Security software showdown! 9 antivirus suites empirically tested

[Marik]

If youre like a lot of people, when it comes time to renew your security software, you may ask yourself, Do I really need to upgrade to the latest version? The answer is yes. Keeping up-to-date is generally a good idea, as new threats surface constantly. And if you value mobile security or use a social network, this years crop of security suites is worth paying attention to.

An increasing number of security suites now feature special tools to help protect you on social networksa growing target for spammers, scammers, and other parties who want to get at your personal information. For example, Trend Micros Titanium Internet Security suite comes with a handy tool that highlights any possible areas of concern involving your Facebook privacy settings. Various suites also include tools that will scan links on social networks so that you arent duped into clicking a malicious link hidden behind a URL shortener.

As usual, we teamed up with the fine folks at AV-Test, a respected antivirus testing lab based in Germany. AV-Test ran each suite through a comprehensive battery of tests to find out how well each would stand up to the worst malware currently in existence. AV-Test also performed speed testing to determine whether the suites will slow your PC to a crawl. We analyzed the data that AV-Test provided, and then tried each of the products ourselves to give you an idea of which suites you should go forand which ones you should pass on.

Here are the suites we tested. You can click on each link to read individual reviews, or simply read this list for quick star ratings and summaries.

• F-Secure Internet Security 2013 4.5 stars (Superior). F-Secures latest suite offers excellent protection and a friendly user interface.
• Norton Internet Security 2013 4.5 stars (Superior). With its great detection rate and Windows 8-ready design, Nortons suite is definitely worth a look.
• Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security 2013 4.5 stars (Superior). This titanium suite earned high marks in almost all our detection tests, and it has a nice interface.
• Bitdefender Internet Security 2013 4.5 stars (Superior). Bitdefender has a user-friendly interface that will appeal to people of all experience levels.
• Kaspersky Internet Security 2013 4 stars (Very Good). Kaspersky lets both beginners and advanced users get the most out of its suite, and scored well in our tests.
• McAfee Internet Security 2013 4 stars (Very Good). McAfee didnt earn top marks, but its still a proficient, user-friendly antimalware program.
• G Data InternetSecurity 2013 3.5 stars (Very Good). G Data has an effective suite, but in­­stallation is a hassle, with a settings panel that's more suited to advanced users.
• AVG Internet Security 2013 3.5 stars (Very Good). AVGs security program is perfectly re­­spectable. But perfectly respectable just doesnt cut it these days.
• Avira Internet Security 2013 3.5 stars (Very Good). This suite is competent at detecting, disabling, and cleaning up malware, but its user interface is unfriendly.

Source: PcWorld

[Arion]

Norton, F-secure is the best. I look so.

[lyldz]

trend micro :omg:

f-secure :rofl:

:pope:

[rach]

no avast! there but there's avira anyway :lol:

[software182]

where is avast! ?

[tezza]

Fanboys commence

[morteza]

I love trendmicro after Norton too :)

[rudrax]

Me fan of WSA :D

[teodor12]

no way AVG better than Avira

and never Kaspersky to be in same class ( very good ) with AVG

i like a soft security with excellent browsing skills as Emsisoft IS

[alaindc]

like other say, no Avast?

And nobody ever test the Comodo suite?

[DKT27]

McAfee and AVG? :unsure:

On a side note, I always think all the reviewers ignore ESET and somehow it does extremely well on the shoulders of the actual users.

[rudrax]

Yesterday, by mistake I double clicked on a hidden folder of a SD card connected to my laptop, Then WSA popped up with a warning that the execution was trying to change something in the boot sector and provided me two options: Terminate & Allow. Since then, I love WSA like F^ :king: krazy.

[PrEzi]

Meh... Where is ESET I Say ??
:(

[tek2005]

As someone that goes through alot of anti-viruses/malware protection every like 6 months, im sadden that no one ever does comodo tests anymore. Not sure why, i love the whole controlling every single connection to go on your pc. (pretty much need to allow anything and everything that gets modified as well as people connecting to your connection.) Guess it's just not user friendly to make it on this test.

and im suprised avast isn't on this like others have stated.

[Cyn]

Seems they were more concerned with pay type packages and not free alternatives or the free packages, do they still make a magazine, if so check the ads ;) If not I hope enough folks comment on their site about how incomplete this "empirical" test is. While the argument can be made that not many use Comodo, I don't know actual install numbers, the same cannot be said about Avast, that forces folks to register for their free product and you can therefore see how many installs they have, and that number is HUGE. I myself have transitioned from Comodo's AV to Avast a few months ago, after doing research, and am very satisfied. Just really sucks not seeing any tests with Comodo, though I believe Comodo is partly to blame with the AV-Test folks and AVComparatives, or whatever that other testing site is.

[Lyon275]

No avast! and Eset ? How disrespectful... :thumbsdown:

[MAXS]

No Avast, ESET, Panda... :wtf:

[johndoe]

Just 60% cleanup rate and still Norton is "Superior"? :D

[CreativeThinking]

I love FIS, AVG and ESET.