TechLife_Australia_Issue_63_May_2017

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ANTI-RANSOMWARE

TOOLS

This should include either a file

locker or file monitor (or both).

These tools deal with one of the

biggest current problems —

monitoring files for modifications

and/or locking files preventing

modification.

IDENTITY THEFT AND

ANTI-PHISHING TOOLS

These tools stop you from visiting

fake sites and revealing

information about yourself

that you shouldn’t.

MANAGED AND CLOUD-

BASED PARENTAL

CONTROLS

A new feature in many suites,

cloud-based parental controls

let you monitor and manage kids’

internet access without needing

to access their devices directly,

managing it on a website instead.

A PASSWORD MANAGER

So you can make and remember

proper passwords.

A VPN SERVICE

Several suites now have this —

a way to stay anonymous online

and to protect yourself when

you’re on public Wi-Fi networks.

Remember to check how much

data per month you get with it.

A SECURE BROWSER

FOR ONLINE BANKING

These privacy browsers are

designed to prevent snooping

when you’re conducting financial

activities online.

UPDATE CHECKERS

This checks for updated versions

of your apps.

BACKUP, POSSIBLY

INCLUDING CLOUD BACKUP

The best defence against theft,

ransomware and hardware failure.

A few suites come with cloud

backup (check how much storage

you get if they do).

CLOUD MANAGEMENT

TOOLS FOR MULTIPLE

DEVICES

A common feature of business

security tools has now come to

some consumer products. These

services let you manage the

security on devices attached to

your account through a web

browser, rather than having to go

to the devices individually —

ideal if you’re managing remote

PCs or just have a lot of devices

in your house.

FILE ENCRYPTION

This protects your files in case

your device is lost or stolen.

Encrypted files cannot be read

without a password, even if the

hard drive is removed.

A SYSTEM CLEANER

AND OPTIMISER

These system utilities remove junk

from your startup sequence and

registry (for faster bootup and

operation) as well as clean

document and internet histories.

TABLET AND SMARTPHONE

PROTECTION

Many Windows security suites

now include licenses that will let

you download security apps on

your mobile as well — such as

password managers or (on

Android) anti-malware scanners.

SOME OF THE KEY THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN A 2-IN-1

WHAT TO LOOK FOR AND BE AWARE OF WHEN SHOPPING

FOR A WINDOWS SECURIT Y SUITE.

Bitdefender Internet Security 2017
ALTHOUGH ITS PERFORMANCE HAS SLIPPED A LITTLE,
IT STILL HAS THE BEST FEATURE SET IN THE BUSINESS.

BITDEFENDER HAS BEEN our top suite pick for four years running,
and it remains so today, but with one difference: it’s now rivalled by
Kaspersky. While we think Bitdefender still has the better suite of
ancillary features, its anti-malware performance has slipped a little.
It’s still good, but not the world-beater it once was.
The trick that Bitdefender has so successfully pulled off is its ability
to pack in a huge number of features while still remaining relatively
transparent to the user. There’s a lot going on under the hood, from
anti-malware, to system optimisation tools and security checks, to
application risk and update checkers, to a very useful password
manager, to a secure privacy browser and more. It boasts a pre-boot
rescue mode for removing rootkits and other hard-to-remove infections
as well as ransomware protection, locking selected directories and
preventing them from being modified. In short, the feature set is
the best in the business, covering everything you need, except
maybe backup.
It also has particularly excellent parental controls now, taking a leaf
out of Symantec’s book by introducing cloud management. It’s not quite
as smooth or as slick as Norton Family, but it’s a big step up from most
of the competition, allowing you to remotely track and monitor your
kids’ online activity and even trigger remote anti-malware scans.
The suite also happens to be a bargain right now, and there’s a version
called Total Security ($60 for five devices for one year) that is
differentiated not by features but by the right to install versions
of the suite on Mac computers and Android mobiles.

5

BITDEFENDER INTERNET SECURITY 2017
$55 for 3 devices for 1 year
http://www.bitdefender.com.au

CRITICAL SPECS
Anti-malware, anti-spam, anti-ransomware, firewall, website filtering, parental controls,
password manager, secure browser, backup, file encryption, system optimisation and
cleaning, update checker

WINNER

ED’s CHOICE

AWARD

SUPERGUIDE

WINDOWS SECURITY SUITES COMPARED