FREE antivirus tips and downloads

Free ESET NOD 32 License and Review

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:16:00 -1200

ESET is apparently giving away for free NOD 32 antivirus via their ESET India website. The ESET website claims no registration or activation is required. However, the trick is that one needs to be physically located in India to get the free activation and if activated anywhere else it appears to be a 30 day trial. Therefore, install a free VPN software that routes through India for the initial installation. There are several available and one simply needs to do a Google search to find it. Also, make sure that all ports are routed through India during of the installation and first launch of the program. ESET also offers free technical support 5 days a week for Indian users.

Download ESET NOD32 32 bit here
Download 64 bit here

ESET NOD 32 installation is unique compared to other antivirus. The download was a small 46 megabytes in size. The installer prompts to setup a password to prevent users from accessing the antivirus (interesting that it was included in the setup), the option to enable threat sense protection, customize the installation directory and more.

ESET NOD 32 offers better protection than the most free antivirus. The engine is VB100 certified. The trick is that Virus Bulletin releases certifications every month. If you look at the VB logo on a lot of websites it states the month that it was won (often several months behind, check out Microsoft security essentials. For Example, it says Dec 2006 or something). Most antivirus only win the VB award maybe a handful of times every year. ESET, on the other hand, has won this every month since 1998. NOD 32 also has been certified by AV-Comparatives as having excellent antivirus protection. Put all of these factors together and NOD 32 has great virus detection.

There are two different scanning options, the smart scan and the full system scan. The smart scan is very fast and scans all critical areas common files, programs files, windows folder and more at approximately 8 megabytes per second. ESET NOD 32 detected openvps.exe as a potential threat but, this is a safe component of a VPN. The smart scan finished in about 22 minutes on a 130+ gigabyte hard drive at 7200 rpm.

From previous reviews, I have noted a that ESET has a ton of features. I can now saw for sure that NOD 32 has the most customizable settings of any antivirus. A few things that I like is that NOD 32 monitors actual ports in addition to the file system for virus activity. So, in theory NOD32 can catch a virus before the entire thing is downloaded onto a system via a pattern signature. One can also completely block removable media or assign it to only certain ports. I am also a fan of the new interface as it presents everything that's useful with the option to switch on advanced options.

Resource usage with NOD32 is excellent. The program uses about 46 megabytes while idle and about 80 megabytes when scanning. It seems that the program actively limits scanning based upon computer activity. It also was one of the first times I didn’t actually detect any slow down as a result of a scan or the automatic protection.

One issue with NOD32 is how it presents the status of the scan. It seems that it moves through 60% within a minute but gets stuck. It would be nice to space out and more properly indicate the scanning status. The settings could also be presented in an easier to understand manner.

Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.5 Review

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 08:42:00 -1200

Panda Security has released Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.5 as an upgrade to 1.4. The software includes a lot of notable fixes, including faster scanning speeds, even lower resource usage, more advanced configuration options and more. We will be comparing these updated claims to our test’s from the 1.4 versions. Also, Panda Cloud antivirus remains our antivirus of choice due to its light weight and detection effectiveness, on all of our non test systems. If you have the previous version installed, it will automatically update to 1.5. We received the upgrade today.

Download Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.5 Directly - Free

The installation of Cloud Antivirus 1.5 has been completely revamped. Rather than an older formatted window uncompressing all the files, there is a new sleek interface. In the advanced options there is the option to installer the panda security toolbar and customize the installation location. The installation finished in about 1 minute and offers to install the free or pro version. Continuing, with the light weight theme, the download is small at 694 KB which is an increase of 301 KB from the previous version.

New on the main screen is a graph depicting the scanned files per minute. This is a handy to indicate the antivirus’s status. The main icons have also been redesigned. The scan options remain the same, optimized, scan my computer, and custom locations. Scanning speed has increased from 3 megabytes per second to about 5 megabytes per second. The scanning time has improved from 20 minutes to about 15 minutes (even considering the increased amount of files on the test system). The optimized scan didn’t detect any malware during the scan. However, the most frequently detected items are cookies (double click) type on the other systems running the antivirus. A quick security test to attempt to shutdown the process via task manager resulted in an access denied message. This means that viruses will have difficultly shutting down the process.

Heading over to the advanced menu shows several improvements that panda security has added. New are the detection of potentially unwanted programs, the option to scan compressed files in on demand scans, and a background scanning after cache synchronization (not exactly clear what this feature actually does). There is also now the option to generate advanced logs. In the exclusion area one can exclude files and also whole folders from being scanned.

As far as resource usage goes. Panda Cloud Antivirus went from using one megabyte to now only 328 to 401 kilobytes when idle. This is extremely small and complements to Panda Security for achieving this. Scanning sees memory usage remain about the same as previous versions.

Finally, it appears that the changes from 1.4 to 1.5 are relatively minor but appreciated. Cloud antivirus remains one of the lightest if not the lightest antivirus available online. Not to mention, that the antivirus is completely free. There is now a built-in like system for Facebook and Twitter. I would encourage spreading the word about cloud antivirus, as it is truly a great antivirus program.

Free Comodo Internet Security Pro 2011 1 Year License Review

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 05:41:00 -1200

Comodo is giving away their Internet Security Program for free for 1 year. If you go over to the regular Comodo website, you can see that this costs 49.99. But, I have a special download link to get the version completely for free. The antivirus has excellent detection and has been awarded ICSA Labs, Matousec.com, WestCoast, VB 100, and a Cnet 5 star rating. There are also numerous features including auto sandbox technology, firewall, and even free live help via the program interface. This Comodo antivirus doesn't require activation (auto activates) is completely free and is legally sponsored by the publisher.

Comodo Internet Security Pro Free 1 Year Direct Download

The installation of Comodo Internet Security Pro was easy. The program comes in a special 1 year setup file. Double clicking the 59 megabyte file will start the setup automatically. The setup runs to completion and auto launches Comodo when finished. One problem is that the setup does not allow one to change the setup’s location. However, there are no next buttons to click everything is handled automatically. When the setup completed (in about 1 minute) the program launched the update process. The update is larger than average at 122 megabytes in size and the program required a restart once it was finished.

Comodo Internet Security Pro offers a “Run a Scan” option. In this sub menu there are the “critical areas”, “spyware scan”, and “my computer”. The critical areas scanner scans at approximately 5 megabytes per second (on the slower side) and scans the windows, program files, common files, and more for viruses. The scan started out slow but then boosted to about 53,000 files scanned within 2 minutes. The scanner appears to via a memory scan so that scans are faster as they are done more often. The scanner didn't detect any malware on the test system. However, given the certifications, including matousec.com, one can be assured that virus detection is above average.

In addition, to excellent scanning, Comodo Internet Security Pro offers a fully functional firewall. The feature that stood out was the stealth port wizard. One can setup the stealth ports for everything but not trusted networks, alert one to access on any of the stealth ports, or just make it stealth for every type of traffic. This level of customizability is the norm from Comodo programs. If you want to see more about it you can read our other Comodo reviews that go in depth on the settings. However, one other great feature is the option to speak to a “licensed technician”. Wherever you are within the program this allows one to get help on anything one is confused with. For example, on the update information there is a chat with a technician option.

Norton Antivirus 2012 Beta Review and Download

Mon, 16 May 2011 13:23:00 -1200

Symantec has just released Norton Antivirus 2012 Beta. The newest features are improved Sonar 4.0 which utilizes hundreds of heuristic analysis against a process to determine if it’s malicious, a brand new interface, Insight protection upgrades which include whether a file is reliable in addition to whether it is safe or not, performance improvements and more. From first glance, it appears that Norton has out done itself and remains one of the best antivirus around.

The installation of Norton Antivirus 2012 was easy. The downloader was only 779 kilobytes in size and the setup file immediately launched. The only problem that I encountered was that the file needed to be run with administrator privileges. Usually executables include a small shield on them to automatically prompt a user, however this setup file did not. The fix is to right click the executable and then “run as an administrator”.

Download Norton Antivirus 2012 Here Directly from Symantec

There are now several new scanning options. There is the computer and reputation scan which include a quick scan, full system scan, and custom scan. The newest feature is the “scan the Facebook wall option” which requires one to give additional privileges to Norton via their Facebook account. I first quickly played around with a couple of the scanning options by starting and stopping them. This routine unfortunately crashed the program, but given that it is beta this is expected. The program recovered after a restart. The quick scan option scanned files at approximately 10 to 12 megabytes per second. The scan checked over 10,000 files within five minutes. The scan utilizes trace based protection in which it scans predefined locations of known malware such as Backdoor.Rustock.B etc.

What’s interesting is that even though this “Norton Antivirus 2012” it also includes network protections. They include intrusion prevention, browser protection, and download intelligence. It appears as if the standalone antivirus has morphed into a more internet security like program. This is presumably to compete with the more free antivirus like programs. The settings area is now easier to use with each of the major protection areas on the left and subsets of them. However, the most surprising feature is mobile protection. This is also still in beta and it’s unclear whether one will have to buy Norton to get this features. The taskbar icon has also been updated and it’s easy to simply just disable the auto protect whereas before one would have to jump through several menus. Also new is a bandwidth metering option in which one can restrict the amount of bandwidth is used on mobile broadband to save users money on their capped cell phone bills.

During scanning Norton Antivirus 2012 used approximately 50 megabytes of RAM and about 12 percent CPU power. When the program was completely minimized and in its idle state, the program used approximately 30 megabytes of RAM. Given all of the protections and even a side bar widget loaded, these performance figures are excellent.

VirusKeeper Pro 2011 Review Free

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 10:07:00 -1200

VirusKeeper 2011 is an extension of the Mult Virus Cleaner program but, with real time protection. The software boasts an impressive virus database and antispyware scanning capabilities, in addition to regular virus detection. The real time shield scans numerous areas including registry and system file modifications, messenger protection, I/O port monitoring and more. The shield also has predefined settings for game, netbook, and normal mode to conserve power and resources. Finally, the program is used by over 10 million users worldwide ensuring broad publisher support.

Download VirusKeeper 2011 Directly

The installation went well. The download size was 24.4 megabytes and was updated as recently as March 30th. The only problem is that the installation file is located within a zip file (not quite sure why because it only saves one megabyte). However, once the setup file started the program installed quickly. While the tray icon and the real time shield started, I was unable to run an initial scan. A quick reboot solved this problem and the program worked fine afterwards.

VirusKeeper 2011 is kind of unique in that it has three different scanning types. There is the instant analysis, antivirus file, and the antispyware scan. The instant analysis runs a quick scan utilizing the heuristic and behavioral engine. The analysis checks active processes, web browser integrity, new files, and active processes. This scan completes in about 30 seconds and scans at about 2.6 megabytes per second. The next scanning option is the antivirus scanner which has four scanning options the deep, quick, full, and custom. The quick scanner runs at an impressive 10 to 13 megabytes per second and finished in approximately 10 minutes. Another plus is the scanners responsiveness in that it can be stopped and started almost instantly versus a huge lag time with most free antivirus. Next, is the antispyware scanner which extensively checks the registry for toolbars and other spyware programs. This finished in about 7 minutes and scanned 100,000’s of registry keys. An additional option is the cookie area in which VirusKeeper detects all system cookies, not just internet explorer but with all browsers. A user has the option to delete any offending cookie.

There are also several tools available to diagnosis problems with one’s computer. The ProcessWatch displays running process, loaded drivers, and services etc. The only problem is that the trusted database is pretty limited and labeled notepad.exe as unknown. The services and loaded drivers functions also didn’t work on the test system. I like the NetWatch which shows which programs are actively connected to a network and by what specific ports. The “more details” tab shows a lot of information about a process including loaded modules and their location, what windows the program is actively using (extremely handy for malware detection i.e. shows the keyscrambler protection inside of Firefox which could have easily been a keylogger), security privileges , cpu time and virtual memory usage, and more. This is by far the best feature of VirusKeeper 2011. Next, there is the Program Report which lists all startup programs (could be more in-depth). Finally, there are scheduling options and a password protection option.

Resource usage is kind of mixed. I say this because it depends on how many windows are open at a given moment. With the program completely idle and just the tray icon, it uses approximately 20 megabytes of RAM which is better than most free antivirus. When scanning, VirusKeeper 2011 can use upwards of 200 megabytes of RAM and approximately 15 percent CPU power. However, I am really pleased that the real time shield barely affected system operation and boot times.

Some things to improve in future versions, could be one scan that integrates all three scanning options for simplicity. Fewer menus and wait times when launching scanners would also be helpful. The inclusion of cloud integration and a more effective trusted database. Finally, a resizable window could help users with smaller screens.

