and secondly, it also blocks access to the phishing websites.

Anti phishing:

The anti-phishing feature of Panda Global Protection 2012 Software Suite was simply dismal when we tested the suite against some of the verified phishing URLs. The suite fell leaps and bounds behind Norton Internet Security 2011, however, most of the anti-phishing suites lag behind Norton. But, it is notable that only the BullGuard Internet Security Suite 10 and TrustPort Total Protection 2011 fell behind Panda. If you are serious about anti-phishing, you can consider G Data, Ad Aware Total Security 1.0 and BitDefender Total Security 2011. Ideally, protection of all your confidential information begins when you enter information such as bank account number, password, credit card number etc. This private information is stored using one-way encryption, so that this piece of vital information will not by itself become a security risk. However, the one thing that you should be aware of is that, there are no options available to actually block the transmission. Even with the Windows accounts that have limited privileges, Panda Global Protection 2012 just asks if you will allow transmission. This means, this feature cannot be used to keep your children from revealing your private information such as home address and phone number.

Parental controls:

The parental control feature of the Global Protection 2012 is pretty limited too. It is capable of filtering web content for each of the Windows user account. The parents get to choose from the predefined profiles or, you can also choose from 18 categories and 64 sub-categories. Finally, if you do choose to set parental controls, you will have to set a password in order to protect the settings.

The content filtering system offered by Global Protection 2012 is completely browser independent, but it is not capable of handling any secure HTTPS websites. This means, if your kid is a techie, he can surf the web without any restriction whatsoever, just by using a secure anonymous proxy. What Panda does do us, provide you with a report on all the attempts to visit the banned sites. Unfortunately, the data in each of the five columns is so wide that it cannot be read in the default format, and even when all of the columns are expanded to the width of the content, the reports still ends up being really wide. That is all what Panda Global Protection 2012 has to offer with parental control. It does not have the capability of monitoring chat, limit the games and videos based on ratings or even schedule the allowed Internet time. These are some of the advanced features that are usually found in full-scale parental control systems.

Kaspersky seems to be offering a fully featured parental control that seems to be offering solutions better than standalone products. Norton depends on the Norton Online Family Premier, which is an impressive product in itself. If you have utmost concerns about your kids using the net, download the free version of Norton Online Family, or even AVG Family Safety. All we can say is that, do not rely on Panda.

Backup:

The Local Backup offered is not much different from the last year’s edition. When automatic backup is enabled, the suite automatically takes a backup of specific file types including photos, contacts and office documents. You get to choose which file type is backed up and even add your own file types for the sake of protection, or just even back up all files in specific folders. By default, the suite retains all of the local backups for a month. There is a wizard that does the task of burning a copy of this back-up to a DVD or CD.

You also get 2GB of online backup for free with the suite, but since it has MozyHome Online Backup, you can just have this 2GB memory free even without buying the software from Panda. Another free subscription that Panda offers is a one year subscription to BeAnywhere Personal Edition that usually costs about 35 pounds. With this subscription, you can remotely access your computer and also sync files between systems.

The antivirus suites offer heaps more in the backup department. For instance, the Webroot Internet Security Complete 2011 has joined hands with SugarSync to offer about 10GB of online backup, with some other impressive features like remote access, syncing capabilities and file sharing. Similarly, Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security 2011 offers 10GB of backup along with file sharing and syncing included, Norton 360 also comes with about 2GB of online backup by Symantec, and with the Premier edition, you get 25GB.

System tune-up:

In Panda Global Protection 2012 has a tab called Optimise Performance, but there is nothing that you will be able to do manually. It has a cleanup tool that will just empty the recycle bin, discard the useless files and wipe off IE’s cookies, history and cache. This can be simply done using Windows Disk Cleanup feature and Internet Explorer’s Delete Browsing History option. We wonder why a disk defragmenter is offered when the same feature has been built into Windows.

This is quite disappointing as the other suites have a lot of options to optimise the system performance. While Norton 360 will be able to manage startup items, and it also gives options for delayed launch to ease the boot process. The suite comes up with with a diagnostic report that points out some issues that will slow down the system. BitDefender and Norton 360, both will delete the erroneous Registry items and useless items. Even AVG Internet Security 2011 does a through clean-up using the AVG PC Tuneup 2011.

Most recent security software do not put a lot of drag on the activities of the system. They are aware that the consumers will not accept a security suite that tends to slow down the system. We were surprised to find that the performance of Panda Global Protection 2012 was lower than last year’s suite. For instance, the browsing takes over 80% longer with the Panda security suite employed, this is about 28% higher than last year. The only other suite that performed worst than Panda was eScan. With the suite installed, a lengthy file, move and copy operations took only 10% longer; this is quite good.

