SECURITY
ISSUE385|COMPUTER SHOPPER|MARCH2020 81
Ifyou’regoingtogetthebest protectionand
rangeof features, you’ll haveto paytheannual
fee togetthem. Whilethecompetitionwas
veryclosethisyear,we’vepicked ourtop
threesecuritypackagesbasedonfeatures,
performance andprice.Justmake surethat
you buy theappropriateversionforyour
needsand number of devices.
KASPERSKY Internet Security
★★★★★
£23•From http://www.amazon.co.ukKasperskyInternetSecurity haslongbeen one
of ourfavouritesecuritysuites,anditremains
so thisyear.Webelievethat theTotal Security
packageisthe best-valueoption formost
people,butthereare arangeof otheroptions
withdifferentfeaturesthat you should look at.
The main thingwith Kaspersky is thequality
of protection. Intermsof rawresults, Kaspersky
blocked 99 threats,neutralisedone,and was
nevercompromised.It scoredperfectly whenit
came tolegitimatesoftware,too.Taking a
morenuanced look at how it defendedand
howitdealt withlegitimatesoftware,Kaspersky
scored1,135for Total Accuracy,placingit–just
–atthetop of thetable.
Asgoodastheprotectionis, it’sthe quality
of thesoftwarethat really shinesthrough.The
maininterface isclean, with plenty of white
space,making it easytofindthefeaturesyou
want.Thereare someneat featuresinthere,
too, including TrustedApplications mode.
This blocksall softwarethat isn’tonthe
company’swhitelist,buildingin ahigh-levelof
securityforthelesssavvyuser.TheMoney
Browser isaneatoption,launchingasecure
browser whenyou buy anything.
There’salsoasoftwarecleaner,awebcam
protectionmodule to stopspying,asoftware
updaterand aparentalcontrolsuite.Pretty
muchwhateveryouneed isincludedinthis
suite,making Kasperskymore valuablethan
simplyatoolto prevent malwaregetting on
toyour computer.
Even better,Kaspersky is oneofthefew
productsthat’sstillavailablethroughonline
retailers, so you cangetarealbargainonit,
too.Ifyou’relookingforpremiumprotection,
thisisthesoftware to buy.SOPHOS Home Premium
★★★★★
£25•From home.sophos.comSophos isanothername that wehadn’t
expectedtodoquite sowell,yetHome
Premium impressed uswithitslevelof
protection.Aswith Kaspersky,Sophos Home
Premium blocked 99 threatsandneutralised
one,and never allowedthetestmachineto
becompromised.It scoredperfectly in the
legitimate softwaretest, too,allowing
everythingtobeinstalled withoutfuss.
Lookingat theTotalAccuracyscore,which
takesamorenuanced lookathow the
softwaredefendsagainstthreats,Sophos
Home Premiumscored1,134, which isjusta
single pointbehindKaspersky.
Builton technologyfrom thecompany’s
business division,SophosHome Premium
uses anonline dashboardtomonitorand
controlinstallationsof thesoftware.That’s
handyif you’vegot multipledevicesin your
home that youwantto manage,butit’snot
quite asfriendlyforsomepeople ashaving
everything available in theapp.
Thereare someotherpowerfultoolsin the
suite,including CryptoGuard,whichmonitors
your systemforanyencryptionof thesortused
by ransomware.Parentswill bepleasedtosee
theparentalcontrolsoption tofilter what
childrencanlookat.There’salsobuilt-in
privacyprotectiontoguardagainstahacker
accessingyour webcam ormicrophone.
We likethePotentially UnwantedProgram
(PUP) module,too,whichlooks outforuseless
bundled utilities thatoftencomeasan‘extra’
whenyou installfreesoftware.
Apowerful security suite,Sophos’scloud
controlmaybe abenefittomany, letting one
familymembermanage alldevices nomatter
wherethey are,although thisrelianceonan
internetconnectionmayputsomepeople off.
KasperskyInternetSecurity isthefriendlier
software,butSophosisn’t far behind,and its
protectionisexcellent. It’sgoodvalue,too,
withthis versioncovering 10devices,makingit
agoodchoiceforhomeswithalotof devices.SYMANTEC Norton Security
★★★★★
£19•From http://www.amazon.co.ukNortonisanothervery familiarnamein
internetsecurity,andthisyearthesoftware
continuesto dowell.It’sNorton360Deluxe
that werecommendasthe bestpackage,
whichyou canpickupfor £19onAmazon,
including supportforuptofivedevices.
That’squite incredible value.
Whenitcametoprotection,Nortondid
verywell,withthe Total Accuracy Scoreof
1,134 matchingthatof Sophos andsittingjust
behind Kaspersky.Norton allowedall
legitimate applications tobeinstalled, andit
blocked 99 threats,neutralisedone,and didn’t
allow thetestsystemtobecompromised.
Nortonhasbeen throughabitof a
confusingtime recently,with Norton360
originally being discontinuedin 2014and
replaced by NortonSecurity, whichisnow
being replaced bythenewNorton360.
Aswiththeoldversion,Norton360is about
givingyouastackoffeaturesbothcovering
securityandgeneralPCuse.What you getisabitofmixed bag.There
arenocomplaintsabouttheunlimitedVPN,
forexample(mostothervendors have atraffic
limitunless youpay extra).However,the 50GB
of online backupisn’tparticularly generous,
and if you wantmore,you’rebetteroffgoing
withan establishedsystem such asDropbox
orGoogle Drive.
Alsoincluded withDeluxe areparental
controls,SafeCamforPC(thisprotectsyour
webcamagainsthacking),apassword manager
and the100%VirusProtection Promise, which
offersyourmoney backifyou getavirusthat
Norton’sexpertscan’tremove.
Asgoodasall theseadditionalfeaturesare,
theinterfaceisalittle cluttered,and trying to
findall theoptionsisn’taseasy aswith some
otherapplications. If you wantallthefeatures,
such astheVPN,Nortonisexcellentvalue,but
thesimpler Kaspersky InternetSecurity isa
toucheasier touse, andSophos Home
Premium isbettervalueif youneed more
devicescovered.