Free Avira Premium Security Suite 10 Review

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 11:41:00 -1200

Avira has announced that it is giving away 6 months free of their venerable security suite (the most feature rich offering). I will include the instructions in the installation area. As far as the suite goes, it offers a firewall, anti-rootkit, anti-bot, and antispyware in addition to the award winning antivirus engine. The program has av-comparatives highest rating of advanced plus and the coveted VB100 award. The software also includes a full rescue system, game mode, and even netbook support.

To get the six months free subscription head over to the Avira site from the above link 1. Download the german installer and click next until one arrives at the “Willkommen bei…” screen. There click the “Produkt testen” and enter a valid email address. Then hit next and do not continue to hit next (exit the installer). Click the link from an email and get the hbedv.key from the website. Next, install the English version (link 2) and on the license wizard page click, hbedv.key and select the file location. The installation then went smoothly after key was entered. The download was approximately 70 megabytes in size with the intial installer needing to download the setup file. A restart was required to get the program to fully function.

Avia Premium Security Suite offers 10 different scanning modes. The complete system, scan for rootkits and active malware, quick system, and windows system scan etc. The scanner scans at approximately 6 to 8 megabytes per second which is about the same as the benchmark free antivirus. I did have one issue with the real time scanner. I got the virus Win32/Alueron on the test system which is a boot sector virus. While Avira detected the virus in the boot sector, it could not clean it (Avira’s boot sector cleaning tool failed too). I also got this virus when the real time scanning engine was active (had updated definitions for the virus). I had to reinstall Windows as a result. However, one unique thing to the program is how it selects files extension. There is the smart extension option in which the program uses artificial intelligence to first examine the contents of the file and then decide if it should be scanned. This is different than most antivirus which rely on a predetermined list of file extensions and therefore have major vulnerabilities from a safe extension starting an illicit and obsure one.

The firewall is still generally the same as the previous versions. Even though I was on the medium setting (second to lowest), I was still prompted for basic trusted application access. Avira needs to implement a system similar to competitors like Norton Insight and Panda Collective to identify trusted application via the cloud. Rules are segmented into application and adapter (ports and ip address). It doesn’t seem that the Trusted Vendors list has been updated for several years.

In addition to the firewall, there is a web protection which is fairly advanced. In addition to scanning active urls, it also scans all urls embedded within a page. The scanner is also hardcoded into the antivirus rather than just a browser toolbar so that it adds protection to any browser. The parental controls utilize the Windows account and allow one to set an adult, child, or young person role for each account. There is also a backup option to save modified files on a system from potential deletion.

Resource usage is usually Avira’s strong point and that’s no exception with the Premium Security Suite. While idle, the software uses approximately 30 megabytes. When scanning, the avscan.exe process expands to 80 or 90 from 24 megabytes (110 total) and uses approximately 14 percent CPU power. The Suite’s system performance impact is basically not noticeable.

As far as things to improve, the main complaint is the liimited use of the cloud. The program must quickly add this functionality or it will be become outdated. Also even though version 10 was released in March 2011, the interface still remains the same. The settings area and customization options are also few and far in-between and need to be improved.

eScan 11 Antivirus Review Free

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 07:19:00 -1200

eScan has just released an updated version of their flagship antivirus software. The biggest change is a revamped interface that has significantly improved over the previous version and provides an OSX like dock to navigate through the application. In addition to being more visually pleasing, the software offers excellent protection via the 6,999,003 virus and malware signatures (some of the most seen in a consumer antivirus). eScan 11 has also been certified by all major testing labs including ICSA, WesCoast, AV-comparatives, and OESIS. In addition to the main antivirus engine, there is an included firewall, antispam, recovery disk and more.

Download eScan Version 11 Directly for Free

The installation of eScan 11 was good and designed for Windows 7. The download size is 157 megabytes which is actually on par with the average internet security program. The installer automatically disabled Windows Defender and Firewall and ran an initial virus scan to check for viruses (can take a while so, one may want to skip). One problem was that once the setup completed, the program wanted to play an introductory video. There are a few bugs as it didn’t go to a completely full screen. One is also given the option to restart the computer, which is necessary to start the firewall.

One of the biggest updates in version 11 is a white list or memory scanning technology. This technology utilized by Norton and others, speeds up scans by ignoring files that may not have been modified and are known as safe (subsequent scans really do increase in speed). There are 5 scanning options which include, computer, USB, critical area (memory, registry, and services), and custom scans. The virus scanner is faster than average at 6 to 7 megabytes per second. I ran into one problem that needs to be fixed. I accidently clicked on the scan button twice (took a while to initially load) which launched two independent scanners. There needs to be some safeguard to prevent this from happening. The scanner detected one virus on the test system BLuPro as a Trojan.Generic.4842150 (DB). This is a false positive as it is associated with Bkav antivirus. Escan 11 also detected Malware.Win32 (ES). One thing that I like about the scan was the option to instantly set the scanner to low priority (even though the scan didn't significantly affect system operation). I didn’t like that there wasn’t a time till completion or even a status bar for the scan. Also when a scan is finished, it’s not really apparent to the user except for a small “Scan Completed” in the lower status bar. The real time scanner can be customized to a certain extension, code analyzer, maximum file size, and the option to scan network drives. The real time shield can also block usb drive executable and can protect specific user defined files from modification. The update interval is set as 120 minutes (can be set as low as 30) by default and can even execute a program after an update (better than most free antivirus).

The firewall offers four settings the allow all, limited filter (default via pre defined rules), interactive filter (prompts for every application), and block all. With the limited filter enabled I didn’t encounter any prompts to allow connections. In the settings area, eScan 11 correctly auto detected the local network ip address range and added it as trusted. The Expert Rule area has rules for all major ports and protocols including http, dns, msn, rdp, and more. If one is unhappy with a rule, it can be easily customized via a specific interface (new) and a large list of source and destination options (my computer, network, single or range of ip’s, port, port range or list etc.). I think the most unique thing is the reporting functionality which can show most network activity for a month or even longer with the top 10 ips and applications and when a rule was revoked. I am a little annoyed that the eScan 11 doesn’t include their own network activity monitor (they just used ViewTCP 3.1).

eScan 11 also includes an option to create a Rescue ISO disk, restore default settings to window, and an option to download the latest hot fixes for the program. The mail scanner has several customization options and functions via port rather than the application level (therefore, is compatible with all email clients). However, I like the Anti-Spam in that it reports to major antispam servers. There is also a virtual keyboard and gaming mode option accessible via the tray icon.

eScan 11 has efficient resource usage. The program uses about 30 megabytes of RAM while idle and about 70 megabytes while scanning. CPU usage can range from 5 to 12 percent CPU power. It seems that the scanner is automatically put into a lower priority if it is detected as running in the background.

Sophos 9.5 Endpoint Antivirus Review

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 09:44:00 -1200

Sophos has recently released their new 9.5 endpoint protection that includes cloud integration and a firewall. As one may know, I have used Sophos antivirus programs for 8 years, and I have been generally happy with the performance. I currently have one installation protecting a windows server and appreciate the maintenance free capability compared to competitors. I also appreciate that the company tends to be on the forefront of combating the latest viruses and exploits (essentially pushing the boundaries in the industry). Also new in this version, is tamper and web protection, Sophos Live real time updating, and more.

Download Sophos 9.5 Directly from Sophos

The installation of Sophos 9.5 was easy. There are two versions of the endpoint protection, the 70 megabyte standard, and the 75 megabyte edition with a firewall. What’s nice is that both setup files support 32 and 64 bit systems all the way back to Windows 2000, in one compact executable. The installer prompted to install the optional firewall component and also has an option to remove third party security software that may conflict with program. After the installation completed, a restart was required to install the firewall driver. After the reboot, it took Windows an additional 20 seconds to finish booting to the desktop.

The Sophos 9.5 scanning options remain the same with the “Scan my computer” and the “set up a new scan”. However, within the customize scan option there are new settings to configure. In the advanced area one can specifically set to decompress which types of archives and which type files to skip. This appears to be one of the most advanced exclusion type list of all free antivirus tested. Sophos 9.5 scans at approximately 6 to 7 megabytes per second putting it slightly above the benchmark antivirus. The program immediately detected a virus on the test system which ironically is Blue Atom Antivirus (Antivirus.exe and a Sus/Com-Pack-C). Now this is clearly a false positive and which I believe is attributed to an overly sensitive HIPS engine. I have also received a false positive from Webex PcNow by Cisco via a Reg-Mon alert. NirCmd.exe was also found on the test system and is actually malicious. The scan takes quite a while to finish (speed hasn’t changed significantly from previous versions and after 20 minutes was still on 2% presumably because of the rootkit scan which is separate and slow). If one wants the scan to be faster disable the rootkit option.

In addition to an antivirus engine, Sophos 9.5 includes a firewall. The problem is that this firewall prompts for every network /application protection. For example, simply opening a common browser such as Internet Explorer or FireFox, one is prompted to allow or disallow. The tradeoff is that for a small business or organization a large firewall rule set could be beneficial in keeping unwanted connections in and out of a system, however, for an individual, this could be extremely tedious to classify every single firewall rule (not to mention the radio boxes are in a different order from alert to alert). I think the firewall should at least include some auto learning rules for common applications. However, some good things about the firewall are its advanced handling of ICMP traffic (a frequently abused protocol), a LAN exclusion list for local networked computers, location based rule sets for roaming and wireless users, and an improved logging system which shows active connections and hidden processes.

Some additional intriguing features are the tamper protection in which a user a must enter defined password to uninstall or modify the program, and a secondary update server if the first one failed.
Resource usage is about the same with Sophos 9.5. The programs uses about 160 megabytes across 9 process while idle. When scanning, the memory usage remains about the same and uses about 10 percent CPU power, which is more than the average free antivirus.

Some things that I would like to see improved are a more user friendly interface (probably won’t matter in a business setting), more efficient resource usage, possibly a memory scan, and better details about scans (a separate progress bar for different scanners).

VirusBuster Personal 7 Review Free

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 11:48:00 -1200

VirusBuster is not the most well known antivirus and is actually Hungarian. However, the most exciting thing about VirusBuster is that version 7 was awarded the VB100 award for February 2011. This means that the software really does provide the most current protection against the latest threats. The program also has ICSA, WestCoast (specifically for anti-trojan detection), and CheckVir certifications. The only thing that seems to be moderate is the interface. However, it’s a tradeoff for better resource management (excellent in tests) and responsiveness.

The installation of VirusBuster was good. The download size was 65.8 megabytes and separate setup files are needed for the 32 and 64 bit versions. The installer worked great on Windows 7 and gives the user the option to input an update sever address (ideal for a small business setting). Once finished, the installer prompted for a restart eventhough the program launched. VirusBuster also autoupdated and time stamped the updates after the install.

VirusBuster breaks down the scanner setting into tasks which are predefined but can also be customized by the user. The predefined scans are the local hard drive, readable and writable removable disks, and rescanning threat status (rechecks quarantined files) scans. The local hard drive scan, scans at about 5 megabytes per second which slightly higher than the benchmark free antivirus. The default setting is to first delete the file and then quarantine it if that fails. I personally liked the logging capability which is presented as a main function of the antivirus. If a file is access denied or there are access restrictions the user will be immediately notified with a detailed explanation. Unfortunately a quick scan isn’t a predefined profile but can be added via the tasks menu. A user can also customize the schedule of the scan, whether it scans networked drives (accesses networking neighborhood), and if default extensions are included or all extensions. The user defined scans can be easily accessed via the tray icon. The local hard drive scan finished in a quick 1 hour and didn’t detect any false positives or viruses on the test system.

In addition to on demand scanning, VirusBuster offers a real time shield. The protection or sensitivity level can be set to either weak, medium, or high. The real time shield is also very efficient at scanning files while idle and had already checked 24,183 files just after about 1 hour of use. The updater offers several ways to update over most free antivirus including http, ftp, a specific path, netware, or even via a CD or flash drive. Updates are also delineated into tasks and can be set to update on restart and/or login and even where definitions versus program updates are received. In the advanced settings one can set an administrator password and even an smtp server to send alerts to. There is also a rights management area where one can set if the antivirus can be modified and by whom.

VirusBuster has excellent resource management. While idle the program used approximately 21 megabytes of RAM via two services vbcmserv.exe and vbsystry.exe. During scanning an addition process quick scan process starts (6 megabytes in size) then disappears and RAM usage never exceeds 32 megabytes. I also didn’t detect an increase in startup or shutdown times. CPU usage is anywhere from 5 to 12 percent. VirusBuster clearly has one of the most efficient antivirus engines.

