The latest full-suite total protection security solution from AVG with Identity Protection – Free 30-day Trial

Platform : Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7

Type: time limited full version

Manufacturer: AVG Technologies

Size:

Rating: 5

Verdict: AVG provides fast, all-round security protection and peace of mind

System Requirements:

AVG Internet Security 8.5 is specifically designed to provide peace of mind to home users, plus small businesses without network servers.

Included in this full suite security solution are the following protection layers:

• Identity Protection – prevents identity theft and blocks unknown threats
• Anti-Virus – prevents against viruses, worms and Trojans
• Anti-Spyware – protects against spyware, adware and identity-theft
• Anti-Rootkit – detects and removes rootkits and malicious code
• Anti-Spam – filters out spam and fraudulent e-mail
• Two-way Firewall – keeps intruders out and sensitive information in
• LinkScanner – real-time protection against poisoned web pages
• Web Shield – screens downloads and protects you while using instant messaging
• Resident Shield – scans all files that you work with for malware threats
• E-mail Scanner – scans all incoming and outgoing e-mail for malware threats

That’s lot of protection for the money. But best of all, these well thought out protection layers all work efficiently together. This means a light footprint so that your PC still runs fast.

The new Identity Protection behavioural analysis module adds significantly to the capabilities of AVG Internet Security 8.5. It works by looking at the behaviour of processes, considering factors such as whether a process is signed, whether it spawns other processes, and the things it tries to do. Some 300 plus problem behaviours (like looking for credit card numbers, usernames and passwords), plus suspect combinations of behaviours, are monitored.

Naturally, if a process looks suspicious it's intercepted automatically. For the curious or cautious, the software will happily show the calculations that have led it to trust or distrust a process – a reassuring feature most behavioural modules omit.

The vast majority of malware threats today are about trying to steal information about you or your activities. By blocking new and previously unknown threats using advanced process behaviour monitoring, AVG Internet Security prevents identity theft and safeguards personal information.

The protection against online threats provided by the LinkScanner safe surf and search module in AVG Internet Security is simply second to none. Other products (e.g. McAfee SiteAdvisor) claim to block online threats, but they use a blacklist database of bad web sites. Not even the likes of Google have the web scanning resources to properly maintain such a blacklist. These online threats are highly transient with 60% of poisoned web sites active for less than a day, and 90% active for less than 10 days. By keeping their threats constantly on the move, the bad guys know that they can easily bypass blacklist based solutions.

AVG LinkScanner takes a different approach. LinkScanner checks each web page you try to load with your browser for active and malicious web threats. It provides you with up-to-the-second, real-time protection. LinkScanner checks the actual page that will be loaded into your browser, rather than looking up a safety verdict on an entire web site from an out-of-date blacklist. LinkScanner also resolves small URLs so users of Twitter can click on links in tweets with confidence.

Over 80 million users worldwide rely on AVG to protect them, including more than 3 million users in Australia and New Zealand. Plus as an AVG Internet Security user, you’ll have full access to the local telephone and e-mail based support provided by AVG (AU/NZ) out of Melbourne, Australia.

Overall, AVG Internet Security 8.5 is a very credible security software suite solution, especially for online threats – and it’s highly efficient too. With this comprehensive combination of protection layers in place you can browse, buy, bank and chat online with peace of mind.