Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0

Even if you’ve never heard of Kaspersky Lab, chances are you’ve used its security technology before: The Russian vendor’s antivirus engine is used to power dozens of better-known viral crusaders. By adding firewall and antispyware protection to its antivirus product, the powerful and well-designed Internet Security 6.0 should bring Kaspersky out from behind the curtain and onto center stage. The suite has strong virus, spyware, spam, and firewall tools to compete against kingpins McAfee, Norton, and ZoneAlarm.

The suite takes just minutes, and a few mouse clicks, to install, and it will run a post-setup system scan if you want to start with a clean machine. The redesigned interface is well organized, with important settings for antivirus, spyware, spam, and other security tools just one click from the main screen. And the various components are good team players: The Kaspersky Anti Hacker personal firewall works with the Anti-Spy feature, blocking sites with potentially dangerous content.

The Kaspersky suite deserves praise for its aggressive security. Out of the box, the suite protected us from online viruses and worms, remote attacks, and malware such as spyware. Like most security suites, Kaspersky also fights spam. In the tests with Outlook, it was reasonably accurate, and errors were easily corrected. Still, the Kaspersky suite could do a better job of reporting its actions.

Live tech support from Kaspersky is a toll phone call, 24/7 support is coming in 2007. The company does, however, provide free technical support via email.

Tags: Anti Virus