The fall months may be the season for colder weather and dying leaves, but in the software world it means major updates for security suites. We've reviewed and benchmarked 11 suites, organized them along the traditional line of cost, and picked one in each category that we highly recommend.
We looked at four updated free security options: AVG Anti-Virus Free 2011, Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.3, Microsoft Security Essentials 2, and Ad-Aware Free Internet Security 9. Other well-known free security programs, such as Avast and Avira, generally update in late winter or spring, so they were not included.
AVG made some big improvements this year, notably in tightening up its installation and scans, comparing well with the lightweight Panda Cloud Antivirus' small performance hit. If you're looking for a newly updated free suite, though, AVG Anti-Virus Free 2011 is your best choice.
Seven pay-for-play security suites also updated and were reviewed, including well-known powerhouses like Norton and Kaspersky, but also Trend Micro, BitDefender, Webroot, PC Tools, and AVG Internet Security 2011, the paid upgrade from AVG's free version.
Old haters of Norton are seriously missing out if they haven't given it a shot in the past few years. It's fast, effective, posts minimal system performance hits, and is our choice for top paid security suite of the season. It's not the only game in town, though, as Trend Micro has revamped to offer serious competition, and what Kaspersky lacks in quickness it makes up for in efficacy.
In addition to our product comparison charts (free | paid), check out CNET Labs' performance benchmark comparisons below. (Read more on how CNET Labs tests security programs.)
We can see from these tests that though no single program scored better than all the others, there were clear leaders in the key trials of start-up time impact, shutdown time impact, and time to complete a full scan. Panda Cloud Antivirus is highly competitive with AVG Free, whereas Norton's performance strengths lie in its threat prevention and detection, because several of its competitors leave a smaller footprint on your system.
Free security suite benchmarks:
| Security program | Boot time | Shutdown time | Scan time | MS Office performance | iTunes decoding | Media multitasking | Cinebench |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unprotected system | 42.5 | 11.28 | n/a | 917 | 180 | 780 | 4,795 |
| AVG Anti-Virus Free 2011 | 55.24 | 11.59 | 548 | 1,039 | 200 | 870 | 4,709 |
| Panda Cloud Antivirus Free 1.3 | 50.12 | 14.8 | 540 | 1,044 | 199 | 832 | 4,790 |
| Microsoft Security Essentials 2 | 54 | 18 | 1,560 | 1,038 | 201 | 800 | 4,790 |
| Ad-Aware Internet Security 9 | 54 | 18 | 1,620 | 1,039 | 199 | 797 | 4,792 |
Paid security suite benchmarks:
| Security program | Boot time | Shutdown time | Scan time | MS Office performance | iTunes decoding | Media multitasking | Cinebench |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unprotected system | 42.5 | 11.28 | n/a | 917 | 180 | 780 | 4,795 |
| Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 | 47.49 | 17 | 1,750 | 1,068 | 207 | 823 | 4,661 |
| Webroot Internet Security Complete 2011 | 47.86 | 15.97 | 1,459 | 992 | 198 | 848 | 4,729 |
| BitDefender Total Security 2011 | 47.84 | 13.82 | 775 | 1,032 | 200 | 825 | 4,769 |
| Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security 2011 | 44.79 | 16.56 | 500 | 1,060 | 201 | 852 | 4,765 |
| Norton Internet Security 2011 | 48.91 | 11.78 | 890 | 1,028 | 199 | 861 | 4,780 |
| AVG Internet Security 2011 | 56.21 | 16.3 | 480 | 1,043 | 198 | 820 | 4,759 |
| PC Tools Internet Security 2011 | 55 | 20 | 1,245 | 1,086 | 204 | 832 | 4,792 |
*All tests measured in seconds, except for Cinebench. On the Cinebench test, the higher number is better.
Seth peers into the deep, dark corners of software so that you don't have to. He has yet to suffer a single nightmare about OS/2.
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