Kaspersky Internet Security

can't tell you how long I have been looking for a good security suite for my personal computer. Norton has been out of the question since they started doing weak updates of their products. Products that more often than not suck the life from my computer, products that can cause compatibility issues with other programs on your system. I have tried Micro Trends, MacAfee and more. I have even tried some of the free anti-virus products like AVG and Avast. While these free products worked ok overall their feature set is limited and their interfaces are annoying. I think they do that in the hopes of getting you to buy the full package so that you have control over how it works and get an interface that is less cutesy.

Finally, I decided to try Kaspersky Internet Security Suite 2009. Since I was looking for a package that did more than just anti-virus it offered the features I wanted. Anti-Virus, Malware, spyware, firewall, anti-spam, network protection and more. I wanted one product to take care of all of my system security needs and to do it in a way that didn't suck the life from my system and that didn't require an undo amount of interaction with it from me. I wanted to install it, configure it and forget it.

Kaspersky after nearly 4 four months has been everything I could have asked for and more. It provides all of the security I wanted, needed and more. I have had no trouble installing it, configuring it and forgetting it. It sits in the background, does its thing and isn't constantly bugging me. More importantly it works very well, it doesn't fight with the other programs on my system and it hasn't sucked the life from my system either. In fact I have noticed no slow down in the performance of my system since installing it. I couldn't be happier.

Another thing that struck me is that the interface for Kaspersky is very clean, very easy to use and understand and it doesn't stop with the main application interface, when the little pop-ups come up they are clean and easy to understand, no techno-babble. When I do have to interact with the application I understand what it wants and why it is communicating with me. No cryptic messages that requires me to read the manual or online help. Just plain English and a clean interface.

Features

• Protects from viruses, Trojans, worms, spyware, adware.
• Scans files, email, and Internet traffic.
• Protects instant messengers.
• Protects from unknown threats.
• 2-way Personal Firewall.
• Safe Wi-Fi and VPN Connections.
• Intrusion Prevention System.
• Configuration and Privacy Tools.
• Cleans traces of user activity.
• Application Filter: Access to user resources and data is restricted for risky applications.
• Vulnerability scanning for operating system and installed applications.
• Analyzes and closes Internet Explorer vulnerabilities.
• Disables links to malware sites / phishing sites.
• Global Threat Monitoring (Kaspersky Security Network).
• Virtual keyboard for safe entry of personal data.
• Blocks all types of Keyloggers.
• Parental Controls.
• Anti-spam protection.
• Blocks unwanted web banners.
• Automatic database updates.
• Free technical support.
• Whitelisting.

Functionality

• Hourly updates and fastest response times ensure you benefit from the industry's most up-to-date protection.
• New- Advanced anti-virus engine delivers the industry's fastest scan times (Passmark Security, June 2007). Saves time and improves performance.
• New - Configuration and privacy tools are designed to help you protect yourself.
• Intrusion Protection System and 2-way firewall protect you from hackers; protects your privacy.
• Protects you from the phishing and malware sites that you wouldn't otherwise know were attempting to steal from you.
• Parental controls filter, block, or report inappropriate content. Limit Internet time to hours and amounts that you set.
• Kaspersky Security Network allows your computer to report when it discovers a threat that hasn't been seen before. All 250 million Kaspersky users benefit from there combined knowledge!

One of the features that I really like is the whitelisting feature. This allows Kaspersky to whitelist list applications so that they get less activity monitoring. The whitelist is updated like the other components in the suite when you do an update. Programs that are considered a low threat get less monitoring than applications that are considered high threat. This allows Kaspersky to concentrate or more important things. Keep in mind this by no mean means that these programs or their files are more vulnerable to virus infections and the like. Virus detection is very different than whitelisting. The whitelisting is dealing with the things that an application does, like access the registry, access the internet, send data over the internet, etc. Programs that are set to low threat will have much less of its activity monitored, by Kaspersky than programs set as high threat. Kaspersky still watches them for virus infections and all other security issues. This whitelisting just lets Kaspersky to do more for you with out bugging you about it. Should a low threat application start acting strange Kaspersky will let you know and it will take steps to protect you.

To be honest I never expected this level of sophistication with this nice a user interface. Kaspersky has really managed to bring together everything in security one could want and wrap it in an interface that anyone can use, understand and work with. I am impressed and until they start following the system sucking performance of Norton they will have my business and support. Very nice!

Needs

• Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (Service Pack 2 or higher), Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition (32/64 bit) (Service Pack 2 or higher), Microsoft Windows Vista home basic (32/64 bit), Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (32/64 bit), Microsoft Windows Vista Business (32/64 bit), Microsoft Windows Vista Enterprise (32/64 bit), Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate (32/64 bit).
• Windows XP: Intel Pentium 800 MHz or higher (or compatible CPU) and 256 MB available RAM. Windows Vista: Intel Pentium 800 MHz 32 bit (x86)/64 bit (x64) or higher (or compatible CPU) and 512 MB available RAM.
• 50 MB free space on the hard drive.
• CD-ROM (for installation of the program from CD).
• Mouse.
• Internet connection (for product activation and updates.)