Verdict:

Overall, we were quite disappointed with Panda Global Protection 2012 in almost every area of it. when it came to malware removal, blocking, anti phishing and anti spam, this version scored lesser than the 2011 edition. The backup and cleanup modules do not even close to what the high end consumers are used to. A number of extras the suite claims to offer are available for free even without purchasing the suite. The final nail on the coffin is that, this Panda Global Protection impacts the system more than its processor.

If you are looking for a good performer, the one with tune-up, Backup and all that, the best option will be Norton 360 Version 5.0. Another good alternative is Kaspersky Pure Total Security if you are not looking for any online backup. If you are more interested in powerful and flexible backup, as well as file syncing, then the Trend Mico Titanium Maximum Security 2011 or Webroot Internet Security Complete 2011 are great options. With such range of options available, at more or less the same price, we do not find a reason why you should opt for the Panda Global Protection 2012.

Panda Global Protection 2012 Suite – Specification Details

Manufacturer	Panda
Software Name	Panda Global Protection 2012
Suite type	Complete protection
License type	Three users
License Validation period	1 year
Package type	Complete package
Operating System	Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Vista 32-bit 64-bit Windows XP 32-bit
Software Requirements	Processor: Pentium 300 MHz or faster RAM: 128 MB without TruPrevent 512MB with TruPrevent (1 GB recommended) Hard Disk: 275 MB free space MS Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher
Supported browsers	Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher Mozilla Firefox 2 or higher Google Chrome
Anti-Virus	Yes
FireWall	Firewall with WiFi security that blocks intruders and hackers, even in your wireless network.
Identity Protection	Confidential information filter that protects your personal data
Anti-Phishing	Yes
Anti-Spam	Yes
Safe browsing	Panda Safe Browser
Panda SafeCD	The new Panda SafeCD can clean all types of malware from your computer if you cannot start Windows. It connects to the Internet to get the last antivirus technologies every time you need it.
SOS Virus	This rapid response service lets you submit suspicious files directly to PandaLabs’ engineers.
Other security features	Collective Intelligence Behavior analysis Panda USB Vaccine Virtual Keyboard Remote PC Access File Encryption File Shredding
Special Operating Modes	Multimedia/Gaming Mode Home Network Manager
Tune up	Yes, tune-up utilities
Data Backup	Yes Online backup: 2GB Online Backup
Support	Complete Services: 24h, 365 days technical assistance through the Technical Support by e-mail and web.

Overview:

Pros:

• Quick and simple setup
• Easy to use interface
• Heaps of options for the advanced users
• Sandbox mode
• Less resource use and lessens boot-up time

Cons:

• Not much of PC optimisation tools
• Lack of online backup
• Quite expensive

Review:

Kaspersky can be said to be the pet security suite designer among us, the geeks. This company managed to prove to be a big hit among the mainstream users and is catching its own space on the store shelves and our site’s Best Buy. It is not resource hungry, so it will form immediate love affair with the power consumers and the interface is easy enough for the novice.

Overview:

The Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 sports some of the most hi-end features in its parental control module and the suite even seems to be shortening some of the PC’s sluggish boot times. While it would have been great if Kaspersky had included some of its PC optimisation as well as backup features, the suite still maintains Kaspersky’s reputation of not having any bad influence on the performance of the PC.

Installation and Set-up:

The installation and set-up process of the Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 is much swifter and simpler than setting up of almost every other security software that are in the current market. One of the highlight features to note while installation is that, the suite does not demand a reboot. This installer even scans your system and creates a list of trusted apps, hence, even before you start using the software, it would have created some context about your likes. Even before the application is opened, Kaspersky would have placed a gadget on your desktop, which is a circle with a half moon with the colour of the health of your system. The colour code is the usual one that you will be well aware of; for instance, green when your PC is healthy and Red when in real danger. In the lower half of this circle you will find two virtual mouse buttons, which can be customised as shortcuts for your favourite features, like say, home network monitor and parental controls. One of the very handy features that we really loved is that, you get to drag and drop files to scan them for any virus presence.

Simple with choices:

The User Interface has gone through some tweaking and looks much more polished now. Despite the changes, the basic features are kept to be the same; it is the clear tabbed interface making it easy to check on your protection status.