The only complaint is the interface. The publisher really needs to update it to compete with other mainstream antivirus. I would also like to see some more customization settings.

Blink Personal 4.8 Endpoint Antivirus Review

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 10:05:00 -1200

eEye Digital Security released an updated endpoint protection, Blink Personal 4.8. I have used eEye security programs for years and appreciate the attention to making a system actually secure. The program provides a series of protections including full virus and spyware protection, an intrusion prevention system (IPS), vulnerability scans, system protection (registry and application), firewall, and a lot of customizable settings for the advanced user. Therefore, the program is really more of an internet security program than a simple endpoint antivirus. All of these protection come in an easy to use package that kind of resembles the Sophos interface.

Blink Personal 4.8 Endpoint Free Direct Download

The installation of eEye was problem free on the test system. The installer is quite large at 179 megabytes, but this seems reasonable considering it has both the 32 and 64 bit versions inside. The installer prompts one to uninstall potentially conflicting software but doesn’t do it automatically. Once the installer finished the program immediately started and didn’t require a reboot to finish. Unfortunately, even though this version is supposedly the latest, the updater had to download several new components including a new updater and antivirus engine, in addition to the definitions (rules). About 30 megabytes of updates needed to be downloaded before initial operation.

Blink Personal 4.8 has three different types of scanning the quick, full, and custom. For each scan one can customize the decompression depth (how far to unzip archived files; speed vs. security trade off), a sandbox scan mode, heuristics, boot sector scanning, and also the scan priority among others. With the scanning priority set to high, scanning is quite slow at an average of 10 files per second. Disk access remained at about 5.3 megabytes per second making it about the same speed as the average free antivirus. The scanner did detect a VNC server on the test system and the quick scan took about 20 minutes to finish. One feature I liked was the option to defer the current scan for a later time period. The virus and spyware management acts like a quarantine and clearly detected all traces of the VNC server including registry entries. One has the option to restore a detected file, add it to a trusted list, or even rescan the file. Quarantine files are also rescanned after every update to mitigate the false positive risk. As far as updating goes there is the option to retry an update if it failed within the last 2 hours.

The most unqiue thing about Blink Personal 4.8 is its Intrusion Prevention System or IPS and eEye’s specialty. The default set is broken down with analyzers (Http, IP rules that check host headers, upnp, malformed POST requests and 1000’s more) and signatures specific attacks such as a LinkedIN IE Toolbar Buffer overflow. Each rule can be further customized via protocol, whether its local or not, excluded ip’s, and descriptions (has bugtraq and CVE classifications). The best part is that one can create their own rules (very advanced) for very specific situations. This powerful functionality is perfect to lock down a windows server. The system can also capture the specific ip packet involved, has phishing identity protection, and can be set as passive or an IDS.

The firewall also has a comprehensive rule based system. Unfortunately, there isn’t an auto learn mode except for Microsoft signed executables. One will be prompted but on an application level not on a port level so, only initial configuration is required. The vulnerability scanner scans on a schedule basis and can be set according to a user defined time frame. Finally, the System protection has the option to allow or enable removable drives and also has API protection or a self defense for Blink Personal 4.8 items. One can also set an admin password and ban certain ip addresses.

The applications resource usage is average While idle, the program uses approximately 100 megabytes of RAM. When scanning, the RAM usage doesn’t increase (nice) and uses 7 to 10 percent CPU power depending on the scan priority.

Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 Beta Free

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 10:08:00 -1200

Kaspersky Labs has just released their 2012 beta. The biggest change is a brand new interface which the company has really made a lot of strides with. The menus are clean and have a Norton (the previous interface benchmark) like feel to them. All of the additional submenus are easily accessible via a sliding motion. In addition to an updated interface, there is a new rootkit detection engine, updated cloud integration via the Kaspersky Security Network to classify trusted programs and hardened behavioral analysis, Digital Identity Protection via securing critical areas, and improved scanning performance. The beta license key lasts for 3 months and is free.

Download Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 Beta Free

The installation of Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 Beta was relatively straightforward. The download size was kind of large at 137 megabytes in size. The installer did check for conflicting antivirus but automatically uninstalled them unlike competitors. The installer required a restart to finish and didn’t run into any hiccups after that. The test system seemed mildly affected after the installation and took approximately 30 more seconds than normal to boot. The program installs a desktop widget even though they globally are disabled. The widget displays the status, settings, and reports. The updater has a slight compatibility problem and caused background windows to crash until the update was complete.

Kaspersky 2012 Beta offers three scanning options the Full, Critical Areas, Custom Scans (simply drag an item into it), and the Vulnerability scans. The scan just starts in the main window, if one wants to see the status of the scan or other background tasks simply click the Kaspersky Task Manager. What’s interesting is the virus scanner started on the non primary and non O/S partition first (D: Drive), which I think is kind of counterintuitive. The scanner scans at approximately 8 to 16 megabytes per second (peaking at 36 megabytes which is the hard drive maximum) which is incredibly fast. The scanner also has excellent multicore efficiency and even effectively uses the hyperthreading cores (i.e. if the system has the performance it will utilize it). The scanner didn't detect any viruses on the test system but did have tooltip alerts for password protected archives. Kaspersky 2012 Beta scanned approximately 100,000 files within 15 minutes. This performance is way faster than the average free antivirus that runs at approximately 5 to 6 megabytes per second. The scanner didn’t detect any viruses or false positives on the test system. What’s nice is that the program stores in memory where a full scan left off so one doesn’t need to start it over and over again.

Kaspersky 2012 Beta has a ton of features. The Applications Activity is similar to Norton Insight in that it classifies all programs as trusted or not and displays the popularity. However, one can really drill down and apply a firewall like rule to any application as far as its effects on operating system, system services, and more. The application run sequence shows exactly when the program started and, who, what, when, where questions. The Digital Identity Protection is as far as I know a first for Kaspersky 2012 Beta. Rather than just detecting if a user defined password string has left the system, Kaspersky has predefined locations where identity (passwords etc) are being stored (within the registry etc.) and protects them for Windows and applications. For example, for Opera it protects wand.dat which stores predefined passwords and Skype's Account and History. This way a Trojan cannot lift data from a users computer. There is a new feature called safe run for websites which puts a green frame around the desired webrowser which I believe sandboxes it. This is amazing because on doesn’t have to use a dedicated security browser. There is also a security toolbar installed for IE, Firefox, and even Chrome which gives easy access to the virtual keyboard and phishing protection. The firewall has predefined rules and packet rules too. Firewall rules are classified as trusted, low and high restricted, and untrusted automatically. One can also create custom rules.

There are literally hundreds of settings for one to customize in Kaspersky 2012 Beta. I would bore one just going through them all. The most intriguing are the battery saving mode (disables schedule scans), a gaming profile, self defense to prevent antivirus files from being tampered with, I-M antivirus, and a Network attack blocker. I have included a screenshot with all the settings menus.

Resource usage is slightly above average on the test system. While idle, the program used approximately 67 megabytes of RAM. During scanning, the program used about 170 megabytes of RAM and 15 to 20 (peaking at 50) percent CPU power. These numbers are higher than the average free antivirus but given the speed of scanning and the amount of features, acceptable.

Panda Global Protection 2012 Beta Review

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 11:01:00 -1200

Panda Security has just released a beta version of Global Protection. This only continues the trend of antivirus companies jumping the gun on their 2012 programs. However, this gives the company the opportunity to make changes and improve an already great program. New in the 2012 version is a brand new interface made to address most of the user complaints about the previous version, new firewall, cloud integration, a safe browser (sandboxes), excellent resource management and more. The Beta also includes a generous free license key lasting more than 3 months.

Download Panda Global Protection 2012 Beta

The installation of Panda Global Protection 2012 was ok. The download was a reasonable 70 megabytes and comes with definitions dated 2/22/11 (nice and significantly cut down the time and size of the first update). I initially ran the installer and it detected multiple conflicts with already installed security software. However, none of these programs, Norton Security Scan, MalwareBytes Free really even create a conflict. The fourth time I ran the installer (after a restart) I was able to get it working. There are quite a few options, so make sure to read them. The custom installation allows one to install individual components, there is the auto learning firewall option for common programs, and also permission to send suspicious files to the cloud. The installer required a restart (presumably for the firewall driver) but started regardless.

There are four scanning options the scan all my computer, hard disk, mail (nice unique feature), other items, and detect vulnerabilities. A quick scan seems to be missing but the real time shield does a pretty fast job (scanned 5,000 items upon first launch). The full system scan option was really quite fast at 5 to 16 megabytes per second (fastest tested scanning in a while). The program also seems to exhibit excellent multicore efficiency compared to the average free antivirus. In a period of 20 minutes, Panda Global Protection 2012 had scanned 200,000 files! One problem is that the scanned counter, minimize, and close icons constantly blinked during scanning (a minor issue). The scanned percentage counter also appears to be slightly inaccurate. The scanner didn’t detect any viruses or false positives.

The most unique feature appears to be the Panda Safe Browser. Unfortunately, the program is an additional download at 3 megabytes. The program still feels kind of beta in that it first needs to be run as an administrator. If not, one will receive a cryptic login box for an administrator which looks like it belongs in Windows 2000. The additional installer needed to download Virtual Box and run a separate installer (a 72 megabytes download to function correctly, evident why it isn’t included by default). The safe browser needs to be streamlined into a single install with the correct components.

The vulnerability option remains the same as the previous version. There is simply a small check box to enable or disable. It would be nice to know what vulnerabilities are protected against. The firewall interface is not too different. The firewall did detect a lot of secure safe programs including Asus utilities, Firefox updater, and all Adobe programs so this is indicative of a large trusted program database. The rules for each program can be modified to allow or disallow inbound outbound connections and is presented in an intuitive manner. There are custom permissions but they only include options for TCP and UDP ports. There also is Wifi protection which defines who is allowed to access the PC by IP, Host Name or MAC address, however this approach is quite manual. The network management area shows the local network.

Resource usage is nothing more than fantastic. While scanning, the program is using only 37 megabytes of memory across 10 different processes. CPU usage is average at 8 to 14 % but again is spread efficiently throughout the processor cores. Therefore, concurrent usage is hardly affected. While idle the program is using a ridiculous 12 megabytes of RAM (this is by far the best for an internet security program let alone a free antivirus).

Eventhough the interface is updated, I would still like to see improvement as it still lags behind competitors and some of Panda’s own programs. However, the engine is so efficient compared to the competition. Relatively little needs to be done to make this program a winner.

Free DE-Cleaner Review Standalone Antivirus

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 09:00:00 -1200

Today Avira, Symantec, and Kaspersky have released a free stand alone antivirus called DE-Cleaner. The program utilizes the latest virus definitions which are the same as the premium versions. The scanner doesn’t have to be installed on the system and does not write anything to the registry or make any file modifications; all it does is scan, detect, and delete with great accuracy. The scanner is also sponsored by the German Federal Office for Information Security which provides security for the federal government. The software can also be installed on a flash drive for on the go virus scanning. Therefore, one can get on demand scanning for free from three reputable antivirus companies!

The installation of Avira DE-Cleaner was easy. The install file was only 864 kb in size making it very portable. Launching the program is as easy as clicking the exe file. DE-Cleaner will then immediately update virus definitions (which may I add is at a faster rate than then other Avira programs at approximately 300 kilobytes per second and took about 4 minutes to complete). The only problem with DE-Cleaner is that the language is currently only available in German. However, this didn’t stop non german speaking users, from updating and scanning the computer correctly. The program creates a desktop shortcut which immediately deletes all traces of the program (it's a white icon, I made the mistake too).

Avira DE-Cleaner has a very efficient antivirus engine. In fact, the program scanned at approximately 5 to 15 megabytes per second which is faster than most free antivirus including some of Avira’s other programs . The scanner is pretty basic in that it doesn’t show an elapsed time, time til completion, or even a pause button. However, that doesn't stop DE-Cleaner from having excellent detection. The program detected four viruses on the test system (it plays the windows alert noise whenever a virus is detected). The results area displays the viruses detected (TR/AntiHosts.Gen, BOS/Poison.bxap, SPR/Aircra.A.944139) with links to the Avira website for detailed explanation for each virus.

The resource usage is one point of contention. Avira DE-Cleaner uses about 90 megabytes of RAM and about 4 percent CPU power when scanning. The RAM usage is higher than average but keep in mind that it only needs to be run occasionally. Finally, the program makes an excellent addition to an antivirus toolkit but I just hope they include English translations in the future.

