2012 Antivirus Software Ratings

VIPRE Internet Security 2012

Is VIPRE the best-known brand in Internet security? No.

Does it still do the job the best? We think so.

With a reputation built on being the lightest running antivirus software made, its competitors are now hard at work trying to make their software equally lean.

In fact, a couple even gained ground this year.

But, building the best Internet security suite requires a lot more than just being fast. It requires excellence in three key areas: Getting any one of these right is hard. Two? Even harder. Three?

Now that's difficult.

Is VIPRE Internet Security perfect? No. Among other things, it lacks parental controls.

Its installer also takes longer than most competing products and its interface isn't as glossy and "modern" looking as most competitors.

Really though, these are minor issues. For instance the installation, while lengthy, is actually both super easy (it needs just four clicks) and one of the most thorough.

Once it's installed, we found the user interface, while perhaps not the most high-tech looking, to be actually both very fast and very effective.

And lastly, on the serious matter of dependable virus protection, VIPRE offers excellence in all the most important areas and even offers things most competitors don't, like automatic USB device detection and scanning.

So, when we finalized the scores in each of our tests, VIPRE Internet Security was on top again this year, winning our Editor's Choice as best Internet security software of 2012.

BitDefender Internet Security 2012

In another tough year of Internet security suite comparisons, BitDefender again places second by a close margin.

As we found in their basic antivirus program, BitDefender Antivirus Pro, both the realtime virus protection and manual scanning are effective and highly accurate. The same goes for the firewall software (which is only available in this their Internet security software). While the firewall wasn't perfect, it was still very effective.

Among other things we also like are its user interface, which is both easy to use and innovative. Many competitors are also developing innovating interfaces for their software, but few, if any, are as easy to use as BitDefender's is.

The two areas that continue to detract from BitDefender are its anti-spam filter and their technical support.

It's not that BitDefender's support is poor or inadequate, it's that getting support requires you to wade through a series of self-help options on their site before you can get to the point where you can contact someone.

As for the anti-spam, the software is actually easy to use for that purpose; however, even after training it with a large amount of spam and legitimate emails, it was still allowing too much spam through to the Inboxes of our test PCs.

Even with these shortcomings, BitDefender still does very well at the most important task of all: keeping your PC secure and your information safe.

Kaspersky Internet Security 2012

This year's version of the Kasperksy Internet Security Suite brings continued top-notch virus protection but significant steps backwards elsewhere, perhaps most importantly in the user interface.

Aside from bugs we encountered in the software's interface, we also found the firewall didn't provide the same protection the other best Internet security software in our tests did.

Regardless, it seems that every time we put antivirus software and Internet security suites through our tests, Kaspersky always manages to do very well at:

1. real-time virus protection (key to preventing infections)
2. manual virus detection
3. virus removal

This year is no different with Kaspersky continuing to excel in these areas.

Kaspersky, in spite of the user interface issues, a firewall more porous than we'd like, less-than ideal tech support, and slow full-system manual antivirus scanning, still delivers on the most important thing: strong virus detection and stopping powers.

Because of that, it lands a spot among the best Internet security software for 2012.

AVG Security 2012

Having gotten piles of customer requests to review AVG's products, as always, we listened.

And so, this year, making its first ever entrance to our antivirus software and Internet security suite reviews, is AVG Internet Security and its sibling AVG Antivirus.

The antivirus software from AVG fared better than its Security Suite counterpart in our tests, but that doesn't mean we weren't impressed by this software, too. We were.

For starters, it has a good user interface that's modern without being overly flashy like some competitors' software.

When it came time for testing its capabilities at keeping computers secure, all-in-all, it did well.

In fact, it did very, very well in our realtime protection tests against the viruses, trojans, and other malware we put it up against, consistently scoring in the top three in this category. (This means it did a good job of keeping viruses off our test PCs to begin with.)

When we moved on to our manual virus scanning tests, it didn't do as well, but still scored a 95.00, which while not outstanding, is still quite good.

It also did well removing viruses that had already infected our test PCs. So far, so good.

Things started going off the rails for AVG though with our spyware tests and antiphishing, where it wasn't able to keep up with the best security suites of 2012.

Then there's the issue of technical support. While AVG does offer technical support by phone, always a plus, for anything other than very basic things, it isn't free, and can well over $100 if you need their help removing a virus that's gotten by AVG and onto your system.