As we had mentioned in the introduction, the Internet Security 2011 from Kaspersky has kept things simple for the users who are not so familiar with the techie terms. That said, it discreetly presents the tech freaks with enough details on setting options to not disappoint them. On the top of the main screen, you will find a big colour coded circle with a single statement given the security state of your system; for instance, a yellow circle with the sentence “Your computer security is at risk”. And, next to the statement, there is a button that says, “fix now”, which is a big relief to the consumers who are not so confident about their techie side’s issue resolving capabilities. On the left side, there is a pretty simple list that gives the set of categories that include ‘Protection Center’ that offers an overview of the security; ‘Safe Run’ option providing a way to make use of the virtual keyboard and yet another one for protecting the users while you are on the sites that deal with your confidential information like online banking sites; the other categories include Scan, Update Center, Parental Controls and Tasks that include a range of clean-up and backup options.

The advanced settings:

The advanced settings menu can be accessed by clicking over the Settings that is placed on the upper right corner of your main screen. Even here, Kaspersky has placed a streamlined list of options, and each of these settings options has simple check boxes. In both of these, we loved the fact that there are no pop-up windows hassling, and the entire user interface has been contained in a single box. What we mean here is that, the users get to set the program to rename or delete the attachments with some specific file extensions.

Incompatible Software issue:

If you are unlucky, you will stumble with this issue at the time of installation. The set-up program of Kaspersky 2011 Internet Security Software complains that it cannot continue because of the installation of ClamAV, it seems that this program is incompatible and should have been removed immediately, but what if the software had not been installed for months now. While there were no signs of the ClamAV software, there was some stray reference of the suite on the registry, whose removal did no good. Eventually when we checked the support section in the Kaspersky website, we came to know that the “incompatible software” check should be turned off. Once this is done, the program gets installed. We think Kaspersky should have done it in a better way.

Security features:

Like any of the security software that is in its senses, the Kaspersky Internet Security’s toolbox too attacks threats in browsers, IM clients, even on the desktop, that includes malware, phishing attacks and malware. This suite also includes FireWall like most of its rivals. Kaspersky has employed its Proactive Defence Technology on the Internet Security 2011, which safeguards the system against latest threats much before they even try to reach your PC by scanning pages for characteristics of phishing sites as well as restricting the behaviour of the loaded doubtful applications. This year, consumers also get access to a website rating system that comes up on your search results, and also a Geo Filter that allows users to block content from certain parts of the world; anticipating cyber invasions from as-yet unknown directions. Kasperksy has said that most threat comes from outside of the United States and United Kingdom. You also can execute the sites and desktop applications in a sandbox mode, which allows you to operate them independent from rest of the system. This is an excellent idea for those who do the online banking.

Antivirus Engine:

Antivirus engines of Kaspersky have always been appreciated by the high end testing labs such as AV Comparatives which awarded Kaspersky AntiVirus 2010 its highest Advanced+ rating for the on-demand malware detection, especially for the fact that it raises extremely low false alarms.

The antivirus engine of Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 begins with a solid base and then moves on to a range of options that inspects your computer. As soon as the installation is done, the program will check your drive only when your system is idle, hence, you will not be interrupted by a scan that suddenly pops up. You also get to scan a file or folder with just a rigt click from Explorer and option to run Critical Areas scan, which will check for threats in the most likely area, or a complete scan that will run through the full computer. You will always be able to set-up any of these options to run automatically through the scheduler that is quite configurable. The scheduler also has options that allow you to minimise the impact on performance, these scans can be paused till the screensaver is active. The overall scanning performance is average, but it is acceptable. If you are looking for some better performance, the suite offers heaps of configuration options that come in quite handy. For instance, you can get the suite to scan just the new or changed files, which make the scans quite speedy.

Real-time Protection:

Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 suite has employed some really extensive real time protection features that will keep looking for any invasions on your PC. The suite checks the supplications you run, the files opened, IMs (MSN, AIM, ICQ, Jabber, GTalk, Ru Agent, IRC and Yahoo), inbox and sent mails, http web traffic, and also check the incoming network packets for any alarms.

The browsing protection can be said to be a bit more light weight than most of its competition. You do not get any huge tool bars here and there will not be any alerts that will be displayed against the URLs in the search engines; the browser looks as it did earlier. The Safe Surf module just looks out for suspicious and phishing URLs that go on in the background and this will be able to block the opening of the dangerous websites completely; strangely this option has not been turned on by default. This is exactly what will be happening while running the Internet Explorer of Firefox, but everybody else is simply out of luck. The settings dialog box also does not present any good news. While there is an option to block dangerous scripts, it is only in the Microsoft Internet Explorer. The good news is the core PC real-time protection seems to be much improved, especially with the new System Watcher Technology. This technology actually tracks what the programs are doing, for instance, the files that they are creating, changing, the changes in Registry, as well as the system calls made. If the suite is found to be behaving suspiciously, not only is the program blocked, but most of its changes can be reversed in just a couple of moments. This has the potential to undo a great deal of damage and is a great boon for the suite.