Quick Heal Antivirus Pro 2011 Review Free

Sun, 27 Feb 2011 09:59:00 -1200

Quick Heal has recently updated their antivirus line for 2011. The new versions include a brand new interface and installer, claimed lower resource usage, faster scanning, firewall, a separate malware protection engine, and more. The biggest complaint with the previous version was the interface. The 2011 version really gives Quick Heal a more mainstream feel and kind of resembles the Trend Micro Titanium+ interface. The settings are also similar to something from Norton with sliders. In addition to comprehensive antivirus protection, Quick Heal 2011 includes a lot of additional and actually useful diagnostic tools including a track cleaner, system explorers and more.

Download Quick Heal Antivirus 2011 Free Directly

The installation of Quick Heal 2011 was very straight forward. The program included a small initial installer that detected the 64 bit version and started the download. Unfortunately, the installer is definitely on the larger side at 179 megabytes to be exact (one of the largest installers tested) but still includes a lot of features. After the download finished, the program immediately started and didn’t require a reboot. The installer ran an initial virus scan but didn’t warn of conflicting security software. The publishers have clearly done extensive testing on Windows 7.

Quick Heal 2011 offers three scanning options the full system, custom, memory and boot time scans. The full system scan, scans at approximately 3 to 4 megabytes (about 20 files) per second which is on the slower side. The scanner seems to experience some slowdowns with archived and large files. However, it’s nice that it shows the archived files contents as they are extracted and scanned. I am personally intrigued by the Anti-Malware software that was included with the package. Not too long ago I got a Trojan that attempted to install fake or rouge antivirus on the test system. While none of the malware remains active (I hope), Quick Heal 2011 was able to detect all of the registry traces of the rouge antivirus and even listed the websites that they belong to. This is after running multiple full system scans with Norton and other free antivirus. Therefore, if one has rouge antivirus, Quick Heal 2011 is the ticket to remove them (it also has dedicated real time protection against them); I can’t emphasize this more. Quick Heal 2011 also offers cloud based scanning via the DNA Scan technology. If heuristics determines a suspicious file, it can be uploaded to the cloud for additional analysis. Though it would have been nice if there was a quick scan option because full system scan took forever. After 45 minutes the scanning was only 5% done. There is a nice skip file or folder option if one thinks the scanning is taking too long.

In addition, to excellent virus and malware detection, Quick Heal has a ton of features. I liked the email protection features in which only trusted email programs can send email. This is perfect against blocking spam irc bots. There is a nifty registry restore backup feature. It appears that Quick Heal 2011 takes a registry snapshot during installation. When malware is detected, the program can automatically restore registry keys that may have been modified. Even though, this is technically just an antivirus, it also includes a full functioning firewall. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the settings to customize it but inside the report view it is indicated that the firewall includes IDS and IPS systems. In the tools section there is also the option to create an emergency CD. Quick Heal 2011 will automatically install the latest virus definitions on the CD to clean boot sector viruses and locked malicious processes. There is a dedicated USB drive protection option that protects against auto run files and scans a removable drive before it can become active. Finally, there is a track cleaner and hijack restorer that can restore the host file and other important settings.

Quick Heal 2011’s resource usage is quite subpar. During scanning, the program started an additional process and used 191 megabytes of RAM and 7 to 8 percent CPU power. While idle, Quick Heal 2011 used 20 megabytes of RAM. These numbers are significantly more than the average free antivirus and definitely need some work. Also, it seemed that concurrent computer usage was affected by the full system scan making it hard to complete other tasks (even with 8 effective processor cores).

Quick Heal Antivirus Pro 2011 is definitely an improvement over the previous version. However, while the scanner may offer great protection it needs some efficiency work.

Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.4 Free Review

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 10:54:00 -1200

Panda has just released a new version of their venerable free cloud antivirus. The last time we reviewed Panda Cloud Antivirus was several months ago. Version 1.4 includes a brand new toolbar that detects malicious websites, background automatic updates, fewer nag screens, new behavioral detection, support for firefox 4 and IE 9, enhanced resource management, and better virus detection capabilities. While the backend gets a major update, the interface still remains mostly the same with a few aesthetic enhancements (mainly a transparency?). However, Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.4 remains one of the few free antivirus that can be installed concurrently with other antivirus.

Download Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.4 Free Directly

The installation of Panda was seamless. The download was approximately 33 megabytes in size. The program has both the pro and the free versions in the same download. One can also opt not to install the phishing toolbar which has yahoo included. I ran into one problem when changing the drive location as it wouldn’t let me simply change the C: to the D: drive via the entry box. After the install completed, Panda had no problem operating with Norton 360.

After Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.4 started, I was presented with two scanning options. The optimized scan, “scan all my computer”, and the “scan other items” option. The optimized scan moved along at a fast rate and scanned at approximately 3 megabytes a second. The program had a constant connection to the internet during the scan via the PSANhost.exe process sending a small amount of data (a few KB). This is contrary to other reviewers saying the virus definitions are all on the cloud thereby making scanning slower. Once the scan reached 99%, PSANhost.exe peaked at about 200 KB a second. This is presumably when Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.4 uploads suspicious files to the cloud for additional scanning. The scan found a suspicious file (cookie via Chrome) and a took about 20 minutes to finish on the test system.

In addition, to real time protection there is a new USB vaccine feature. One can select a certain drive to vaccinate and also enable automatic removable drive protection. In the advanced settings area one can configure the behavioral blocking and analysis. Surprisingly behavioral analysis isn’t enabled by default (probably creates a few false positives), regardless I encourage one to enable it. Finally, the quarantine is now called the recycle bin and there is also an exclusion list for safe items.

Resource usage with Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.4 is nothing more than amazing. The program uses only 1 megabyte of RAM while idle. This is the best performing antivirus and seems to even beat out Prevx, the previous fewest resource competitor. While scanning, the memory footprint increases to about 26 megabytes but uses only about 1 to 2 percent CPU power while actively scanning. This again is way below the average free antivirus.

Consider Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.4 as an additional layer of protection. However, keep a full version antivirus installed with additional firewall and anti-spyware capabilities.

Free Norton 360 5.0 Review and Download

Sat, 19 Feb 2011 07:51:00 -1200

Norton has just released the 5.0 version of their popular antivirus program, Norton 360. New in this version is a revamped interface, better threat detection for downloads before they can execute, reputation level and facebook wall scanning, and additional performance improvements. I installed Norton 360 5.0 because I recently downloaded an information stealing Trojan by accident. The virus didn’t have a definition for it and I needed be assured that I had the most effective detection against any new variants. Norton is the only program I know of with pulse update technology or something like push email. Rather than Norton 360 asking Live Update for definitions based upon a set schedule, the Live Update server tells ones computer when they have an update and automatically downloads and installs them. The result is virus definitions that are downloaded every 1, 5, or 10 minutes. Compare this to a free antivirus like AVG or Avira that only update once the entire day! New viruses don’t just come out at 12:00 am every night they are released every second from all over the world.

Download Norton 360 5.0 Free - Direct Download - 60 day subscription

The installation of Norton 360 5.0 has improved to the point where it is the fastest I have seen yet. The installation literally completed in about 1 minute (at most 2), installed all services, and started the antivirus without a system restart. The download was on the larger size at 144 megabytes. The customization options for the installation were basically non existent except for the ability to change the destination drive. It would have been nice to add or subtract components like the firewall etc. Once the installation was done, the program needed to perform an initial update. The update was approximately 90 megabytes in size. Therefore, one might want to have a fast connection to get Norton 360 5.0 up to date.

The scanning process of Norton 360 5.0 is one of the best. The scanner always checks for the latest virus definitions before scanning (definitions reported that they had been updated 2 minutes ago and the scanner already found a new update!). The virus scanner also scans for spyware, removes temporary files, and defragments the computer. According to Windows Resource Monitor, ccSvcHst.exe was accessing the disk at about 25 megabytes a second for the trace based spyware scan, and 2 to 5 megabytes a second for the regular antivirus scan. It appears that it is scanning at an average of 100 files of per second. Norton 360 5.0 does selectively slow or increase scanning speed based upon the computers usage. The full system scan took about on and half hours on the test system (two hard drive partitions) and detected several viruses that others left behind (see the screenshot). The only annoying thing is that for detected high threats (non active process) one cannot ignore them. They must be deleted. I do like that virus scans can be instantly paused and resumed and don't have a huge scanning lag like most free antivirus.

Norton 360 5.0 includes many additional features including a auto learning firewall with intrusion prevention (I never saw a dialog box to allow a program). One annoying thing is that I wasn’t able to configure the advanced events monitoring area with the key logger, code injection etc. options. I do like the use default option presented on all the settings pages if one makes a mistake. The firewall also auto allowed a VNC server on the test computer which I think the user should be prompted to block (a special case). The Norton Insight protection scanned 73% of the files on the computer and stated that 27% will be scanned. However, after 2 days the 27% number didn't change. The identity protection option includes Norton Safe Web antiphishing toolbar which works for firefox and IE (didn’t appear to install on google chrome). There is a backup option but it still only backups personal files and not operating system files. The PC tuneup area allows for system defrags and cleans temporary internet files. There is now an option to optimize Windows startups. I would still like to see more premium system cleaning features like registry scanning and defragging.

Norton 360 5.0 has also made great strides in resource management. With all the modules running at full protection the program only used about 10 megabytes during idle. This is quite amazing considering how many things are operating at once (firewall, real time scanners etc.). During scanning Norton 360 5.0 used about 120 megabytes of RAM and 10 percent CPU power.
If one wants the best virus protection available, Norton 360 5.0 will get one there with only a few minor hiccups.

Free Outpost Security Suite Review Download

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 06:47:00 -1200

Outpost was originally made famous by their basic security software that competed with the likes of Zone Alarm. The company has now revamped their offering making it essentially a free internet security program. Outpost Security Suite Free now includes a firewall, anti-spam, anti-leak system, and finally a fully functioning free antivirus with over 4.6 million antivirus definitions. Top this off with VB100 certification and a 144 out of 148 from Matousec.com (originally tested vulnerabilities in the antivirus themselves) and Outpost Security Suite Free is a highly competitive antivirus.

The installation of Outpost Security Suite was problem free (I have to be honest this is really quite rare for an installation if one reads most of these reviews). The setup file was kind of large at 101 megabytes in size. However, one annoyance is the registration process. One has to confirm their email address on an online form and then paste the serial into the program. The only problem is that it’s difficult to find where to do that. It is hidden in the update area of the program. However, once this is completed, the program is activated for 1 year. Outpost warned that the free version doesn’t really receive timely updates, however, I always had the daily virus definitions loaded (there are hourly updates too).

Outpost Security Suite Free has a relatively modern antivirus engine. The program utilizes memory or smart scan technology to make subsequent scans faster. However, actually virus scanning is really quite slow. Estimated time till completion for a full system scan was about 6 hours. While this estimation is inaccurate (I tested individual folders and it completed in about half the estimated time) it is still quite slow. According to Windows Resource Monitor, Outpost Security Suite Free is accessing the disk at approximately 1.2 to 3.5 megabytes per second, which is definitely on the slower end when compared with other free antivirus. As far as detection goes, I just got a Trojan on the test system from an IRS phishing email. ComboFix was able to repair it while Outpost didn't detect this problem. While this is a subjective test, it also showed how hard it is to manually disable protection on the program (a good thing). Outpost did detect a trojan called Bzub which is a password stealing trojan (I am greatful)!

In addition to a scanning engine, Outpost Security Suite includes a great firewall. I want to emphasis great because I never got a single warning from a program that wanted to access the internet (trusted programs). This is because Outpost utilizes rules auto-creation from trusted vendors. In practice, this worked as well or better than Norton Insight Protection and all other free antivirus tested including Comodo. Outpost Security Suite also detected all local trusted network connections automatically. Finally there is a security slider where one change the setting from Rules Wizard to Block Most etc. The firewall also runs in stealth mode, has extensive ICMP handling settings, and manual rule capability.

Two other notable features of Outpost Security Suite Free are the anti-leak and anti-spam systems. The anti-leak function scans a wide variety of functions including keyboard logging, driver loading, windows hooking, low level networking, and more. The anti-spam system is rudimentary and only works with a few email clients but again is supplied completely for free. Both of these protections can also be customized via a slider in the settings menu.

Resource usage with Outpost Security Suite Free is reasonable and in line with the average free antivirus. While idle the program used approximately 50 megabytes of RAM. While scanning, the program used about 100 megabytes of RAM. Sometimes CPU usage can spike up to 25% but remained at about 10%.

