I have been a fan of TrendMicro's internet security packages both for the desktop and for servers for over 5 years now, and that is the only antivirus suite I have ever used and recommended since that time; I've been running the new version of the same for about a week now, and thought I'd give you a heads-up on the changes and its offerings.
PC-Cillin 2005 is flat out the most featured suite I have seen dedicated to complete internet security. I have included little blurbs about all the features of the suite, some of them are new to this version, but are included anyway for those new to the program.
It runs at a pretty low footprint, and features the following:
1)
Complete antivirus protection, including realtime and scheduled scanning. You can create your own tasks and these are highly customizable in what files you want to search, and the action you want to take when it encounters a virus.
2)
Spyware scanning is now included with the suite; not only does it perform a spyware scan on demand, but you can now include a realtime spyware scan to your arsenal. It is set to detect a number of types of spyware including - Adware, Dialers, Hacktools, remote access programs, Joke programs etc
3) The
mail scan includes POP3 and SMTP mail scanning, can be included to scan for a customizable size of mail attachments as well as the option of layers of compression. The mail scan also features the ability to scan mails on webmails like Hotmail, Yahoo mail etc.
Interesting to note here that Hotmail now scans its attachments using TrendMicro's offerings - I believe it used to be MacAfee before that they've thankfully got rid of.
4) MailScan also features
Antispam filters that give you quite a bit of control over what comes into your Inbox.
5)
URL filtering is included that allows you to block categories of URLs from being loaded on your computer
6) Network Controls also features
Private data protection, this goes a long way in thwarting phishing attempts. It allows you to allow sensitive information to be passed on ONLY through approved (that you approve) means. It also logs what has been used to access the private data.
7)
Home network control, allows you to control the Trend Antivirus on other computers in your home network and check settings and logs. It's quite useful when you are using the suite on more than one computer
8) Network Security provides a
Personal Firewall, that comes "approved by Microsoft", meaning if you turn off your SP2 firewall, and turn on PC-Cillin 2005's firewall, SP2 will not report your computer as vulnerable.
You can specify firewall profiles for the sort of network you have, and you can change profiles with the click of a button. The advancement features
automatic profile switching.
9)
Network virus emergency center allows you to have PCC automatically shut down your network traffic when a network virus is detected.
10)
Wifi intrustion alerts are simply amazing for those of you on WiFi, it allows you notifications when another computer is "nearby". If you are on a network, it will allow you to identify your "neighboring" computers and approve them.
11) A
security check center will allow you to check your system to make sure that your Windows is running with all the patches provided by Microsoft and that you are not running a system with serious vulnerabilities
12) The
automatic updates allow you to select what and when you want your PCC to automatic updates. For example, you could just choose to update your antivirus pattern files or you could choose to update your antivirus, anti-spam, network virus patterns etc automatically. Gone are the nag screens when automatically updating, it can perform a
truly silent update (other than that unobtrusive change in the systray icon)
13) You can also configure if you want
Outbreak alerts (these are high risk virus notifications that have recently come up)
The interface is much of the last version, except there are some useful shortcuts that get you to the sections you are most likely to use. You can also get to most places by right clicking on the systray icon as before. The entire suite is EXTREMELY configurable.
Uninstallation is very efficient, I've performed a test install and uninstall on 2 systems, and there are none of the nightmarish scenarios that we come to hear from uninstalling some other security programs.
Company site:
http://www.trendmicro.com/en/product...e/overview.htm
I would highly recommend giving this a try if you are in the market for a complete solution. There is a 30day trial to the program as well.
Hope this has been useful.