AntiSpam and Firewall:

The Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 Software Package is loaded with a spam filter that directly supports Outlook, Windows mail, Thunderbird and The Bat; and SMTP, POP3, IMAP traffic filters making sure it works with anything and everything.

The suite makes use of a different set of techniques in order to detect spam: GSG-based image recognition, iBayes along with custom heuristic technology, comparing dicey URLs databases and the users own personal blacklisting and whitelising.

Performance:

Kaspersky was once great with malware detection, but it had struggled in the past couple of years to compete with stellar competition from Norton and Avira. At the very first glance, we thought that that has not changed in Kaspersky Internet Security 2011. From a selection of over 300 samples, the suite managed to identify quite an impressive 96%, but Norton 2010 managed an impeccable 99% and Avira just behind at 98%. However, this year Kaspersky has a new ace up its sleeve. Though it did not manage to identify all the malware, it noted the ones that it did not know were unsigned and not commonly found on the other Kaspersky subscriber’s PC and just flags them to be suspicious. And, when we tried to run them, and when they tried to dig into the system, the software intervened rightly and raised the alarm.

Safe Run:

The Safe Run for Websites builds the sandboxing system for the applications that first appeared in the year 2010. This allows you to run your browser in the protected mode, with a green border; preventing rouge processes from snooping on its traffic as well as cached data. All you have to do is, tell the URL to your software and it will automatically open a ‘safe’ browser whenever you go there.

System Roll-back:

Most of the other new additions in the 2011 edition are prosaic, yet useful ones. The System Roll-back tool undo’s the damage that were done by the viruses, which is potentially handy if the Windows System Restore seem to be too blunt.

Less drain on system resources:

The highlight feature of Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 is its very less impact that it has on the PC. This is, with or without a scan running in the background. For instance, when we launched Firefox on the Core i3-powered HP PC, the process took less than a couple of seconds. You can even further minimise the impact of performance with the creation of a gamer profile as well as allowing the system to disable scheduled scans when the system is unplugged.

PC Tune-up and Back-up Tools:

That was all the positives of the Kaspersky Internet Security 2011, but there are two areas where the suite falls behind; the PC Tune-up and backup tools. While most of its rivals do offer registry cleaners as well as tools that cleanse duplicate files, the tools of Internet Security 2011 seem to be more slanted towards protecting the privacy instead of enhancing the speed. For instance, the Privacy Cleaner tool erases the recent commands, coolies, accessed files, logs and ilk from your PC, all of which is useful, but if it has a few products that have been specially designed for the optimisation of the PC performance, it would have made Internet Security a much attractive offering. However, even after this search as well as a complete system scan that focuses on the critical areas, the PC’s boot time dropped from a minute and 30 seconds to a very impressive, minute and 10 seconds.

Unlike most of its rivals, the Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 does not provide any free storage. However, using the suite, you will be able to create a restore disc. Though it is good to know that you will be able to restore your PC in case something goes wrong, it would have been much assuring if the suite was capable of automatically backing up your system in real time, so you always get a current set of files and folders.

Parental controls:

The parental controls of this Internet Security have been baked inside the suite, which is not true of, such as Norton 360 is web based. You will have to create a password for the parental control features, and have to specify if this password is required in configuration of these settings, close the software or even in the removal of it. As in the case of most of the parental control feature of other suites, the adults will create a profile that includes a picture for their kid. However, we were left wishing if you could create multiple profiles for number of children or user accounts.

The Parental Controls of Kaspersky is complete, next to only Norton 360, offering a larger set of options for tweaking the settings. The categories offered by the suite include Instant Messaging, application usage, private data, web browsing, file downloads, computer usage and internet usage. These categories allow parents to allow or block access for specific hours every day. The Application Usage feature makes it quite easy for you to browse the system to isolate applications that you do not want to find your kid using. With the Private Data option, you can prevent kids from giving access to important pieces of information, such as social security numbers, and Word Usage modules monitors the use of specific words, and this user is unique to Kaspersky. And, it is up to parents to add offensive words to the list. In the Instant Messaging category, you will be able to block users, however, as far as this module is concerned, we liked the approach of Symantec that offers parents the option of monitoring the conversations as well as blocking new friends till they approve them of their children. We liked how Kasparov parental controls prevent kids from downloading certain file types, like music or apps.