Free Bitdefender 2011 Internet Security

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 09:50:00 -1200

Bitdefender has released their 2011 version with several improvements. The biggest improvement is really an emphasis on an easier to use interface and tutorials. In fact, Bitdefender 2011 has over 31 tutorial videos that one can watch on a complete range of subjects. The interface remains similar to the 2010 version. One can switch from either the expert, basic, or intermediate views. Virus detection and prevention has improved and Bitdefender makes out with an advanced rating (the second highest ranking from AV-comparatives). Below get 91 days of Bitdefender Internet Security for free.

Free Bitdefender Internet Security Direct Link

The installation of Bitdefender 2011 went smoothly but took a while. The initial download is only 1.3 megabytes in size. However, the full download is approximately 300 megabytes in size so be prepared to wait a while if one has a slow connection. Once the installer launched there are several features that stand out. First, the installer runs a quick scan on the system and then updates the antivirus. The basic theme is that there is a novice and an expert install mode. I chose the expert one because Bitdefender asks for a large amount of personal information. The installer wants to collect Usage information, opt in newsletters, set participation in the cloud network; all selected by default. Once the installer completed the program loaded an initial video.

Bitdefender 2011 offers a full system, deep system (must be added onto the interface), quick, and vulnerability scan. The quick scan scans .exe, .sys, and .dll files located throughout the computer. The scan utilizes a memory functionality and increases in speed. The first scan took about 1 minute and 30 seconds while the next one completed in approximately 10 seconds. The full system scan checks files at about 70 to 200 per second and accesses the disk at 4 to 10 megabytes per second. The full system scan took about 1 hour to complete. These figures make Bitdefender 2011 faster than most free antivirus that have been tested. The most unique scan that Bitdefender 2011 offers is the Vulnerability scanner. This checks if a computer has the latest Windows updates, application updates, and if a system has weak passwords. However, it would be nice if the application updates supports more programs than just the most basic (aka firefox, skype etc.).

Since Bitdefender 2011 is an internet security program it includes several other features. In addition to a full http antivirus, cloud, and behavioral engine, Bitdefender 2011 includes a full IDS (Intrusion Detection System). The IDS stops keyloggers, dll injections, rouge drivers from installing. There is then a full firewall which auto determines trusted programs that can access the internet. A privacy and parental control limit which data can accessed by certain programs and blocks traffic based upon Windows user accounts. There is an antispam system and also an encryption mode that encrypts msn and yahoo chats. There is a game or laptop mode in which Bitdefender 2011 senses when the ac power is plugged in and disables certain functionality accordingly. Finally there is a home network option which adds a layer of security on a windows networking. Basically, there are about 10 times the features in the average free antivirus and I highly encourage one to take a look themselves (this paragraph does not do justice to the amount available).

Resource usage for Bitdefender is on the reasonable side keeping in mind the amount of modules. There are on average about 5 processes in memory using about 120 megabytes of RAM. CPU usage is surprisingly lower than most free antivirus ranging from 4 to 8 percent. I didn’t really notice a system slow down. However, the anti-phishing toolbar does slow down internet browsing significantly.

A few problems I encountered with Bitdefender 2011 were just an overwhelming about amount of customizable settings. It also seemed that a lot of protections weren’t enabled. Sometimes the tray icon would disappear even though the program is scanning. There clearly needs to be some improvement on how the windows are managed. I would also like to see more Norton like graphics and information presented in an easier way to understand manner. Finally, keep in mind that Bitdefender 2011 is designed for more technical users.

Prevention Antivirus Free Edition Review

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 10:26:00 -1200

Prevention is a new free antivirus by a company called Prevention Technologies located in the UK. The program offers daily updated antivirus definitions and even is certified by VB 100, a premier antivirus testing company. Some other features include a small system footprint and download, quick scanning times, real-time protection, and an easy to use interface. One problem with Prevention is that the interface closely resembles Digital Defender. However, both companies are located in different offices in England and don’t reveal that they have any business relationship. Prevention offers its programs as OEM style so it may be that they are the parent company.

Prevention Free Edition Direct Download

The installation of Prevention was easy. The download was a compact 8 megabytes in size and started immediately after the installation. Unlike most non mainstream free antivirus, I did not have a problem installing the program on Windows 7 64bit. One annoying thing is that after the installation completed, Prevention needed to download an update that was 64 megabytes in size. It would have been nice that the program included at least a partial update.

Virus scanning is pretty straightforward. There are three scanning options the quick, full, and custom scans. The quick scan appears to scan for .exe, .dll, and .sys files throughout all folders on a system. It’s nice that Prevention chose these files types (most frequently affected by viruses) and to scan additional areas other than the Windows Folder like competitors. The downside is that the quick scan is slower than most and completed in approximately 10 minutes. Prevention didn’t detect any viruses on the test system. However, the company has a daily updated list of the top detected viruses.

Prevention resource usage is average. The program uses about 96 megabytes of RAM spread across 4 different processes. During scanning the program used approximately 13 percent CPU power which is on par with other free antivirus. The virus scanner scans from 7 to 9 megabytes per second, which makes it faster than most competitors. Unfortunately, since Prevention doesn’t run as a background process, the program affects concurrent process quite a bit.

In addition, to real time protection and on demand scanning Prevention has some additional features. There is a white list functionality which allows one to add files or folders for exclusion from the scan. There are several languages offered, a full quarantine functionality, decent logging, and a fix all button which can quickly resolve an unsecure system.

ArcaVir 2011 Review Free Download

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 11:56:00 -1200

It's been barely a month since I reviewed the 2010 version but, the 2011 version has already arrived. New to ArcaVir 2011 is a revamped interface, many new variants (i.e. internet security, home protection; in fact there are 4 in all ) and a general increase in performance. The program definitely has a more lightweight and mainstream feel to it. Hopefully, these and many unreported changes will alleviate some of the problems (incorrect translations and a general beta feel) in the previous version.

The installation of ArcaVir 2011 was mediocre. The test computer had a previous version installed on it and it wouldn’t accept the new version. This was due to the fact that the uninstaller didn’t remove the original Windows services. Therefore, I had to install ArcaVir 2011 on a 32bit test computer. However, the uninstall problems appear to have been fixed in ArcaVir 2011. Once the installation completed the program immediately launched and didn’t require a restart.

The interface has completely changed and it definitely has a more Norton like feel to it. ArcaVir 2011 seems significantly more smooth and now is actually faster than most free antivirus competitors. There are now two scanning options the quick scan and the full system scan. The quick scan appears to scan the ArcaVir folder, web browser folders (IE and firefox), user folders, and then the windows and system32 folders. The quick scan took approximately 30 seconds to complete. The full system scan brings up an additional dialog box where one can create scanning profiles. ArcaVir 2011 scans files at approximately 115 files or 3 megabytes per second. This is on par with most free antivirus. ArcaVir detected the virus Downloader.Boltolog.Lee on the test system.

ArcaVir 2011 memory usage has significantly improved. The program uses 5 to 7 processes and about 60 megabytes of memory while idle and surprisingly remains the same while scanning. Cpu usage during scanning is on par with other free antivirus at about 10 to 15 percent. I think it’s quite amazing that ArcaVir went from a fairly clunky antivirus to a polished one in such a short amount of time.

The settings menu has been completely revamped and now has a sliding effect to it. There are also more settings available like settings profiles, disabling system restore during a scan, quick scans on startup, the molecule function, very extensive mail scan settings (particularity mass mail protection so that a spambot can’t take over a system), and password protection.

All and all, ArcaVir 2011 has significantly improved from previous versions and now mirrors mainstream free antivirus in features and performance.

Free Avast 6 Beta Review - Download 2011

Sun, 30 Jan 2011 07:23:00 -1200

Avast has just released they highly anticipated version 6 of their free antivirus. The biggest change for the free version is new sandbox technology, web script protection, and site blocking. These features were previously only available in the full version. Even though the Avast 6 is technically in beta, the program performed well without any error messages. This is a testament to the publisher's quality. I have included a link to a 3 versions (free, pro, and internet security) for download. Get them while they are hot!

The installation went great. The first thing that the installer did after copying the files was running a quick system scan. This is a great feature considering that many users have malware that interfere with the functionality of their antivirus even before they can actually get it installed. Next, the finally quirk was a “welcome to avast” sound message that all I can say, puts the icing on the cake. Avast 6 installs a nice desktop widget that lets users drag files to get scanned, update, and maximize the program window.

The first thing that stands out about Avast 6 is how much it offers for free. The first thing that is completely different than any competitors, is the update frequency. The common theme throughout this sites reviews are that all free versions (AVG, Avira etc.) limit the virus definitions update frequency to once daily at a minimum; this severely hampers a computers security against zero day threats. However, Avast 6 Free lets the user customize this. The default setting is 240 minutes I simply changed it to 10 minutes!

Virus scanning is very fast with Avast 6. Within in four minutes, the scanner had already scanned 24 gigabytes of data. The disconcerting thing is that the scanner reports some amazingly high number of the speed of the scan 300 to 35 megabytes per second (settles around 35) while, resource monitor only indicates that the disk is being accessed at 3 to 6 megabytes per second. Avast might want to improve its speed metric. The full system scan didn’t detect any viruses on the test system.

I want to report that resource usage by Avast 6 is well below competitors and is highly optimized for low resource usage. The program only uses two processes AvastUI.exe and AvastSvc.exe. Even while scanning, one is looking at a maximum of 20 megabytes of RAM being used and CPU usage that frequently doesn’t break 5 percent. These are the best of any antivirus tested (excluding prevx). All of this really translates into little or no effect on concurrent tasks. Forget game (silent) mode, one doesn’t even need to turn it on. Boot time was maybe extended by about 15 seconds to load the widget. Finally, the full system scan took under 1 hour to complete (100 gigabytes of data).

Avast 6 includes a full set of real time shields. The IM, mail, web, network, script, p2p, and file system shield. I just want to say something about the p2p and the IM shield. They have by far the best program support of any free antivirus tested. Also, all other shields have customizable settings and great packer protection.

Finally, Avast 6 includes the auto sandbox feature which executes suspicious files in an isolated environment automatically. There is also a web rep toolbar similar to WOT which supports firefox and even the IE9. There is also site blocking and password protection (one can specify which areas users have access to). What more does one want!?

Free G Data Internet Security 2012 Download

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 11:29:00 -1200

It’s just barely 2011 and I haven’t even begun to review all of the newly released antivirus. Ironically, today I just came across G Data’s new 2012 internet security program; the famed dual engine scanner (Avast and Bitdefender combined), upping the ante. Since the program is in beta, the file is quite large at over 312 megabytes in size (also has the latest version of G Data’s boot cd included). If you have the patience to download it (downloaded from a germany .de). I highly encourage it. I have also included a free full version license code in the picture above. Most of the 2012 improvements include antivirus engine upgrades, increased zero day protection, and an idle on demand scanner.

Download G-Data Internet Security 2012 Full Version Directly

Aside from the large download, the installation of G Data Internet Security 2012 was alright. I did get a visual basic run time error and a blank error box, but the installer was still able to complete. There are a few out of the ordinary options. First, one can select that the definitions are updated hourly. Second, I encourage one to use the custom installation because one can install the new 64 bit shredder and also parental controls (I did not install the latter for this review).

Once the installation was completed, the main interface launched. There is a myriad of information displayed on one window and I feel G Data did a great job displaying it all in an easy to read manner. First of all, there really are a ton of settings so if one wants to get the full use out of the program, an above average proficiency is probably needed. This is not the average free antivirus.

The virus protection offers several different scanning options. There is the check computer (full system scan), check memory and startup, removal media, and a nifty check for rootkits option. The first thing that separates G Data from the many competitors is the remaining time till scan completion and the virus scanner is also fast. The scanner accesses the disk at 6 to 10 megabytes per second (well ahead of most free antivirus that have been tested) not to mention a check computer (full system) scan takes a brisk hour to complete. Within the scan screen there is the option to pause the scan at times of high load. This is nice as concurrent tasks will not be affected by an on demand scan. The scanner didn’t detect any specific virus on the test system. However one can expect close to 99% detection rates as Avast 5 and Bitdefender always rank among the best detection rates.

Resource usage is surprisingly reasonable considering that the program includes a firewall, spam, email, and web protection in addition to the core virus engine. In idle operation, the program uses about 40 megabytes across 9 processes. When scanning, the scan server can bounce all over the place. One second the scan sever is using 100 megabytes while the other it is using 6 megabytes. CPU usage is a little out of control at 12 to 50 percent CPU power. However, G Data is one of the few free antivirus scanners to utilize multi core (multithreaded) operation effectively. I did notice an additional 1 to 2 minutes added boot time. Also, during a virus scan, Microsoft Word and other concurrent tasks were fairly affected by the scan.

