ESET Smart Security 6

A full-scale security suite includes antivirus protection, firewall, spam filter, parental control, and some form of privacy protection. However, none of those features will do you a bit of good if the entire computer is stolen. The most exciting addition in ESET Smart Security 6 ($59.99 per year direct; $79.99 for three licenses) is a full-featured anti-theft system that will help you recover a lost or stolen computer.

On the surface, ESET Smart Security looks almost the same as ESET's standalone NOD32 antivirus. However, you'll notice some important differences as soon as you install it. In particular, the suite encourages you to immediately configure the online console from which you manage anti-theft features. The firewall also pops up right away asking what sort of network you're connected to: home, work, or public.

Good Antivirus Protection
Like ESET NOD32 Antivirus 6, this suite offers antivirus protection that's good, not great. You'll want to read the antivirus product's review for full details; I'll provide a summary here.

Malware on four of my 12 test systems gave ESET serious problems either with installation or with completing a scan. Tech support unleashed a whole arsenal of diagnostic and remedial tools, but in the end I spent almost five hours on the phone with a support technician who provided manual remote-control repair.

Between the scanner itself, the threat-specific cleanup tools, and tech support, ESET detected 76 percent of my malware samples and scored 5.6 points for malware cleanup. That's a fraction above the average, but well below the 6.6 points earned by Norton Internet Security (2013) and Webroot SecureAnywhere Complete 2013. Over a third of current products detected all rootkits; ESET caught 80 percent. See How We Test Malware Removal for an explanation of my malware removal test.

ESET did a good job keeping malware out of my clean test system, blocking many downloads at the URL level. When presented with an already-downloaded collection, it wiped out most threats on sight and detected others during installation. Overall it detected 89 percent of the samples and scored 8.9 points for malware blocking. This score is also slightly above average, but just slightly. Webroot owned this test, with a near-perfect 9.9 of 10 possible points. For a full run-down on how I test malware blocking, see How We Test Malware Blocking.

As in my hands-on tests, ESET gets good marks from the independent testing labs. However, it didn't take the top rating in dynamic testing by AV-Comparatives, and it achieved AV-Test certification by a relatively small margin. Bitdefender Internet Security 2013 and other top products get high marks across the board. The chart below summarizes recent test results. For more about the independent labs, see How We Interpret Antivirus Lab Tests.

Shared Phishing Protection
The new editions of both the full security suite and the standalone antivirus now offer phishing protection. If you accidentally click a link that goes to a fraudulent site, they'll steer you to a safe warning page. In testing, I found that ESET's detection rate lagged 48 percentage points behind that of Norton (the consistent antiphishing champ) and 8 points behind unaided Internet Explorer 8. To be fair, only a third of current antiphishing products can beat IE in my test. Still, ESET's phishing protection could use a little work.

The article How We Test Antiphishing spells out the details of my antiphishing test.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/D9B_OmrUr9E/0,2817,2414638,00.asp

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