GFI VIPRE Internet Security 2012

When you look at the main window of GFI's latest VIPRE antivirus, you may get the feeling something's missing. There are three helpful panels offering access to scan status, protection, and updates, with a blank area below. GFI's security suite, GFI VIPRE Internet Security 2012 ($49.95, direct) looks almost identical to the antivirus. However, it fills in that blank with a firewall panel and also adds spam filtering and phishing protection. The antispam component is the best I've found in any suite so far.

This lightweight suite is a real bargain if you're trying to protect a houseful of computers. For just $20 more than the single-license price, you can purchase a home site license. This license lets you install VIPRE on up to 10 computers in your household.

Antivirus Protection
With one small exception, antivirus protection in this suite is exactly the same as what's offered by GFI VIPRE Antivirus 2012 ($39.95 direct, 3 stars), so I'll just summarize those results here. For full details, please read my review of the standalone antivirus.

Testing got off to a rocky start, with the installation or initial update failing on more than half the test systems. Most of the problems were solved by simply retrying the install or manually launching an update. Tech support supplied a command-line cleanup tool that fixed the one remaining problem system.

VIPRE detected an impressive 91 percent of the malware samples, Only Webroot SecureAnywhere Complete ($79.95 direct for three licenses, 4.5 stars) detected more, with 94 percent. However, due to incomplete cleanup, VIPRE only scored 6.2 points for malware removal.

VIPRE detected all of the rootkit samples but left most of them still running, earning a low 3.3 points for rootkit removal. And it detected one threat over and over, endlessly promising (but failing) to remove it on reboot. For an explanation of where these scores come from, please read How We Test Malware Removal.

VIPRE did a better job keeping my clean test system clean. It detected 91 percent of the samples either immediately on sight or during attempted installation, the same as Norton Internet Security 2012 ($69.99 direct for three licenses, 4.5 stars). Webroot detected 100 percent of the samples in this test.

VIPRE's score of 8.4 for overall malware blocking is good. It scored 9.0 points for blocking rootkits, much better than its 3.3 points for removing them. And it did a perfect job of blocking scareware samples, scoring a perfect 10. To understand how I come up with these numbers, see How We Test Malware Blocking.

VIPRE received certification for virus detection in static tests by West Coast Labs and ICSA Labs. It didn't fare quite as well in dynamic tests by AV-Test.org, barely achieving certification. For details on how I interpret tests by the independent antivirus labs, see How We Interpret Antivirus Lab Tests.

The one bonus that the VIPRE suite brings to malware protection is a Web protection component that blocks access to known malware-hosting URLs. When I tried to re-download my current malware collection the antivirus detected and removed 62 percent on completion of the download. Trying the same test with the suite, I found that Web protection blocked 68 percent of the URLs before the download could even begin, while another 11 percent were caught once the download finished.

Both the suite and the antivirus include three bonus tools. One, the PC Explorer, is only useful to the most expert users, but anyone who needs to securely delete sensitive files will find the secure file eraser handy. For additional privacy protection, the history cleaner will delete traces of browsing and Windows activity as well as recently-used file lists for many common applications.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/fxg_fM_wl9A/0,2817,2395816,00.asp

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