In the end, we liked the software; we're glad we added it to the mix this year. There's no question it will serve many people well and help keep their PCs secure.

Norton Internet Security 2012

Symantec and Norton are names that are synonymous in many people's minds with "antivirus software" and "Internet security."

The first question is: Does Symantec deserve that type of praise for their latest suite, Norton Internet Security 2012?

The short answer: mostly.

With the exception of one fatal flaw, a poor firewall, Norton's security product for 2012 is actually very good at stopping viruses and other malware.

Among the things we found it does very well are:

1. realtime virus detection
2. manual scanning accuracy
3. virus removal

In fact, were it not for the issues we encountered with the firewall, it would have scored much higher among the best Internet security suites of the year.

That said, there were a several things we weren't thrilled with. For starters, their "Pulse Updates," while excellent in theory, leave a lot to be desired. (It comes down to a "Trust us! We've got it covered!" attitude about updates, which we don't care for.)

Secondly, the software didn't automatically offer to automatically scan them when we plugged them into our test PCs. Viruses spread over USB, so this becomes a possible security hole.

Then, there's the user interface. At first, it's modern and interesting; after you've used it for a while, it gets flashy and lacks coherence.

Other than these issues, which might not be all that important to you, Symantec's overall protection against viruses, worms, trojans, keyloggers, and all other malware is impressive.

Which leads us to the second question: is Norton Internet Security right for you? Or are there options better suited to your Internet security / protection?

Read on for the rest of the findings in our Full Review.

Panda Internet Security 2012

We were impressed to see that even the basic Panda Antivirus includes firewall software. The thing is, if their antivirus software includes a firewall, how do you justify the jump in price to the Internet Security Suite?

There are a few features added with the Security Suite, most notably, Parental Controls, anti-spam filtering, and malicious web site filtering.

While the feature list is fairly impressive, and so are some parts of the software, unfortunately, there are drawbacks elsewhere in the software (some significant) and with the technical support.

Of the drawbacks a couple that stood out to us where that neither email virus scanning nor USB virus scanning happen automatically. Given that these have for the longest time been two of the main ways computers get (and infect other computers with) viruses, that both of these are left to the user is really odd to us.

Then there's the issue of technical support.

If you're looking for person-to-person support from Panda, good luck. There's no way to contact them by phone--even for a fee--if you really need help. Instead you're mainly left to your own devices, digging through their help files and website.

McAfee Internet Security 2012

Like Norton, McAfee is one of the biggest names in Internet Security, and with that name--and their good reputation--McAfee has a lot that's expected of it.

It's certainly no newcomer to antivirus software and helping people keep their PCs secure.

When it comes to actual antivirus protection, McAfee is indeed very good. In the virus detection and removal portion of our tests, it consistently did quite well at the three most important areas: realtime protection, manual scanning, and virus removal.

That's off to a good start.

But what happens when the software is difficult to install? What happens when their user interface is difficult to use or when the firewall software is both hard to use and not all that secure?

And what about when their free options for technical support are lackluster and when their pay-as-you-go support options are expensive?

You end up with an Internet security suite that, sadly, doesn't live up to expectations.

That's not to say it's all bad, because it's certainly not. McAfee Internet Security definitely has its strong points. We just wish there were more of them.

Trend Micro Internet Security 2012

Oh, the high hopes we had for Trend's 2012 Security Suite.

Massive improvements in virus detection, huge strides in real-time virus protection, and even terrific upgrades in its virus removal abilities got us very excited about what the rest of the suite would bring.

Then there's the great reboot-free installer. Wow. 2012 might be a different year for Trend, we thought.

Unfortunately, such is not the case.

Plagued by an updater that leaves you completely in the dark as to when it last updated, when the next update is scheduled, or even if one is happening at all; the complete absence of any software firewall; weak antiphishing performance; and no automatic scanning of USB drives (among other things), we were left wishing the same zeal had been paid to the entire product and not just the core virus/antivirus portion.

"No firewall?" was an oft-repeated phrase about the Trend security suite. C'mon... it's an Internet security suite. How can it have no firewall software?

But, there is no firewall. Really.

It's decisions like these that left the 2012 Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security Software scoring far more poorly than it could have, and certainly would have, if all we measured were antivirus capabilities.

The fact is though, that there's much more to a good Internet Security Suite than just virus detection and removal.

If all you want is antivirus, you buy an antivirus program. When you pay for an Internet security suite though, you expect more. After all, they're charging more.