Verdict:

Though Kaspersky’s Internet Security 2011 is relatively expensive, it sports enough set of features to keep the resource-conscious users quite happy, and easy enough for those who like to set and just forget about it. Symantec Norton 360 is a good alternative, as it offers parental controls, PC Tune-up tools and online backup at a lower cost. Kaspersky’s Internet Security 2011 was best for those who are very much conscious about power. While its signature scanning might take only a bronze medal, it makes up for that with impressive heuristics with all the bells and whistles you ever wished for. However, if you want to get the best out of this suite, it demands a higher degree of technical nous. For instance, with the Safe Run feature, it will prove to be useful only if you know when and how to activate them, and its range of options are likely to overwhelm novices. Actually, you are paying for this power too. Another alternative you can consider is, the G Data Internet Security 2011, which is both simpler and cheaper.

Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 – Software Specification Details

Lab	Kaspersky
Software name	Kaspersky Internet Security 2011
Suite type	Internet Security
License type	Complete package
License Validation period	One year
License quantity	Three users
Package type	Retail
Minimal System requirements	Windows XP SP2, Vista, Windows 7 300MHz processor RAM: 256MB (Windows XP) 1GB (Windows Vista and Windows 7) 375 MB available hard disk space Internet Explorer 6
Recommended system requirements	Windows XP SP2, Vista, Windows 7 Intel CORE Duo (1.66 GHz) or equivalent processor RAM: 1GB (Windows XP and Windows 7) 1.5 GB (Windows Vista) 600 MB available hard disk space Internet Explorer 7
Email	All POP3, SMTP, IMAP, MAPI and NNTP supported clients Microsoft Outlook 2002 or later Microsoft Outlook Express 6 or later Windows Mail (Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, and other webmail not supported)
Instant Messaging	Yahoo! Messenger MSN Messenger Trillian AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) ICQ Jabber Google Talk
Supported browsers	Internet Explorer and Firefox
Anti-Virus	Yes
FireWall	Yes
Anti-Spyware	Yes
Anti-Phishing	Yes
Anti-Spam	Yes
Special Operating Modes	Game Mode which reduces system load and postpones scans Laptop mode that prolongs battery life
Tune up	Removes unnecessary files & registry entries, for optimised performance
Parental Control	Yes
Data Backup	No
Core Protection	Award-Winning Protection plus Maximum Performance  Real-Time Protection Two-Way Firewall
Advanced Protection	Emerging Threat Detection  Application Control Safe Surf Safe Desktop Online Banking Mode Anti-Spam Vulnerability Detection Geo Filter Rootkit Detection
Identity Protection	Two-Way Firewall  Anti-Phishing Defense Virtual Keyboard
Additional Features	Easy-access Desktop Security Gadget  Installation on Infected PC’s Optimized for Netbooks Free Technical Support
Support	Free technical support (Phone, Live Char, Email,  Knowledge Base), Phone support is U.S.- based and available Monday – Friday from 8 am – 9am ET.

BitDefender Total Security 2011 Antivirus/All-in one Security Software

Overview:

Pros:

• Reliable
• Adaptability to user type irrespective of the level of computer knowledge
• Extremely flexible interface
• Heaps of customising options available
• Minimal system resource usage
• Clever scanning with Smart Schedule
• Lower scan times with QuickScan
• Omission of known OS files

Cons:

• Slow loading by Search Advisor
• Frequent Firewall Pop-ups
• Redundant messages

Review:

In the antivirus industry, the BitDefender Total security is quite a solid product. It has no specific specialists, which is exactly the reason it pushes itself above the herd, having said that, it does not have any major disadvantages to its name either. It poses to be a convincing alternative for those looking for a change from the other well known rivals. The 2011 version of the suite has been released and the company has announced that the consumers will be able to find a great deal of enhancements along with some new features that raises the bar of protection. BitDefender has also said that this suite will be easy to handle even to the novice users. In the following review of the BitDefender Total Security 2011, let us find out if this manufacturer has lived up to its own promises.

Pervious users’ attention!

Before we go into the review of the Total Security 2011, you should be aware of the fact that BitDefender provides free upgrade to its 2011 product line to any of the 2010 version users. This means, all you have to do is, enter the Total Security 2010 key in order to activate the 2011 version of the Total Security suite. You will also find a single installation kit of 254MB that includes all the three paid PC security products by BitDefender. This kit includes the Antivirus plus, Total Security and Internet Security. The difference is made only by the license key you enter.

A simplified user interface:

It is true that the Total Security is one of the most complex security suites by BitDefender that features most security features that man knows of for a system user. At the time of installation, we noticed that the process of creating a user profile has been simplified by a great deal. Now, all you have to do is, just select one of the three view types you wish the suite to look like at the first launch. The three view options of the suite to appear like later on from the application window includes expert, intermediate and basic.