In addition to the virus scanner, the firewall is extremely user friendly. The default setting is autopilot mode in which the user will never see any firewall warning messages (network activities are checked at the application level). However, maximum security and high security involve checking via firewall rules. One can even opt to create rules manually through advanced settings such as query and reference checking. It would be nice if there was a help icon to explain the features.

In addition, to the above features there is a very comprehensive antispam system (blacklist and whitelist), web protection (scans http traffic and phishing protection), unsecure wireless network detection, and an updated boot cd.

Some problems I encountered where settings pages merging into each other as one moves through them, just a general slow down of the system, one has to define the port numbers for IM checking rather than them being predefined, the window wouldn’t remain on the top, and just a lot of settings that may be confusing for the novice user. I think it would be nice for G Data to offer a template system like Bitdefender has (the capability to switch between expert and novice modes) and other free antivirus also have.

All in all, if one is looking for extremely comprehensive security and not concerned about the performance drawbacks check out G Data. Please keep in mind that this is a beta program and it is not a full version.

Trustport Antivirus 2011 Free Download

Sat, 22 Jan 2011 06:58:00 -1200

I have reviewed Trustport before. The main concept of the program is that it has two antivirus engines installed, the Bitdefender and AVG engine. The engines scan simultaneously in a attempt to move detection levels above 99%. New for the 2011 version is a fully updated main interface where the previous version relied completely on the taskbar, a new prescaning feature for memory scans, and updated antivirus engine versions. At first glance it appears not a lot has changed from previous versions. I will try focus on what’s new for the 2011 version, one can reference the previous review for all features.

Download Trustport Antivirus 2011 Free Directly

The installation appears to be the same as the 2010 versions. The download size did increase 40 megabytes to 183 megabytes total. Since I considered the previous version large, it appears the publisher didn’t heed to the warnings posted here. Back to the biggest complaint of the free antivirus previously; the interface. The 2011 version interface has significantly improved. There is now a concrete home interface which shows the status of the real time protection and gives the user easy access to the expert or general settings. The only problem is that Trustport doesn’t even put a shortcut on the desktop. One has to navigate to the tray menu and double click on it to get the antivirus menu to open. Not exactly user friendly for novice users.

There are now a few scanning options the quick scan, all disks, local disks, removable media, registry, and custom scans. As with the previous version and most free antivirus, sandboxing is included to execute potential suspicious files in an isolated environment to see if they are harmful. The quick scan wasn’t exactly quick and took about 8 minutes to complete. The problem is that it only scanned 5,000 files and about 700 registry keys. The scanner scans at only 3 megabytes per second but uses a lot of CPU power, the highest I have seen yet on the test computer, 20 to 30% on a core i7. I also noticed that TrustPort 2011 causes a lot of hard faults in the memory and the program uses a substantial amount of memory while idle, 16 to 18% (assuming its prescanning but the computer wasn’t idle). Trustport 2011 uses about 40 megabytes when idle and about 70 when scanning. It didn’t appear the virus scan used a memory functionality and took the exact same amount of time on repeated attempts.

As far as extra features goes there aren’t many. The main extra feature appears to be the ability to switch the skin of the program. However, Trustport 2011 does offer quite a bit of tweaking capability. One can exclude specific folders and even processes (first time I have seen this) from scanning. Updates can also be configured hourly vs. daily for most free antivirus. There is also a auto removable drive scanner.

There really wasn’t much updated in the 2011 version, I wish I could report more. I hope subsequent updates contain more features.

Element Antivirus 2011 Review - Download

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 06:51:00 -1200

Element Antivirus is a UK based antivirus that provides full malware and rootkit protection. The program has four major components the computer security, backups, pc tuneup, and identity protection. However, I found that one will usually use the malware scanner as everything else is taken care of automatically. Element Antivirus also offers a low memory footprint and real time protection against viruses. Basically, everything one could want in a free antivirus but without the extra frills.

Download Element Antivirus 2011 Free

The installation of Element Antivirus was average. The program download was a very reasonable 14 megabytes. However, the installer produced some error messages. I have searched around online and other users have also reported some minor bugs. To Element Antivirus credit, they regularly update the core program on almost a weekly basis (which is actually needed).

The scanning process of Element is quite mediocre. The scanner detected multiple false positives on the test computer. They included Autoexec.nt (a crucial system file), seaport.exe (Microsoft search utility), msvcr71.dll (adobe acrobat component visual studio .net), and an extremely “dangerous” Trojan MSHY3ES.LEX (a word 2007 dictionary file). The problem is that a lot of these files are signed by Microsoft as being safe. The signing process is usually a primary identification method for almost all mainstream antivirus. Therefore, I can confirm that Element needs some help in this area. As far as scanning speed goes Element Antivirus can scans at 2 to 5 megabytes per second. It also seemed that Element kept scanning the same areas more than once.

Element includes some additional features. The system defrag option doesn’t even manage to complete and throws a memory error. The backup option is pretty reasonable and allow one to backup the entire system drive. There is also identity theft protection which protects against malicious websites, deletes internet tracks, and has the capability to manage passwords. The only problem with all of these utilities is there is no way to customize them. The advanced settings page has approximately 8 check boxes that control the experience. This is the worst settings page of all free antivirus that I have tested.

Resource usage is reasonable. The program uses about 45 megabytes of memory while idle and about 13 percent CPU power will scanning. Unfortunately, Element Antivirus 2011 feels as though it is still in the beta stage.

F-Secure Antivirus 2011 Review Free

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 11:03:00 -1200

F-Secure 2011 comes from a long line of successful and effective antivirus. The antivirus engine is recognized for its extremely accurate detection. In fact, the program won the product of the year award from av-comparatives (the premier antivirus detection efficacy company). New with 2011 are faster detection times with deepguard cloud protection, 24 hour virus response times, and an easy to use interface building on improvements in the 2010 version.

Download F-Secure Antivirus 2011 for Free

The installation of F-Secure 2011 was good except for one major hangup. For some reason upon launching the setup executable (55 megabytes in size) it causes an error message “Unspecified error. Please try again. (error code -25). The problem is the program needed to be run as an administrator. But, why this privilege elevation was not included by default behooves me. Once I got the installer to work, it needed to install the updates from within so be prepared to wait at least 15 minutes for it to complete (again not one of my favorite ways of doing this). The installer also now scans for conflicting security programs.

The appearance of F-Secure 2011 has basically remained the same as the 2010 version but added some green highlights. The scanning settings also seem to be the same as previous versions. However, this time the GUI completely crashed during a virus and spyware scan. This was due to the fact that I navigated to the main screen and clicked on some icons while a scan was in progress. Even though, the processes in memory were still there, the tray icon, scanning screen, and main screen all disappeared. They eventually came back but the scanning status remained hidden. While the test computer is a main stream windows 7 64bit home i7 computer, this is some of the most problems I have had with an antivirus software on this machine. I started the scan again. Regardless of the problems, scanning speed was way above most free antivirus competitors at 10 to 20 megabytes per second. The scan also utilizes a memory scan and gets faster after successive scans. The first scan took about 8 minutes while the next scan took about 1 minute to scan 6800 files (a third scan took 15 seconds). No viruses were detected during the scan. The F-Secure Hydra, Gemini, and Aquarius engines were utilized.

Like previous versions, F-Secure 2011 is lacking on configurable features and prefers to do most things automatically (great for novice users). The deepguard technology works like Norton Insight to depend on the cloud and label programs as trusted or untrusted. Unlike most free antivirus which determine Hotspot Shield as malicious (it technically isn’t), F-Secure 2011 marked it as safe. The update system doesn’t have a setting for the frequency of updates so I assume they are pushed immediately when they become available. This means that the program could update as frequently as every minute if needed.

Resource Usage is good at about 30 megabytes when idle and 90 when scanning but, the program uses at least 10 different process. CPU usage seems to be below most antivirus at only 4 to 10 percent per scan.

BullGuard Antivirus 10 Review and Download

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 13:56:00 -1200

BullGuard is a relatively new antivirus that promises greater protection over standard based definition antivirus. In fact, the makers of BullGuard claim that their detection levels are least 60% better than competitors (However, most antivirus include heuristic engines today). In addition to the core engine, the tested version includes a spam filter, a safe browsing toolbar, contact protection, and a fully automated feel. Another nice thing about BullGuard Antivirus is that the company frequently offers free licenses for their programs.

BullGuard Antivirus 10 Download Link (free)

The installation of Bullguard was straightforward. The exe included a small download manager that automatically detected the correct version of the software and downloaded it. Unfortunately, the final download was large at 130 megabytes. The system didn’t require a restart after the installation. Upon the first launch, I was prompted with notification settings. The dialog box allows a user to set the program as “Bullguard should be as quiet as possible” or “Let me know what happens”. The first being that viruses are automatically quarantined and the later being one is prompted for action. I think all free antivirus should initially present this option as it is great for novice users.

Scanning for viruses is as easy as hitting scan. System Files appear to be scanned first then the registry and finally program files. This scanning order is different than most antivirus that usually scan files and folders alphabetically. The Bullguard way is better because it scans the most vulnerable locations first and doesn’t waste the user’s time. According to Wikipedia, Bullguard antivirus uses the Bitdefender antivirus engine; one can expect very similar detection rates . Another nice thing about the scanner is that one can view the files that were infected, suspected, or skipped during the scan. Free antivirus like Avira do not allow this option. The scanner took about 10 minutes to scan the critical areas (system and registry) and an additional 50 minutes to scan the rest of the system. The scanner is faster than the majority of antivirus at 10 megabytes per second. Bullguard detected vba32ldr.exe inside of an .msi package know as Backdoor.Generic.51149. This is after doing a full system scan with Trend Micro.

Resource usage is on par with most mainstream antivirus. The program uses about 20 megabytes when idle and about 100 megabytes during scanning. CPU usage is lower than most hovering usually below 10 percent. Some additional features of Bullguard include updating every 2 hrs vs. once a day with AVG, antivirus profiles in which one can select , schedule, and save custom scans, the option to scan web traffic which is by default disabled, a browsing toolbar that is compatible with IE and firefox, and the ability to whitelist domains and contacts.

Trend Micro Titanium Antivirus+ 2011 Review

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 13:38:00 -1200

Trend Micro was one of the first major antivirus companies. Unfortunately, their products have never been able to compete with the likes of Symantec and MacAfee. It doesn’t necessary mean that their programs are inferior in anyway. I just think they haven’t been as aggressive on pushing their products through the channels preinstalled on new computers. Regardless, Trend Micro’s new product for 2011 is Trend Micro Titanium Antivirus+. The advertised advantage of the software is less resource usage including disk space, memory, and CPU but with more protection than competitors.

The installation of Trend Micro Titanium Antivirus+ was unfortunately kind of a hassle. The installer first scans ones computer for security software it perceives as having a conflict. The program found MalwareBytes and Norton Security Scan. While Trend Micro’s intentions of detecting conflicting software is genuine, the execution is horrible. First of all, both of these software’s lack a real time shields (Malwarebytes free version) so there is no conflict. The problem though is that the Titanium installer forces the uninstallation of all detected software. If one decides not to, then one is hit with a cryptic Error Code: #0, 1001, 0x000 and the installer fails. This is unacceptable for a mainstream product. However, once I passed this point the installer moved along and didn't require a restart for full functionality. The download includes both a 32 and 64 bit version in a hefty 92 megabyte download.

Trend Micro Titanium Antivirus+ has a very simple easy to use interface. There is a nice scan, settings, and report button. When the scan button is pushed the program starts a quick scan. One will have to select the side button to do a full system or custom scan. The Trend Micro Titanium Antivirus+ scanner is plain fast. The scanner scans at 2 to 10 megabytes per second with boost speeds up to 20 megabytes per second according to Windows resource monitor. This easily eclipses all free antivirus competitors that I have tested. The quick scan completed in about 3 minutes and the full system scan in about an hour and a half. Resource usage during a scan is good but not amazing and definitely not better than most competitors. The program uses 6 processes and bout 100 megabytes of RAM and about 5 to 15 percent CPU power on the test system during scanning . The program didn’t detect any viruses on the test system. However, Trend Micro claims that detection is superior to even Kaspersky!

