2012 Antivirus Software Reviews

AVG Internet Security 2012

AVG Internet Security 2012 proves to be an adequate Internet security suite this year with only a few concerns.

The install was a little long at 3 min, and current virus definitions were not updated during the process.

There was no pre-system scan, and we weren't prompted to perform a scan nor check for current updates after the installation was complete. Not a great start.

Next, the user interface is simple, clean, attractive and easy to use.

However, after using it for several minutes, they've made a small, but critical error in our opinion: the navigation requires too many clicks to get where you need to go. Unnecessary.

As for actual virus and malware protection, AVG scored well during testing for the most part -- but there were a few concerning bumps regarding their real-time threat detection and anti-phishing.

While certainly not a perfect Internet security suite, AVG Internet Security 2012 is worth investigating.
AVG Internet Security scored relatively well across the board with the major testing labs. However, there were some flaws from other independent testing results. AVG received passing scores and certificates from:

• VB Bulletin
• AV Comparatives
• Anti-Malware Test Lab
• PC Security Labs
• WestCoast Labs
• Malware Research Group
• AV-Test
• ICSA

In general, the major testing labs gave AVG average to high marks on everything from real-time antivirus protection to deep virus and malware scanning. While not as solid and thorough as our top Internet security suites this year, AVG manages to at least pass the big tests.

The problems with AVG Internet Security 2012 emerge with some of the cracks in their real-time protection. During one test, an obvious scareware program slipped passed AVG's shield with no problem and completely locked up the computer. That's unacceptable.

In other tests, AVG didn't always have the most current anti-phishing database and therefore couldn't always determine if a site was potentially hazardous or not. Another bad sign.

While we realize that no antivirus software or Internet security suite can ever be 100% flawless, AVG simply missed too many "big ones" for us to be confident in its abilities.

Another issue we have with AVG Internet Security is the way they split their scanning duties. There's an option to perform a "Whole Computer scan," but there's also an option to run an "Anti-Rootkit scan." This can be confusing for the user who would naturally think the "Whole Computer scan" is just that -- a scan for the whole computer -- including rootkits.

We understand that by dividing these tasks, AVG is trying to drive more attention to rootkits, but why not just include rootkit scanning in the entire scan process? That's a lot easier for us, and it just makes sense.
Resource usage for AVG Internet Security 2012 was relatively low when compared to other Internet security suites. CPU was right around 1% when the system is running idle, with only 52% memory usage.

During a full system scan, CPU usage was average at about 47%. Memory usage during a manual scan peaked a little now and then, but generally stayed around 82%. Overall, AVG performed well in regard to system resource usage.
On the surface, the user interface for AVG Internet Security 2012 is clean and modern looking. The layout is concise with easy to identify graphics.

However, we found that the navigation is much more cumbersome than it needs to be. For example, all navigation starts from the "Overview" panel, which you can access in the left navigation. Fine so far. Then you click which section in that panel you want to go to. "Firewall" for instance.

Once you're done in the Firewall section, you're forced to click the "Overview" link again then click again to get to the next section. There's no back or next buttons. No basic listing of sections on the left.

It simply takes twice as long to navigate the AVG interface. They took a nice and compact concept then missed the boat by making you click more than necessary.

There's also and "advanced" window for really detailed control. But the average user will simply be lost in this window. Best to stay out unless you really know what you want to do.

Overall, AVG Internet Security 2012 almost had an excellent user interface, but the lack of simple navigation seems pointless.
AVG offers some decent support in the form of self-help options mixed with paid, premium support options.

On the free side, AVG has the usual options: FAQs, forum, chat, and phone support. However, AVG makes it clear that the "free" phone support option is only a guideline for self-help: "We will provide you with detailed steps, which you can then follow to resolve the issue yourself."

If you need more direct help (for virus removal or software set-up), you'll need to pay for one of their paid support options. There's a one-time fee of $49.99 for one-time direct assistance, or you can pay for a full year's worth of unlimited support starting at $199.

We didn't find the FAQ pages very extensive nor very easy to search. The forums are useful, and the chat option is handy, but we'd like to see free, full phone support for everything from installation to virus removal.
There are no options to adjust update intervals in AVG Internet Security. While updates are set to download and install automatically, there's no indication or setting that lets us adjust the frequency of these updates.

There is a manual update button that's clearly labeled with the last virus definition update date, but we'd like at least some control or some indication as to when AVG is checking for updates. Every 5 min? Every hour? Every day? AVG simply doesn't tell us, not even in the "advanced" settings.

AVG Internet Security 2012 actually offers several useful extra features. Two that stand out for us are the Parental Controls and the online Backup features. The Parental Controls are extensive enough for basic child protection. The backup is useful if you have lots of files and media you'd like to store and/or share online.

AVG offers an online backup, storage, and file sharing package called "LiveKive." You can backup all of your files, photos, and other media to AVG's online storage servers. You can access these files anywhere, on any computer, and you can share any files you choose.

There's a free, 30-day trial. After that, it's $49.99/year with 25GB of storage space. $59.99/year with 50GB, or $79.99/year for unlimited storage space. Overall, LiveKive is a nice feature that's easy to use. It all depends on how much storage you need.

AVG's parental controls are fee-based. As of this writing, they're offering protection for up to 3 PCs for $0.99 (reg. $19.99 -- then it goes up from there depending on how many devices you want to protect).

All of the standard features apply: web monitoring, PC scheduling, activity reports, social network monitoring, etc. All of these seem fairly effective and adequate. AVG also offers parental controls for mobile devices like phones and pads/tablets.

On one hand, AVG has a strong reputation for having a solid, antivirus engine. While this is still the case with AVG Internet Security 2012, we can't avoid some of the glaring problems we encountered.

Their real-time, zero-day threat detection still needs some improvement, as does their anti-phishing filter: both of which let some annoying and potentially dangerous threats through.

We like the extra features, including the better-than-average Parental Controls, and the LiveKive backup feature.

The user interface was almost great, if it wasn't for the poorly thought-out left navigation.

Overall, AVG Internet Security 2012 is worthy of the high scores and certifications it received from Independent testing labs, but there are too many annoyances this year for us to overlook.

While worth a closer look, you may want to look elsewhere for a better Internet security suite.