Review: Antivirus Protection That's Suite

The Milburn, N.J.-based vendor's latest security product, AVG Internet Security Suite 7.5, combines antivirus, antispyware, antispam and a software firewall to create a blanket of protection for a Windows PC.

Security suites are becoming more important than ever before, given today's sophisticated, blended threats and attacks. What's more, the concepts behind malware have changed. Viruses, trojans and worms have largely been about vandalism, pretty much like delinquents dropping stones from a highway overpass and then bragging about it. While that's bad enough, the latest threats are much worse. Malware has become the avenue to information theft, fraud and identity theft, where stealth is the key to success. Never detected quickly translates to never caught, a thief's dream.

Grisoft has effectively addressed the shift in data protection needs with AVG Internet Security Suite 7.5, which was released last week. Although the idea of multipronged protection in one product isn't new, Grisoft ups the ante by offering a concise unified interface, which melds all of the primary tasks into a single management screen. Users no longer have to worry about the status and management of individual security products and at a glance can see how the product is performing. Unified management also means simplified product updating; now all signatures and program updates occur automatically for all of the elements in the package.

The CRN Test Center installed AVG Internet Security Suite 7.5 on two different Windows XP systems for testing. The first installation was done on a PC infected with spyware to see how the product performed cleanup and protection tasks.

The product is installed from a single executable file that's either downloaded from the Grisoft Web site (www.grisoft.com) or launched from a CD. The downloaded file, usually the most up-to-date and featuring the latest patches and changes, proves to be a better installation choice.

During installation, the product does a quick compatibility scan and then offers installers options. Installers will need a product key to continue at this point. Part of the installation includes running the firewall setup wizard, which automatically scans the hard drive for Internet-compatible applications and uses that information to build an allowed and not-allowed Internet applications list. That proves to be a real time saver for building a safe access policy.

Installers will need to pay close attention to the firewall settings. The product blocks VPN and file sharing by default, so adjustments will need to be made to allow those options. Luckily, that change requires just a mouse click during installation. A reboot is required after the installation completes.

After the reboot, the application launches a first-use wizard, which can perform a complete system scan and download the latest code. On the infected test machine, the product discovered 32 instances of spyware, tracking cookies and a virus. The product successfully repaired all of those problems.