Trend Micro Titanium Antivirus+ doesn’t really offer a lot of options in the feature department. One can block and add trusted websites, schedule a scan, adjust the sensitivity of the malicious website blocking, and not much more. The only setting feature that I found really interesting was the system startup option. One can select extra security (a slower startup as drivers load as early as possible), a balanced option (drivers load as the computer starts), and a extra performance option (driver loading is delayed until the end of the OS loading). One concerning thing is there didn’t seem to be easy access to the quarantine area from with Titanium+ interface.

Titanium Antivirus+ offers a very simple user experience but it lacks on the features. Many free antivirus contain more robust settings and features.

Zemana AntiLogger 1.9 Review and Download

Sun, 02 Jan 2011 11:43:00 -1200

Zemana AntiLogger is not a traditional antivirus in the sense that it relies solely on behavioral detection and not traditional virus definitions. The program blocks known and unknown keyloggers and Trojans from exploiting ones system. Zemana AntiLogger also protects against screen, webcam , clipboard, SSL certificate, and interestingly enough sound recorder loggers. The program also has a full system defense that scans active processes and registry entries for malicious activity (the company claims that it can detect zero day malware) All of the protections are active in order to prevent a rouge Trojan from stealing important information etc.

Download Zemana AntiLogger for Free here

The installation of Zemana AntiLogger was quick. The download was only 7 megabytes in size and the program installed quickly. One problem I encountered was the inability to change the install location from the C: drive to the D: drive. Resource usage is reasonable at only 9 megabytes of RAM and zero CPU power. Since the program doesn’t have a full system scan option, there is no information on its active usage. Therefore, expect Zemana AntiLogger to have little to no performance impact on normal computing tasks.

In order to test Zemana AntiLogger effectiveness, I installed a commercial spy software called System Surveillance Pro, SoftActivity Keylogger, and Office Cyber Alert. These are all mainstream spy software and the most downloaded on download.com. I was unable to install any of these programs. While I didn’t receive a specific warning from Zemana, there had to be a reason why none of the setup files would launch.

Zemana AntiLogger includes other protections within the settings menu. As far as programs go, Zemana checks to see whether they are signed with digital certificates and/or provided by Microsoft. The user has the option to change whether they are prompted or if the suspicious program is automatically terminated. A user can also customize how updates a performed (silently or prompted etc.) and enter a password. Basically, Zemana AntiLogger is designed for standalone use by system administrators.

While Zemana AntiLogger provides great privacy protection. I wouldn’t consider it without a standard antivirus already installed on a system.

Double Anti-Spy Review and Download

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 10:23:00 -1200

Double Anti-Spy is a software not unlike G-Data in that in combines two antispyware and antivirus engines into one program. The engines are the Vipre Antivirus by Sunbelt and Outpost Security Suite Pro’s engine. One difference between G-Data and Double Anti-Spy is how information is presented. Rather than there being one status bar there are two. For example when scanning, Engine A is first utilized then Engine B. Each engine shows it’s own scanning status and the same with the update process. It will be interesting to see which method, succession or simultaneous scanning, is superior.

Download Double Anti-Spy Directly

The installation of Double Anti-Spy was fairly straightforward. The program download was a very reasonable 45 megabytes in size considering that it really contains two antivirus programs in one. The installer was kind of annoying in that it wanted to download the definitions before the program was completely installed. This process is quite time consuming and seemed to take forever. Thankfully, there is an option to skip the update process and wait till the program is installed. Once launched, the update process must be performed before the program is able to scan. The update shows both engines being downloaded separately, hence the overall theme of the program.

Double Anti-Spy’s scanning process is surprisingly fast. One may think that since both engines scan in succession the scan would therefore take twice as long. However, a quick scan with both engines only took 6 minutes to complete. The program detected 1 malware item called Hotspot Shield and immediately quarantined it. Unfortunately, since I use this program on a semi regular basis (without the toolbar installed) it would have been nice to let the user decide to delete it rather than Double Anti-Spy. While I was able to restore Hotspot Shield from the quarantine, the service was disabled. There are two other scan options including a total and custom scans.

Resource usage is kind of hit or miss. Double Anti-spy uses 87 megabytes of RAM on its own. However, whenever an antivirus engine is activated, it launches the respective engine in memory. Therefore Engine A, Sunbelt’s, uses an additional 88 megabytes of RAM and 13 percent CPU power and Engine B, uses Outpost’s engine which is contained inside of the original process but requires 10 megabytes extra and 13 percent CPU power.

Since Double Anti-Spy is a full versions it includes numerous additional features. There is a full active defense system which has real time protection and email scanning. There is an allowed and blocked list. One can even schedule scans. Double Anti-Spy contains technology to detect rootkits and customize which engines scan which critical folders.

Ashampoo Software 5 Full Versions Free X-Mas Giveaway and Download

Sat, 25 Dec 2010 07:32:00 -1200

Today only get over one hundred dollars worth of software from Ashampoo. One can select Ashampoo Burning Studio, Home Designer, Snap 3, WinOptimizer 6 and Photo Commander 7. The software that I am interested in is WinOptimizer 6. The program has an internet cleaner, system security tweaks against viruses, registry optimizer, and drive cleaner. The software normally retails for 39.99 anywhere else on the web. Unfortunately, Ashampoo Anti-Malware isn't included in the package. But, not all good boys and girsl can get everything they want for Christmas!

To get the free legal full versions, follow the instructions below..

Go to the Ashampoo.com Giveaway site here
Enter the Code XMAS-2010 in the box
Download the full unrestricted versions released as Christmas Present TODAY ONLY.

Emsisoft CommandLine Scanner 5.1 Review and Download

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 10:13:00 -1200

Say one is part of large organization and hundsreds of computers get infected with a virus. A lot of the computers don’t have the latest antivirus because they aren’t connected to the internet but rather on a local LAN. What are the option? Well, the first may be to install antivirus on each of the computers but, this would incur a large cost and also become a very time consuming process. The other option is to run a command line scanner which doesn’t require an install and scans immediately on the affected computers. This is where Emsisoft CommandLine Scanner shows its colors. It also offers fast scanning and very extensive virus database completely self contained. The program can even be run from Windows PE environments when a computer can’t even start.

Emsisoft CommandLine Scanner Full Version Free Download

The installation of Emsisoft Command Line scanner was easy. The program comes in zip file that will require a decompression software to unzip (WinZIP). However once unzipped, Emsisoft CommandLine Scanner is ready to go. The program download is quite large at 102 megabytes but, keep in mind that the folder contains almost 100 megabytes of signatures which contains at least 3 millions definitions. Also Emsisoft detection rates are effectively 100% and ranked number one out of all free antivirus.

The scanning process is pretty straight forward. Novice users might have a hard time getting a scan started. The fastest way is to start the command prompt. Then drag the extracted a2cmd.exe file into the command prompt. Afterwards put a “ /smart” for a smart scan, a “ /quick” for a quick scan, and a “/deep” for a deep or full virus scan. I started a quick scan. The program finished in under 2 minutes and scanned 400,000 traces. During scanning the program used approximately 150 megabytes of RAM and 12 CPU power. Even though, the antivirus footprint is quite large the program didn’t affect normal computing operation. One nice thing and a contrast to E-scan’s standalone scanner, is that Emsisoft creates a quarantine folder upon the launch of any scan.

The scanner offers a lot of customizable scanning options by simply adding a switch to the end of the scanner. For example, Emsisoft CommandLine scanner can find risk ware, ADS or alternative data streams used by rootkits, has heuristic options, includes a windows service, and even a full signature update functionality. I have included the readme file with all of the switch information for easy reference.

a2cmd_readme.txt (7.17 kb)

Safe Returner Anti-Malware 1.27 Review

Fri, 17 Dec 2010 07:42:00 -1200

Safe Returner is a comprehensive free antivirus that relies on a heuristic engine to scan for viruses, worms, and Trojans. Rather than scanning a whole computer for malware, Safe Returner looks at the most critical startup locations (all known registry load points etc.) for viruses. In fact, according to the publishers, Safe Returner utilizes the “Autoruns for Windows” technology pioneered by Sysinternals. The tool and technology is the most comprehensive startup analyzer known. However, Safe Returner automates the whole identification process (originally not very easy) by simply pressing scan. The program also has regular definition updates and scans very fast.

Download Safe Returner Directly Free

The installation of Safe Returner went well. While the program technically only supports 32 bit Windows, I was able to install it on a 64 bit machine. After the installation was completed, a nice pop-up stated that Safe Returner may not completely function on 64 bit Windows. However, I didn’t encounter any specific problems.

The scanning process of Safe Returner was quick. In fact, the whole system scan took under 2 minutes. What’s interesting is that before starting a scan. A question is asked whether one already knows if their system is already infected by malware. If one answers yes, then the program attempts to stop all non necessary active processes. This is an interesting feature that I have not seen before in other free antivirus.

The scan didn’t detect any viruses or Trojans in the normal mode. However, one will notice that there is an expert button on the scan page. There, a user can see all suspicious entries. I highly recommend clicking this button and seeing what may have been missed. On the test system, all of the detected entries were ranked by severity. While all of the files were false positives, Safe Returner appears to correctly detect rouge services or drivers because it detected “NetLimiter” which installs a network driver to operate.

Safe Returner is very light on the system resources. The program only uses about 2.5 megabytes of RAM at all times and CPU usages in negligible. Unfortunately, besides scanning and a USB autorun.inf protection, Safe Returner doesn’t really offer any additional features. However, I see an advantage for novice users who can’t use startup analyze tools.

ArcaVir 2010 Antivirus Review and Download

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 11:22:00 -1200

ArcaVir 2010 is a brand new antivirus which is in fact, hard to believe from appearances. What I mean, is that the interface is so polished, that it is difficult to distinguish from competitors like Kaspersky Labs. While the program is aesthetically pleasing, the performance is also very good. In fact, ArcaVir 2010 offers one of the fastest full system scans around easily eclipsing all free antivirus competitors. However, while ArcaVir does some things very well, it also lacks in some areas.

The installation of ArcaVir 2010 was alright. The program comes in a 32 and 64 bit variant. I first attempted to install the program on a Vista 64 bit machine. I initially selected the language as “English” however after the installation was completed, the program started with the Polish language loaded. Therefore, I uninstalled the antivirus and reinstalled. However, the program wouldn’t function again. Therefore, I moved the program over to a Windows 7 machine and encountered the same language problem. I was able to fix it by right clicking the taskbar icon and selecting “Jezyk/Language”.

The interface of ArcaVir 2010 is great. The program really has a professional touch to it. As far as scanning goes, a full system scan completed in under 1 hour. This is really impressive considering that most free antivirus (AVG, Avira) take upwards of 2 hours on the same test system. The program detected two virus variants which relate to the Commview wifi driver package called “Heur.W32” or a heuristic detection. While a false positive, ArcaVir is technically correct in its virus assumption because Commview installs a specialized driver for wifi use which mirrors what a malicious program might also do. ArcaVir didn’t detect any additional viruses on the test system.

The resource usage of ArcaVir 2010 is good on paper. The program uses 2 modules in idle mode utilizing a total of 18 megabytes of RAM. During scanning, the program amazingly uses the same amount of RAM and a very reasonable 5 percent CPU power. These statistics make ArcaVir 2010 one of the best programs based on resource usage and appears to have the upper hand against all known free antivirus. Unfortunately, I did notice a small system slowdown when using concurrent tasks. Since this is a subjective test, one will have to be the judge on this.

ArcaVir includes extra features. To get them, one will have to select a custom installation after initially launching the program. There, one will find a fully functional firewall, registry monitor, anti-spam system, and even a content filtering system. I’am not quite sure why these features are not more prominently displayed.

Bazooka Free AntiSpyware and Malware Scanner Review

Thu, 09 Dec 2010 13:10:00 -1200

Bazooka Antispyware is a venerable security program. The program has been around since 2005 and has had millions of downloads. The program has also been recommended by numerous publications. Bazooka offers a fairly extensive database of over 600 of viruses, Trojans, and spyware. The program also includes an extensive virus encyclopedia offered by the program publisher.

The installation of Bazooka took only a few seconds as the download was approximately 728 kilobytes in size. One downside is that once the installation is complete, the user isn’t alerted to whether it was a success or not. Users will need to navigate to the program menu to launch the program. Once started, the program performs an initial update. The update took approximately 5 seconds and added a couple hundred definitions.

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The best thing about Bazooka is its scanning speed. The scan literally takes less than 2 seconds to complete. It does this presumably by doing a scan based upon virus traces rather than matching files with a specific definition (how most free antivirus operate). The disadvantage to trace base scanning is if the virus or spyware hides itself in numerous locations; not just predefined ones. However, the advantage is extremely fast scanning (exactly what Bazooka exhibits).

