2012 Antivirus Software Reviews

Panda Internet Security 2012

There are several things we don't like about Panda Internet Security 2012 this year. For starters, there were several red-flags during the installation process:

1. The software was mislabeled as 2011 in the download link.
2. After installation, Panda sent us an email in Spanish (we're English speakers), and it was only one line of text. No graphics or anything to indicate it was from Panda other than the email address, and there's no way to have it resent in English.
3. There's no shortcut created on the desktop for Panda. Instead there's a shortcut for "BeAnywhere," an upsell for a remote desktop and syncing service. A shortcut for Panda, the actual product you actually install would be nice.
4. The "Safe Browser" feature is just a link to install Sun/Oracle VirtualBox. It's not integrated into Panda at all, and it failed to install correctly rendering it useless.

Not a good start for Panda Internet Security 2012.

As for actual virus, spyware, and malware protection, in testing, it performed averagely for the most part but fell short in critical areas.

The software firewall is decent, but their real-time protection is spotty: most zero-day threats were blocked, but some slipped right in. Antiphishing protection was poor, as was virus removal and clean-up in general.

The user interface is functional, but so dark, it's unpleasant to use.

Their customer support pages can be difficult to navigate, and since they only offer paid support for most issues, you may find yourself on your own if you more advanced help.

Ultimately, Panda Internet Security 2012 could--and should--be a lot better. A decent firewall isn't enough for an Internet security suite, especially when it's included in the basic version of Panda.
Panda Internet Security 2012 gave mixed results when it came to virus, spyware, and malware protection -- but all agree that Panda isn't up to par when it comes to overall protection.

While Panda received certifications from many top labs, at least two testing labs scored Panda much lower than the competition.

• AV Comparatives
• Anti-Malware Test Lab (low score)
• PC Security Labs
• Malware Research Group
• AV-Test (low score)
• ICSA

What's good about Panda? For one, the firewall proved to be adequate at correctly monitoring and blocking most suspicious traffic. It missed some of the attacks more advanced malware uses these days.

Panda's real-time detection was also good, where it identified over 92% of the zero-day threats. Not bad. Not great.

Also interesting was Panda's antiphishing filter, which was generally worse than Internet Explorer alone.

And finally, Panda had trouble fully removing at least 10% of the malware we test with. Strangely, it often left troublesome infection remnants behind.

Overall, Panda Internet Security 2012's total virus and malware protection isn't as good as its chief competitors. While there were some good results, namely in real-time antivirus protection and its firewall, that's just not enough.
Resource usage for Panda Internet Security 2012 was average for the most part. We didn't see any major spikes during our testing.

CPU usage was just over 1% when the system was running idle. Memory usage was about 53% across our broad range of test PCs.

During manual scans, CPU was up to 56% while memory hovered around 62%. All in all, Panda had average resource usage rates when compared to other Internet security suites we tested.
The user interface is basic and functional, though its dark look just isn't pleasing.

In it, you'll find a top and left tab navigation system. When clicking into most sections, a new window pop ups from which you adjust those settings.

In theory, it's good, but in practice, it was a bit disjointed and somewhat confusing at times because it essentially boils down to two user interfaces: a "face" and actual controls. Why not integrate them into once window?

Because the entire user interface is so dark and nearly black, it can be hard to read and identify which settings you need to pay attention to, particularly on small screens like on netbooks or on older monitors.
There are several self-options along with paid, premium services, though support itself is spotty and sometimes hard to navigate.

On the free side, Panda offers the usual self-help options including: searchable FAQs, forums, and a few video tutorials.

For more serious help like installation help or virus removal, Panda offers paid, premium services. They start at $39.95 for installation and go to $89.95 for virus removal.

On the self-help side, both the forums and FAQ pages were hard to find from their support page with links way at the bottom of the page.

There was also a strange wizard that makes you think you're going to find detailed help for specific issues. Instead, you're only choice it the option to email Panda with your question. Strange and not useful, particularly when they're trying so hard to get you to use the self-help options.

And unfortunately, there's no phone support numbers to be found--at least none that Panda wants you to use.

All in all, Panda's technical and customer support is far behind the pack. The self-help options aren't useful, and you're likely to find you need to pay for any real support.
Virus definition updates for Panda Internet Security 2012 are set to download and install automatically by default with a checkbox to turn future updates on and off.

You can also check if you want to be notified when updates are being downloaded (a small pop-up window).

Unfortunately, there's no way to set how frequently you want it to get virus definition updates, and there's no way to see when Panda checks for updates.
Panda's "extra features" aren't much to speak about. The parental controls and the online backup are probably the most notable. The online backup is nice, but it's just Mozy.com. Its parental controls are terrible.

Panda offers online backup, but it's just a link to Mozy.com. There's nothing wrong with Mozy, but is that really an "extra feature" Panda should be offering?

Mozy lets you back up all of your computer files to an online server in case your system crashes or becomes corrupt. A good option.

Panda's Parental Controls are basically useless. You have the option to select which categories of sites are blocked (like gambling, pornography, drugs), and the option to manually block specific websites.

But that's it. There's no web or application scheduling, no application blocking, no reporting options, and no password protection, which means kids can just turn off the web-blocking filter, and since there's no reporting, you'd never know.

If you're looking for Parental Controls, Panda Internet Security isn't going to help you.
Is there anything we can recommend when it comes to Panda Internet Security 2012? Not much. There were some fairly good antivirus and anti-malware scores, and it has a decent firewall, but that's just not enough for an Internet security suit, especially such an expensive one at $59.99.

The whole product feels rushed with a dark interface, lack-luster add-ons, and up-sell features.

Virus, spyware, and phishing protection were below average in our tests, and even though a few other labs gave Panda certifications, a few gave Panda barely passable scores.

When looking at everything from the installation, to the user interface, to customer support, to antivirus and antimalware protection, Panda comes up wanting in a lot of areas.

While Panda's innovative use of "cloud" technology was a positive leap for them in previous versions, several antivirus programs have also integrated cloud technology in some fashion making Panda's innovation a thing of the past.

Ultimately, we can't recommend Panda Internet Security 2012 this year. There are just too many better options out there.