Security suites from different vendors vary quite a bit. Some vendors pack in every imaginable security feature while others stick to the basics. PC Tools falls in the latter camp. With PC Tools Internet Security 9.0 ($49.99 direct for three licenses) you get antivirus, firewall, antispam, and a browser-protection toolbar. On the plus side, PC Tools Internet Security 9.0 costs quite a bit less than the most expensive suites.
Despite its streamlined feature set, this is one big product. Measuring free space before and after installation I calculated PC Tools Internet Security's ?size at 1,009MB. Of all the recent suites only Bitdefender Total Security 2012 ($79.95 direct for three licenses, 4 stars) took more space?over a gigabyte. My contact at PC Tools explained that the Web-based installer leaves the downloaded installation files in place, in case the user needs to re-install.
PC Tools comes with a number of specialized tools to handle threats that interfere with installing the program or running scans. Getting protection installed on my malware-infested test systems required most of them. Specifically, I used the Threat Removal Tool, the Hidden Intrusive Threat (HIT) scanner, and the Alternate Operating System Suite.
Good Malware Protection
As the antivirus protection in this suite is the same as that of PC Tools Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus 9.0 ($39.99 direct for three licenses, 3.5 stars), I'll simply summarize my test results here.
Full scanning and cleaning of some infested test systems took over an hour, and, in some cases, PC Tools ran a followup scan after reboot. Overall it detected 82 percent of the samples and scored 6.5 points for malware cleanup. Top scorer Norton Internet Security 2012 ($69.99 direct for three licenses, 4.5 stars) detected 85 percent and took 7.1 points.
In breakout tests for specific malware types PC Tools detected 100 percent of the rootkits and 100 percent of the scareware samples. It scored 8.8 points for scareware removal and 6.9 for rootkit removal. Only Webroot SecureAnywhere Complete ($79.95 direct for three licenses, 4.5 stars) and Norton, with 7.3 and 8.9 points respectively, scored higher against rootkits. For details on how I derive these scores, see How We Test Malware Removal.
PC Tools did a good job protecting my clean test system from malware attack. It wiped out 60 percent of the malware sample files the moment I clicked on them and detected another 34 percent when I actually launched them. Its 94 percent overall detection rate matches that of Norton and several others. Webroot detected 100 percent of the samples in this test and scored 10 of 10 possible points, while PC Tools scored 8.6 points.
Like many others, PC Tools scored a perfect 10 points for scareware blocking. It detected all of the rootkit samples as well, and scored 9.3 points against rootkits. For an explanation of my scoring method, see How We Test Malware Blocking.
In tests by independent labs, PC Tools didn't fare so well. It failed to achieve the minimum STANDARD rating in on-demand and dynamic tests by AV-Comparatives.org, and it didn't achieve certification in two of the latest three tests by AV-Test.org. For more on my interpretation of independent lab tests, see How We Interpret Antivirus Lab Tests.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/0RrwR3UMSO4/0,2817,2396748,00.asp
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