Bazooka detected SystemDir.explorer and SystemDir.regedit on the test system. Upon further investigation, these files are false positives associated with Windows 7 and Windows Vista. These versions place the explorer.exe and regedit.exe inside the system root by default where as Windows XP didn't and malware would.

Bazooka is very light on resource usage. While the program is running it uses approximately 5 megabytes of RAM. During the time that Bazooka is actively scanning, it uses 5 percent CPU power. All of these metrics are way below the average free antivirus.

As far as extra features, there aren’t many. One can update or generate a log file. The biggest disadvantage to Bazooka is that it hasn’t been updated in over 2 years. This makes it not exactly the best method to protect against the latest threats. I hope the publisher can update soon as the program is already quite solid.

SpyShelter Personal Free Security Suite Review

Sun, 05 Dec 2010 12:51:00 -1200

SpyShelter is one of the first security programs of its kind. What it does is monitor and protect the integrity of one’s computer. What I mean by integrity is safety of keystrokes (anti-keylogging protection), protection from stealing one’s clipboard, and windows kernel protection etc. These features are not available in any free antivirus to date. Also, SpyShelter does not require regular definitions updates to provide protection. The program also offers much more in-depth protection including a virtual keyboard and password protection etc.

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The installation of SpyShelter was hassle free. The only hang up was 64 bit support. However, 64-bit support does exist but is only available in the premium version. The installer allows the user to select whether they want to run the program in high security mode with more alerts or the medium security level with fewer alerts. Once the installation was complete, the program required a system restart, presumably to load a driver. SpyShelter is fully compatible with Windows 7 and even includes integrated tooltip functionality.

Once SpyShelter was up and running, the full breadth of its protections were evident. In addition, to the security features listed above in the introduction, SpyShelter provides anti screen capture, anti get text, and an overall system protection. While system protection may seem vague simply navigate over to the “Settings” menu and the list of monitored actions. The list encompasses over 47 heuristic (plus hundreds of sub protections) that SpyShelter Monitors. For example, “system protection” includes attempting to shutdown the system, injecting a dll file, modification of a file stream (anti-rootkit), blocking keyboard or mouse movements (anti-Trojan) , accessing a raw socket, loading a driver, and many more. This is completely different than a standard free antivirus. Other programs simply state that they “provides heuristic security”, one cannot verify what kind of protection is actually there.

SpyShelter is extremely effective. On the first computer start, it was already detecting programs that access keystrokes. While these programs were legitimate (I selected high security mode) I had no clue that they were accessing this type of information. When SpyShelter detects a suspicious activity it alerts the user like a firewall. From there a user can allow, deny or terminate the process. If there are too many popups for one to handle, a user can tweak the security even more. For example, there is a Microsoft only option which auto allows all Microsoft components and there is an ask user for everything option.

Resource usage of SpyShelter is extremely reasonable. The program only required 16 megabytes of RAM. In terms of CPU power, since there is never a need to run a resource intensive CPU scan, it’s almost allows at zero.

In addition to the features listed, there is also advanced functionally. The program includes a full blown white and black list and a restricted apps list (auto completes as a user allows applications) which also includes folders special folders with write access aka (my documents etc.). SpyShelter also includes the option to block dll’s from removable drives.

All in all SpyShelter is a useful security program that works very effective when used alongside free antivirus. The only feature I see that is lacking is a option to encrypt ones keystrokes.

PE Guard 1.2 Auto Protect Antivirus Review

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 08:36:00 -1200

PE Guard is a very small free antivirus that does not require any virus definitions. The program is essentially a disk shield and heuristic scanner that looks for virus and rootkit activity. PE means portable executable and PE Guard provides protection for .cpl, .exe, .dll, .ocx, .sys,.scr etc. (all of the top infected files) from viruses. As mentioned before, today’s malware attempts to inject or hide itself inside of legitimate processes. For example, Firefox.exe. While this may be normally associated with the Firefox browser, malware could attach itself and mask its identity making it difficult for free antivirus to detect and clean it (and if it is successful, delete important information). Therefore, it beneficial to proactively block rootkits and viruses. PE guard has specific protections to detect this behavior before they install. If one accidently downloads a rootkit that attempts to install a new malicious driver (.sys file), PE Guard can detect and prevent the installation.

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The installation of PE guard was simple. The download was approximately 4 megabytes in the size and included a handy readme. One problem I ran into is 64bit support. The program appears to fail when installed on Windows 7 64 bit and creates an error message “could not install the driver”. However, PE Guard 1.1 installed on a 32 bit version ok. After a successful installation, the program launches a configuration wizard which completes in about 1 minute.

As far as the interface goes, it is limited. PE Guard sits in the system tray and doesn’t provide any type of GUI expect right clicking on the tray application. There are two modes the Power and Normal mode. Power mode is required to prevent root kit installation while Normal looks at PE files. Even in Power mode, PE Guard uses very little resources. In fact the program only uses 1.5 megabytes of RAM and zero CPU Power.

When PE Guard detects a rouge program it gives the user the option to allow, disallow write access, or prevent all access. Therefore, it takes some research to determine if a program is valid or not. Because of this, I only recommend PE Guard be used by experienced users.

As far as efficacy goes, there have been a lot of good reports of detecting rookits and viruses but inability to stop rouge AV software. Therefore, users recommend combining the program with free antivirus to have greater overall security. You can read the full thread here. http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=253747

DriveSentry 3.4 Review and Download

Sat, 27 Nov 2010 10:38:00 -1200

I have wrote a small introduction about DriveSentry before, but I would like to take a more in depth look at the software. DriveSentry 3.4 is a free antivirus program that works in a nontraditional way. The program utilizes an extensive virus database (4.8 million signatures in size) but also utilizes a blacklist and whitelist to classify system actions (similar to Norton insight and panda collective intelligence). These three security components create the company’s Tri-Security advantage.

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The DriveSentry installation had a few problems. First, the executable generated an error message that the program required the Filter Manager service to be installed and recommended updating the OS to the latest service pack. However, the test system already had all of the latest updates installed on it. I put in a little more research into the problem and apparently this error is due to the fact that there is no 64 bit support. Therefore, I had to install Drive Sentry on a 32bit machine (becoming increasingly more rare) to test it. Also, the download was a little large at 76 megabytes in size. However, to DriveSentry’s credit, the program already contained over 4.5 million virus signatures and offers impressive protection out of the box.

DriveSentry 3.4 first offers traditional virus scanning. The program has a quick scan, a full system scan, and custom scan option. The scanning performance is below other free antivirus competitors because DriveSentry must first build a file list before scanning. However, Drive Sentry has excellent resource usage during the virus scan. The program only used 32 megabytes of RAM and a very reasonable 13 percent CPU power. The “quick” system scan completed in about 17 minutes. However, it’s nice that the program had time till completion (surprisingly absent from most programs). I think it might be difficult to compete against main stream antivirus companies based on definitions alone.

The real treat of DriveSentry 3.4 is its Access Rules and Advisor settings. The Protection settings for files, folders, and computer settings are really impressive. The heuristic rules are some of the most comprehensive I have seen and cover the majority of crucial startup Internet Explorer, Startup, and Internet Settings. What’s nice is that a user can comb through the hundreds of rules and selectively enable them or deactivate them. Most mainstream free antivirus only allow a user to globally enable or disable heuristics.

The next feature are the Access Rules. Here DriveSentry scans and classifies all active executables and then offers an community advisor rating of the program. The advisor database contains over 5.4 million applications. When DriveSentry 3.4 detects a suspicious program activity, it immediately alerts the user (like a firewall) to approve an action. The advisor information appears at the same time making it easy to make the right decision.

SpyDLLRemover 3.2 Free Anti-Malware Review

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 08:04:00 -1200

SpyDLLRemover is a free comprehensive spyware and virus scanner that looks strictly at active Windows processes. The program looks more specifically at .dll files which are loaded into RAM and running. This is perhaps the best place to detect active malware that is masking its existence under the veil of a legitimate process . Please note, that SpyDllRemover is designed for the more advanced user and really brings a lot of tools to the table when free antivirus can’t remove a virus.

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SpyDLLRemover is an extremely compact program at only 1 megabyte in size. There is no included installer, one just opens the executable file and starts the program.

The scanning process of SpyDLLRemover is simple, just click the play button. The initial scan took about 10 seconds to complete and didn’t detect any viruses. However, I recommend going into the scan settings button and selecting every possible check, and omitting “ignore modules other than .dll extensions”. This way SpyDLLRemover will report all suspicious processes. While the program didn’t detect any specific malware on the test computer it detected some suspicious files. One of them being, virtualcamera.ax (an unknown process at the time). However, just simply clicking on the item opens up a dialog showing all active process that use the .dll (Skype). I can now deduce that the file is harmless. However, if SpyDLLRemover detects a malicious rootkit or .dll it will immediately highlight it in red or orange for suspicious.

SpyDLLRemover uses a few things to detect malware. The program analyzes Direct NT System Calls, uses a Process ID Bruteforce Method (utilized by the infamous F-Secure Blacklight root kit detection software), and performs CSRSS Process Handle Checking. So even though the program scans in a matter of seconds, the virus checks are still very verbose.

SpyDllRemover 3.2 offers other useful tools. They included an extremely extensive process viewer that shows not only all active processes but all loaded .dll associated with the processes. This is a great way to find malicious files that a free antivirus might miss. Also, there is a .dll search function which finds all .dll files that match a keyword. If one, is unsure of a detected process, simply click a button and the program launches a browser for analysis at the process library.

SpyDLLRemover is a little rough around the edges. First, one has to have a pretty good grasp of how viruses work to use the program. The interface also has a few problems i.e. it can’t be resized and there aren’t big icons etc for novice users. However, SpyDLLRemover is a very effective program and should be a part of any professionals anti-malware toolkit.

F-Prot Antivirus Review Version 6 and Download

Fri, 19 Nov 2010 06:57:00 -1200

F-Prot Antivirus has been known for their competitive antivirus products. While the company might not be as big as Symantec or MacAfee they still manage to publish a full featured antivirus software. Some things that set F-Prot Antivirus apart are its small size and efficiency. F-Prot is really one of the first antivirus in that it was difficult to detect any impact on system performance. Also, the antivirus engine has won the VB 100 (ability to detect 100% of all current viruses) multiple times over the past year.

Download the 32 bit Version of F-Prot Version 6

Download the 64 bit Version

The installation of F-Prot was seamless . The program seemed to completely install in under 1 minutes. However, I didn’t see an option to choose the destination drive of the installation. The company provides a two different installation packages 1 for 32 bit and 64 bit Windows. The program download was only 31 megabytes in size and comes in a single .msi package for easy network deployment. One thing that I liked is that the program already contains very up to date virus definitions (Nov. 3 2010). This is amazing considering the small size of the executable.

F-Prot is technically a free antivirus. I say this because the program is fully functioning but only requires a subscription for virus updates. So, it can't hurt to install F-Prot and get a second opinion on a whether a system has malware. F-Prot offers a full system scan but also the option to do manual scans on removable drives and custom areas etc. in addition to the automatic file system protection. The full system scan seems to be a feat of engineering. F-Prot only used about 2 to 6 percent CPU power during scanning which is about half as low as the nearest competitor. Also, during scanning the program creates a scanner service that uses a reasonable 70 megabytes of RAM. While idle, F-Prot uses about 4 megabytes of RAM and the scanner scans at about 5 megabytes per second. The virus scanner didn't detect any malware or false positives on the test system and the full system scan completed in an impressive 45 minutes. Also, while scanning one can navigate the all of the antivirus menus and change settings. Other free antivirus have difficulty allowing multitasking.

F-Prot offers several additional features. The standard include email, outlook, and internet explorer protection. While F-Prot offers heuristic detection capabilities for these, it seems to be missing an option for open source software like firefox and thunderbird. This is kind of a let down considering the increasing popularity of open source software. F-Prot also has interesting auto protection settings for example, the option to automatically scan all files or just Microsoft office files. I think this would have been better accomplished if one could select or deselect the extensions that should be auto scanned. Finally, F-Prot offers an interesting feature called advanced scan. Here one can specify a location and also whether it will be a quick, normal, or through scan. One can specify if they want streams, presumably for rootkits, to be scanned and how to handle detected files. It would be nice if F-Prot would allow the quick scan option to be more easily accessible.

F-Prot is a very efficient antivirus and great for a business. However, if it’s destined for the consumer market its going to require some usability updates.