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Vendor Avast AVG Avira Bitdefender BullGuard Comodo Emsisoft ESET F-Secure G Data K7 Computing Kaspersky Lab Intel Security Microsoft Microworld Panda Security Quick Heal Symantec ThreatTrack Trend Micro
TESTED PRODUCT NAME FREE
ANTIVIRUS
2016
INTERNET
SECURIT Y
2016
ANTIVIRUS
PRO 2016
INTERNET
SECURIT Y
2017
INTERNET
SECURIT Y
1 7. 0
INTERNET
SECURIT Y
PREMIUM 8.4
ANTI-MALWARE
12.1
INTERNET
SECURIT Y 10.0
SAFE 2016 INTERNET
SECURIT Y 2017
TOTAL
SECURIT Y 15.1
INTERNET
SECURIT Y
2017
MCAFEE
INTERNET
SECURIT Y 2016
WINDOWS
DEFENDER 4.8
ESCAN
INTERNET
SECURIT Y
SUITE 14.0
PROTECTION
18.0
TOTAL
SECURIT Y 17.0
NORTON
SECURIT Y 2016
VIPRE INTERNET
SECURIT Y PRO
2016
INTERNET
SECURIT Y 2017
Website avast.com avg.com avira.com bitdefender.com bullguard.com comodo.com emsisoft.com/ eset.com f-secure.com gdatasoftware.
com
k7computing.
com
kaspersky.com intelsecurity.
com
microsoft.com microworld.com cloudantivirus.
com
quickheal.com norton.com vipreantivirus.
com
trendmicro.com
Protection
Protection against 0-day malware
attacks
100 % 98 .7% 100 % 98 .7% 98 .7% 100 % 98 .7% 100 % 100 % 98 .7% 97 .3% 100 % 100 % 98 .7% 98 .7% 100 % 100 % 100 % 93 .3% 100 %
Detection of widespread and
prevalent malware
99 .7% 99 .2% 99 .7% 99 .9% 99 .9% 92 .1% 99 .9% 99 .6% 99 .9% 100 % 99 .0% 100 % 100 % 98 .6% 99 .9% 99 .8% 99 .8% 100 % 99 .8% 100 %
Performance
Performance impact when
launching popular websites
18 % 16 % 11% 14 % 8% 8% 19 % 21 % 17 % 22 % 15% 13 % 11% 10 % 18 % 17 % 13 % 37 % 15% 13 %
Performance impact on download
of frequently-used applications
17 % 2% 22 % 5% 5% 26 % 7% 11% 7% 5 % 2% 2% 1% 9% 5% 18 % 6% 3% 3% 8%
Performance impact on launch of
standard software applications
52 % 11% 34 % 14 % 13 % 31 % 44 % 16 % 8% 26 % 7% 11% 22 % 15% 8% 20 % 13 % 8% 14 % 16 %
Performance impact on installation
of frequently-used applications
21 % 25 % 22 % 12 % 35 % 61 % 36 % 35 % 53 % 36 % 13 % 18 % 39 % 65 % 24 % 71 % 14 % 31 % 29 % 15%
Performance impact on copying of
files, locally and in a network
32 % 10 % 4% 4% 5% 4% 11% 30 % 3% 18 % 10 % 2% 5% 4% 44 % 27 % 12 % 9% 31 % 19 %
Usability
False warnings or blockages when
visiting websites
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
False warnings on installing new
software
0 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0
False blockages of certain actions
carried out whilst installing and
using legitimate software
1 0 1 0 2 5 5 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 0 1
Protection score 6.0 4.5 6.0 6.0 5.5 3.0 5.5 6.0 6.0 6 .0 5.0 6.0 5.5 4.5 6.0 5.5 5.5 6.0 5.0 6.0
Performance score 3.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 5.0 4 .5 5.5 6.0 5.5 4.5 4.0 2.5 5.5 5.5 4.5 5.5
Usability score 6.0 5.5 5.5 6.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 6.0 5.5 6 .0 5.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 6.0 6.0
Total score 15.5 15.5 17.0 17.5 16 .0 12 .5 15.0 16 .5 16 .5 16 .5 15.5 18 .0 17.0 15.0 15.5 13 .5 16 .5 17.0 15.5 17.5
ESET INTERNET SECURITY
$90 for 3 PCs for 1 year
http://www.eset.com/au/
CRITICAL SPECS
Anti-malware, anti-spam, anti-ransomware, firewall, web site filtering,
parental controls, secure browser, system optimisation and cleaning
ESET Internet Security
FINE CORE SECURITY COMPONENTS,
BUT SOME OF THE EXTRAS ARE WEAK.
WHEN ESET FIRST suite-ified its NOD32 Antivirus, we weren’t all that
impressed. Most of the extra features felt tacked on to meet a checklist.
But in the years since, ESET has layered in features that have turned this
into an absolutely worthwhile suite. It’s very much focused on core
protection capabilities — it doesn’t have the advanced social media stuff
of Trend Micro or the sophisticated parental controls of Symantec, for
example — but it protects against an awful lot of threats.
That protection includes anti-malware that managed to detect 100%
of zero-day threats in AV-Test’s benchmarks, as well as anti-phishing,
a sophisticated (but not terribly user friendly) firewall with DDOS
protection, a secure browser for online banking, and new anti-
ransomware tools for locking files from modification. It also has a tool
that polls the local router for vulnerabilities and checks if the webcam
is live. An important addition in this latest version is the script-based
attack protection, which stops certain Windows Powershell scripts from
executing, which has been a significant attack vector in recent months.
It does have parental controls, but they’re in the old-school device-
centric model and not a touch on the new user-based and cloud-
managed tools you find in some of the other suites. The identity theft
protection is also relatively minimal. This uneven quality of
components is mirrored a little in the interface, which mixes managed
security with older style fine control. It’s okay for advanced users, who
know what a network map looks like and what a firewall does, but less
technical users might find some of the options rather arcane, especially
when it comes to firewall and network management.
While we reviewed Internet Security, ESET also offers a version
called Smart Security Premium, which adds a password manager
and file encryption.
31 / 2
SUPERGUIDE
WINDOWS SECURITY SUITES COMPARED