Keep or Remove:

Prior to the commencement of the actual installation, the BitDefender Total Security runs a quick security scan in order to be certain that the system does not suffer from any active malware that has the potential to obstruct the procedure. At the time of installation, if you had the previous version of the suite installed, the software will remove it first and only after that is done, the 2011 version will be installed. A restart is required for this process to be completed. Note that, it is mandatory that you have to sign in with your BitDefender account in the next screen that appears if you are looking to use the suite after the 30 day trial period. If you are using a license that had been validated before, this will prove to be a bane.

Having said that, the BitDefender also does an aggressive search for other security programs installed. Unlike the suites from other major security brands, BitDefender does give you the option to keep it if you wish to do so. However, if you choose to keep it, this suite might not function properly, but at least you have the option, while other suites will refuse to install until the other is uninstalled. As far as the uninstallation of the Total Security 2011 is concerned, the process is fast and painless and the program even gives the user options to activate Windows Defender as well as Windows Firewall. However, we found a few registry entries that were left behind.

The initial configuration:

Depending on the type of view you like once the installation is complete, the initial configuration window comes up which offers numerous choices about how to configure the installation. Hence, if you choose the Expert view, you will get to choose on the features and modules you wish to be enabled. With the Basic and Intermediate views, you can customise the dash board, which is the main application window, along with shortcut features such as Parental Control, Game Mode and Home Network Management. While you are examining the configuration steps you would like to deal with, at the background, BitDefender will be silently running all of the installation routines. However, it does not go unnoticeable, as you will have pop-ups that go on constantly giving information that the Firewall and Windows Defender have been disabled. At the end of all this, you can ask the suite to do a complete system scan, so that you are sure that there is not malware whatsoever. During this time, the Total Security does further configuration to establish the type of network connection.

After the completion of the installation, BitDefender 2011 Security Software opens a website in your default browser and requests you to rate the installation experience. Though we appreciate BitDefender being keen on knowing users feedback, we are not quite sure if this is the right way to elicit this. Our thought is that, this is not one of the low-input installation and also needs a lot of babysitting than most users would like.

The Expert and Intermediate views:

If you wish to have access to all of the features and functions of the suite, you have to opt for the Expert view. With Expert view, you get complete control over the suite as well as its modules such as parental control, firewall, anti spam, privacy control, antivirus, back up, vulnerability, home network, tune-up, encryption, game and laptop mode. With each of these options, you get a wide range of customisation possibilities that allows you to have the suite your way.

As far as the Intermediate option is concerned, the dashboard gives you access to the system maintenance tools, security module, backup and encryption tools and Home Network. The Intermediate view actually adds heaps of complexity to the Basic Interface. Here, you will find more options in the main user interface along with top level tabs and some configurable tools beneath it for swift access to the most commonly used features. It is just confusing and we feel that the Intermediate view does not make much sense. Just being an uncomfortable balance between the text links and shortcut icons. Even though you are an advanced user, we would recommend the Basic View option if you want to speed up the installation process, you can change to Advanced interface later.

Basic View:

As the name indicates, the Basic View is the least comprehensive management tool of the lot and by default, with this module the control a user has over the modules is quite minimal and you get only the essentials in the interface including some system tune up tools, scanning and also a few instruments of backup and restore. Here, you get a large, coloured security status indicator on the left and some really large buttons on the right for accessing Tune up, Security and My Tools. On clicking on each one of these, drop down menus open with a list f choices. You also get to customise the list of visible extras. With the Basic View, there is also a possibility for you to activate the laptop and game modes and also to run a quick scan, which you will be able to find in the Security Menu. While the Intermediate and Basic view modes come with very less management possibilities, you will be able to configure the dashboards of both the views to expand your control. This is one of the biggest advantages of the adaptive design feature that BitDefender has introduced in its 2011 product line.

Quick Scan and Smart Scan:

It is no secret that cloud antivirus is great at taking the load off user’s station as well as provide faster scan results. You can also opt out of this cloud based virus scan. There is no doubt in the fact that this is important and recommended too, but it took almost five minutes on our system. Hence, for consumers with older computers, or just unprepared to take that break will get quite frustrated with the delay.

BitDefender calls this feature as QuickScan and it helps with reducing the impact in system resources a great deal and also the time required for completing a full scan. The Smart Schedule feature enables the user to run scans while the computer is idle, and pauses as soon as the system resumes. As far as the efficiency of this improvised malware protection is concerned, the standard has not been lowered in this version. When tested against a database of three hundred of worst threats, the results seemed to be pretty satisfactory as just eleven of the threats managed to get through the threats. And with the latest database of 38 worst threats, only eight were left behind.

