Why the other four missed the cut…
The security software market is highly
competitive, and it showed in our test results, where no suite detected less
than 97.8 percent of recent known malware samples, or blocked less than 94.4
percent of new malware in our real-world attack-blocking tests. False positives
were also largely a non-issue. But if you look closely, you can find some
difference among the suites.
In particular, we noticed differences in
the ease of use of the suites we tested. While some packages (such as Norton
and Trend Micro) were user-friendly and polished, others (such as Avira and G
Data) were less so and seemed to be designed with expert users in mind.
In the end, even the lower-ranked suites
performed reasonably well, but they didn’t stand out enough to claim a higher
ranking. Visit pcadvisor.co.uk to see a complete listing of the suites we
reviewed for 2013.
F-Secure
Price: $59 (3PCs, 1 yr)
Verdict: 4.5/5
Product name: Internet Security 2013
Malware detection
·
Signature-based: 99%
·
Fully blocked real-world malware: 100%
·
Partially blocked real-world malware: 0%
·
Successful infection cleanup
·
Active malware1: 100%
·
Active and inactive malware: 90%
Scan speed
·
On-demand (secs)2: 76
·
On-access (secs)2: 230
Design
·
Interface: Very good
·
Norton: $73.5 inc VAT (3PCs, 1 yr), 4.5 stars
·
Product name: Internet Security (2013)
Malware detection
·
Signature-based: 99.8%
·
Fully blocked real-world malware: 100%
·
Partially blocked real-world malware: 0%
Successful infection cleanup
·
Active malware1: 90%
·
Active and inactive malware: 60%
Scan speed
·
On-demand (secs)2: 79
·
On-access (secs)2: 175
Design
·
Interface: Superior
Trend Micro
Price: $89 (3PCs, 1 yr)
Verdict: 4.5/5
Product name: Titanium Internet Security
2013
Malware detection
·
Signature-based: 100%
·
Fully blocked real-world malware: 100%
·
Partially blocked real-world malware: 0%
Successful infection cleanup
·
Active malware1: 100%
·
Active and inactive malware: 80%
Scan speed
·
On-demand (secs)2: 110
·
On-access (secs)2: 341
Design
·
Interface: Very good
Bitdefender
Price: $66 (3PCs, 1 yr)
Verdict: 4.5/5
Product name: Internet Security 2013
Malware detection
·
Signature-based: 98.8%
·
Fully blocked real-world malware: 100%
·
Partially blocked real-world malware: 0%
Successful infection cleanup
·
Active malware1: 100%
·
Active and inactive malware: 90%
Scan speed
·
On-demand (secs)2: 121
·
On-access (secs)2: 341
Design
·
Interface: Very good
Kaspersky
Price: $75 (3PCs, 1 yr)
Verdict: 4/5
Product name: Internet Security 2013
Malware detection
·
Signature-based: 98.1%
·
Fully blocked real-world malware: 94.4%
·
Partially blocked real-world malware: 0%
Successful infection cleanup
·
Active malware1: 100%
·
Active and inactive malware: 80%
Scan speed
·
On-demand (secs)2: 70
·
On-access (secs)2: 368
Design
·
Interface: Very good
Mcafee
Price: $81 (3PCs, 1 yr)
Verdict: 4/5
Product name: Internet Security 2013
Malware detection
·
Signature-based: 99.9%
·
Fully blocked real-world malware: 94.4%
·
Partially blocked real-world malware: 0%
Successful infection cleanup
·
Active malware1: 100%
·
Active and inactive malware: 70%
Scan speed
·
On-demand (secs)2: 95
·
On-access (secs)2: 300
Design
·
Interface: Very good
G Data
Price: $66 (3PCs, 1 yr)
Verdict: 3.5/5
Product name: Internet Security 2013
Malware detection
·
Signature-based: 99.7%
·
Fully blocked real-world malware: 100%
·
Partially blocked real-world malware: 0%
Successful infection cleanup
·
Active malware1: 100%
·
Active and inactive malware: 80%
Scan speed
·
On-demand (secs)2: 116
·
On-access (secs)2: 362
Design
·
Interface: Fair
AVG
Price: $75 (3PCs, 1 yr)
Verdict: 3.5/5
Product name: Internet Security 2013
Malware detection
·
Signature-based: 97.8%
·
Fully blocked real-world malware: 94.4%
·
Partially blocked real-world malware: 5.6%
Successful infection cleanup
·
Active malware1: 90%
·
Active and inactive malware: 60%
Scan speed
·
On-demand (secs)2: 108
·
On-access (secs)2: 391
Design
·
Interface: Very good
Avira
Price: $77 (3PCs, 1 yr)
Verdict: 3.5/5
Product name: Internet Security 2013
Malware detection
·
Signature-based: 98.8%
·
Fully blocked real-world malware: 94.4%
·
Partially blocked real-world malware: 5.6%
Successful infection cleanup
·
Active malware1: 100%
·
Active and inactive malware: 50%
Scan speed
·
On-demand (secs)2: 101
·
On-access (secs)2: 266
Design
·
Interface: Fair
Percentages rounded to the nearest 10th.
All tests conducted at default settings. 1Cleanup of active malware files. Does
not include removal of Registry changes or insert files. 2Time to scan 4.5GB of
data; lower is better.
