2012 Antivirus Software Ratings

VIPRE Internet Security 2012

Users who're new to VIPRE and are comparing it to Norton, BitDefender, AVG, or other top antivirus software may think it lacks the glitzy interface the competitors have.

And it's completely true: it does lack the flashiness of some competitors.

Further, as we saw with the standard edition of VIPRE Antivirus, installation takes longer than either the 2011 version or most competitors.

With the lack of flash come three good things though: it's fast, it's easy to understand, and it's easy to use.

Ultimately, even with dings against it for its interface and installation time, VIPRE Internet Security still earns our top spot again this year.

Formerly VIPRE Premium, and now called VIPRE Internet Security, the biggest differences between this and the less expensive VIPRE Antivirus are two things:

1. the addition of a software firewall (the only 100% firewall score in our tests) and
2. a malicious website filter

(In other words, you get everything in VIPRE Antivirus plus additional security features.)

We saw consistent protection of our test PCs against viruses, trojans, spyware, malware, and phishing attacks. And further independent testing from other top testing labs confirms what we saw: VIPRE is good at detecting, blocking, and removing viruses.

Which is the main reason installation takes longer: VIPRE includes a pre-installation scan, which meant we were consistently able to install it onto our heavily infected test PCs.

And we like that everything that's happening in the software is clear: from installation to updates to virus detection it's easy to understand.

Then, there's VIPRE's customer service. At the risk of sounding overly enthusiastic about it, we've yet to see any other antivirus software company provide the level of personal (and 100% free) customer and tech support you get with VIPRE.

For excellent virus and malware protection, a fully-equipped software firewall, and best-of-class technical support, VIPRE Internet Security 2012 earns our Editor's Choice for best Internet Security Suite of 2012.

	Next: Virus & Spyware Protection

VIPRE Internet Security 2012 Features

• Real-time Antivirus
  
  Keeps your computer safe in real-time against zero-day threats.
• Two-way Firewall
  
  Monitors two-way traffic through your PC. Your first and best line of defense against viruses.
• Antiphishing
  
  Blocks dangerous sites that try to steal your credit card and personal information. Helps prevent identity theft.
• Anti-spyware
  
  Helps prevent spyware from infecting your computer.
• Anti-adware
  
  Helps block adware from hijacking your system.
• Rootkit Protection
  
  Finds and disables rootkits embedded deeply in your PC.
• FirstScan
  
  A pre-boot scan that checks for threats before Windows fully launches, thus preventing dangerous items from running in the first place.
• Email Protection
  
  Scans your email for viruses and dangerous attachments.
• Anti-spam
  
  Helps keep spam out of your inbox (POP3 only).
• PC Explorer
  
  Organizes and checks your system processes for threats.
• File Eraser
  
  Permanently erases sensitive files so spyware can't access them.
• Low Resource Usage
  
  Runs and scans with minimal interference on your system resources.