Improvised scanning:

BitDefender has improved the scanning technology on its Total Security 2011 by moving most of the scan to the cloud. This is by following the trend of the most of its rivals whose behavioural engine has proven to be more effective and successful at stopping threats than the traditional virus definition files. However, you must make a note that the VDF remains to be a component in how the BitDefender protects the users. This reputation engine on this suite does not completely ignore the file that has been identified as safe. On the basis of a geometric progression algorithm that has an eye on when the particular file was previously accessed, the suite will regularly look at safe files in order to make sure that they have not been converted into sleeper agents.

Antivirus:

The Antivirus module on the BitDefender Total Security 2011 has bought in a new layer of security. This new layer is apart from the standard protection offered against all types of malware, which is nothing but the signature based detection and elimination of phishing attacks by the antiphishing toolbar that is automatically installed in the internet explorer as well as Mozilla FireFox. In order to counter attack the infections that can be caused through malicious sites, BitDefender has introduced the Search Advisor. From the 2011 version of the BitDefender Total Secirity Suite, the software is capable of scanning through the search results of search engines such as Bing, Google and Yahoo and identify the sites that seem to have compromised with the security.

Search Advisor:

The Search Advisor is based on the identical technology as the one used by antiphishing as well as anti fraud engines, and it is also equipped to check if the links that are returned by the search engine are reliable or not. To make sure that the efficiency is high, the results are checked against a database of signatures, but there is nothing to worry as the code is also analysed. But note that, this will have an adverse effect over your browsing speed. We noticed this during our tests as the safety marks will be loading progressively.

Parental Controls:

The parental controls are same as the ones found in the previous versions. However, there is a major difference; now you get to view and configure the activities of your kids remotely for any of the web access point via an online parental control management console. Just log in to the BitDefender account, and you get immediate access to recent activity, alerts as well as settings. You can still enjoy the amazing flexibility that users are accustomed to in the version too; from blocking the websites and applications to defining the Internet access schedules. You also get to see the stats of the most accessed sites along with the most used applications and contacts in IMs such as Yahoo and Windows Live Messenger. Note that the effects of the settings in the online console is not instant as it takes a while for this data to be sent to software that had been installed in the system and get the restrictions alive.

Home Network:

The number of computers in a household increases as the size of a family increases and, with the BitDefender Total Security 2011, you get to administer the BitDefender products that are installed on various stations that are inside the particular network. As far as what you get to do with remote access includes running manual scan, registering the product, begin the process of update, run a tune-up procedure, initiate a fix all the issues routine and also a specific parental control. Once you add the system to the BitDefender Home Network and complete the verification of all the passwords, you will be just good to go.

Vulnerability Scan:

The Vulnerability feature is amazing, though it has a generalised name. What this feature actually does is, analyse the programs that you had installed that possess sneaky vulnerabilities. This has software such as Adobe Flash Player that especially has reputations for being slow to provide security updates. In individual checks, the software has a look at the installed programs and Windows patches, and it even does an analysis at your system password in order and let you know if it is strong enough. This does quite a deep scan to find even the noncritical updates. But the only issue here is that, the suite does not know to differentiate between a real noncritical update and other noncritical but essential updates.

Monitor system resource:

The module for improving the performance of the PC in the Total Security 2011 all-in-one security software offers you with a new instrument to maintain the computer at the best of its behaviour. There is a Monitor option in the menu which offers you with a great deal of statistics about each of the applications that currently run in your system, and it even calculates the average RAM and CPU usage and goes on to label the usages to be high, medium or low. With this information, you get to decide which of the apps cause a performance drag on your system and just shut it down. Above all, the Total Security will make a half an hour RAM and CPU usage for each of the elements available. One of the additions to this module is that, at the time of PC Clean-up, you have now got the advantage of choosing the elements that you wish to be removed. For those who are confused on what good is this going to make, here is it: for instance, you can select Internet Explorer or FireFox cache to be purged or say, if the list of temporary and recent documents be removed.

The system usage is kept to minimal and during tests the BitDefender Total Security 2011 required just 80MB for the tasks involving scanning and the average CPU use was in-between 50% to 60%.

Smart Tips:

BitDefender has also included a Smart Tips feature which informs the user when they are missing out on some of the essential security and performance tasks. For instance, it will notify you when a recently created file has not been packed up.

Tutorial Supports:

If you are a novice user and opt for the Expert View, you will simply be baffled by the overwhelming options. Hence, just be careful with the view option you select with the BitDefender Total Security 2011. However, you need not panic as the learning curve of the suite is not too tough, particularly when taking into consideration the new support feature sporting flash videos which explain each step in detail as plainly as possible. These tutorials cover a wide range of topics right from the creation of the BitDefender account to the most difficult process such as elimination of infected files from the System Volume Information folder and addition of exclusions in the Active Virus Control module. The only requirement for this to work is that, you will have to possess internet connection to view the video clips.

