Editor’s Comment: Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 delivers premium protection from viruses, spam, hackers, Trojans, and more.
Its cutting-edge, hybrid approach to digital security combines innovative, cloud-based technologies with advanced antivirus protection to deliver a faster, more effective response to today’s complex, ever-evolving threats. You, your private data and PC are completely protected as you work, bank, shop and play online.
Prevents cybercriminals from hijacking your PC
Protects you family from online predators
Keeps your PC running smoothly and efficiently
Protects your files, documents and photos from hackers
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 2011 Download – The never ending mantra chanted by security suite vendors sounds a lot like ‘good scans, easier to use, good performance,’ and AVG has released a new version that it says accomplishes all three. Certainly, the scans are faster, it does install more quickly and some tweaks to the interface have made it easier to use. However, changes to the engine that powers the detection and removal of threats has made it hard to come to a conclusion until independent labs return their efficacy results later this year.
AVG Free provides the bare necessities when it comes to antivirus security, but that should be enough for savvy Windows users. You’ll get a combined antivirus and antimalware engine, LinkScanner, and e-mail scanning. AVG Free 9 introduces a few new features, with improvements focused on performance, including claims of faster scan and boot times. One new feature is the Identity Theft Recovery Unit. Only for users in the United States, ITRU is a business partnership with Identity Guard which provides “consumer identity theft solutions,” accessible only from the AVG toolbar in Firefox and Internet Explorer.
The interface is nearly unchanged from the last version, and generally it’s easy to use. From the main window, though, you must double-click to get further information on any feature, whether virus scanning, LinkScanner settings, or updating. Streamlining this to one click would be helpful. A scheduling utility automates both scans and updates, while the upgrade ad at the screen’s bottom can be easily hidden using the Hide Notification button. When starting a scan, a slider makes it easy to jump between Slow, Automatic, and Fast scans: the faster the scan, the less comprehensive it is, so users should take advantage of the scan optimization that is recommended during installation to speed up that first scan. A progress meter for regular scans would’ve been useful, though. Should a virus create serious problems, AVG antivirus creates a rescue disk to scan your computer in MS-DOS mode.
