[ WWW.TECHLIFE.NET ] [ 065 ]TREND MICRO INTERNET SECURITY 2017
$50 for 2 PCs for 1 year
http://www.trendmicro.com.au
CRITICAL SPECS
Anti-malware, anti-spam, anti-ransomware, firewall, website filtering, parental controls,
secure browser, system optimisation and cleaning, social media privacy toolsAVIRA FREE SECURIT Y SUITE 2017
Free
http://www.avira.com
CRITICAL SPECS
Anti-malware, anti-ransomware, website filtering, secure browser, system optimisation
and cleaning, VPNTrend Micro Internet Security 2017
A TOP CONTENDER, WITH PARTICULARLY EXCELLENT SOCIAL MEDIA
TOOLS AND PLENTY OF PROTECTION.LIGHT ON SYSTEM resources and with perfect detection rates, Trend
Micro was one of the stars of AV-Test’s most recent round of
benchmarks. But like the best suites, it is much more than a malware
scanner, and in this latest version Trend Micro has managed to tick all
the right boxes. It’s a suite that is starting to rival Bitdefender and
Kaspersky for quality.
It does the usual anti-malware, anti-spam, firewall and malicious
website filtering, but it also blocks links to nasty sites, has a very useful
one-click system cleaner/optimiser, will scan cloud drives for viruses,
will automatically manage privacy settings on Facebook and other
social media services, has a secure mode for online shopping and
two-tiered protection against ransomware. The latter includes both a
passive system that monitors documents for unauthorised encryption
and an active file locker system that creates a folder that can’t be
modified without a secure login.
Its parental controls are just okay, at least for old-style device-based
rather than cloud-based controls, but if they’re a priority you’re probably
better off with Symantec or Bitdefender.
Like most of the good suites, Trend Micro keeps things simple for the
user, managing most of the decisions in the background. It has a lot of
‘click this button to fix everything’ components, which is good, and the
fine controls are still there for people who want them.
The version reviewed here is the basic PC-only solution, but Trend
Micro also offers multi-device solutions, including Maximum Security
which has a (good!) password manager and support for Android, Mac
OS and iOS devices. It costs $100 for four devices for one year.Avira Free Security Suite 2017
NOT A MATCH FOR A FULL PAID SUITE, BUT PRETTY DARN GOOD
FOR FREE.FOR SOME YEARS now home users have had access to free anti-virus,
but recently Avira decided to go the whole hog. It made a full featured
suite available for free. You won’t find anything resembling the feature
set of one of the paid suites, but there’s an awful lot here for the grand
price of $0.
Avira was one of the best performers in AV-Test’s most recent
benchmarks, although its significant impact on system performance
hurt its final rating. The latest version of its anti-malware tool also
includes ransomware protection, which monitors documents for
modifications that might indicate ransomware in action. There’s also
Browser Safety and Identity Safeguard, which are tools built to stop
drive-by malware and identity theft on phishing sites.
The free suite also incorporates a chunk of Avira’s capable system
optimisation tools, allowing you to clean your system and registry
(much like CCleaner) as well as control privacy settings. There’s Avira’s
excellent Scout privacy browser supplied in the suite, too.
Finally, the suite includes two excellent tools that aren’t common on
paid suites. One is cloud-based management of multiple devices: you
can log into the Avira web site and see and manage devices attached
to your account and can even remotely initiate scans. The other is a
VPN service, implemented much like Kaspersky’s Secure Connect.
The free suite gives you 500MB a month to work with.
Avira also has a paid suite called Total Security ($135 for three devices
per year), which offers unlimited access to the Phantom VPN service.
It also includes online banking certificate checks, control of USB
attached-devices, file encryption and shredding, a firewall manager and
network scanning. Its parental controls are minimal, however.41 /^231 /^2WINNERED’s CHOICE
AWARD
SUPERGUIDEWINDOWS SECURITY SUITES COMPARED