Existing Features:

Now that we are done with the new features and enhancements included in this 2011 version of the BitDefender Total Security, it is also worth noting that the suite has also maintained quite high standards that were experienced with the BitDefender Total Security 2010. The Firewall still takes care of the high profile job of filtering the data coming in as well as the stuff going out and the Vulnerability module will keep on having an on the latest installations of updates as well as applications on the system to be up to date. For the sake of identity theft, there is Privacy control, which also offers guard against tracking cookies or scripts from gaining access to your private data and Trojans trying to fit in Windows Registry.

Performance:

The detection engine of the BitDefender Total Security 2011 is same as that of its siblings, the BitDefender Internet Security 2011 and BitDefender AntiVirus Pro 2011. Though BitDefender might not be a very popular name in security industry, but a popular name does not always mean efficiency. The initial scan is completed in about four minutes and a quick scan averages about a minute and a through complete scan takes just over 50 minutes.

Third party ratings:

Virus Bulletin has provided the BitDefender Total Security 2011 the VB100 award, which means, the suite is capable of detecting most viruses in the loose at both on-demand and on-access scanning and does not generate any false positives while scanning clean files. According to the on-demand detection tests of AV Comparatives, the Total Security 2011 has got the Advanced+ rating. West Coast Labs has offered the suite its checkmark certification as well as Platinum Product Award.

The AntiSpam issue:

That was all good news, so here is the bad one. We had some issues fiddling with the suite and was not able to test the AntiSpam module. When tried in the Mozilla Thunderbird and Outlook 2010, both of which are portable and desktop versions, we had no luck, and the result was the same ‘no emails filtered’. When we thought the issue was just with us, we found several of the users also came up with the same problem.

Support:

Unfortunately, now a days, security suite businesses choose to keep their support number deeply buried and BitDefender is no exception. Its support number as well as the live chat support is kind of hidden. Access from the software interface would be excellent, especially if the net goes down.

Verdict:

The enhancements made on the BitDefender Total Security 2011 is not negligible at any cost; stuff like selective scanning of files when the suite is aware that the data is clean, results verification in Yahoo, Google and Bing, Scanning in the Cloud and the online parental control console are all a big step towards a big evolution of the security suite. Except for the very minor niggles encountered at the time of testing, the suite was great in all the other fronts and, the best part about the suite is the kind of confidence it gives the beginners. The advanced users are also not starving with the expert view and the overall level of protection offered by the suite is commendable. The BitDefender TotalSecurity 2011 has set new standards for the company itself. Having said that, the mixed test results make it a product hard to sell when compared to some of its nearly perfect competitors.

There have been heaps of user reviews stating that the product completely stopped them from connecting to the internet. Though we did not experience it, the complains have just been too overwhelming to ignore. Because of the inconsistencies in performance too, it is quite hard for us to recommend the BitDefender Total Security 2011.

BitDefender Total Security 2011 – Software Specification Details

Manufacturer	BitDefender
Model Name	BitDefender Total Security 2011
Suite type	All-in-one
License type	Complete package
License Validation period	One year
License quantity	Three users
Package type	Retail
Minimal System requirements	Windows XP SP2, Vista, Windows 7 800MHz processor RAM: 512MB (Windows XP) 1GB (Windows Vista and Windows 7) 450MB available hard disk space Internet Explorer 6
Recommended system requirements	Windows XP SP2, Vista, Windows 7 Intel CORE Duo (1.66 GHz) or equivalent processor RAM: 1GB (Windows XP and Windows 7) 1.5GB (Windows Vista) 600MB available hard disk space Internet Explorer 7
Software Requirements	Yahoo Messenger 8.5 Windows Live Messenger 8 Firefox 2.5 Thunderbird 2.0.0.17 Outlook 2000, 2003, 2007 Outlook Express Windows Mail
Supported browsers	Internet Explorer and Firefox
Anti-Virus	Yes
FireWall	Yes
Anti-Spyware	Yes
Anti-Phishing	Yes
Anti-Spam	Yes
Parental controls	Blocks inappropriate websites. Customised settings to limit your children’s access times. Allows remote parental control Centrally secures your home network
Other security features	Online fraud, Online ID theft, Hackers, Viruses, Spyware, Junk mail, tune-up and secure online backup
Special Operating Modes	Game Mode which reduces system load and postpones scans Laptop mode that prolongs battery life
Tune up	Removes unnecessary files & registry entries, for optimized performance
Data Backup	Yes
Other Key features	Advanced gamer mode Completely customizable Online backup IM encryption Flexible Firewall
Support	Assistance with common issues built directly into the product Free technical support for the entire duration of the product license