Excellent value for money, but a few performance glitches let BitDefender down.

Do the new features of McAfee’s latest addition to its Security Suite stack up for home and business?

Spam! spam! spam! spam! . . . if it had not been for Monty Python nobody would ever have thought there was anything funny about it. With almost 50 percent of the world’s email now junk mail, offering everything from unwanted penis extensions to stockmarket tips, spam has become as big a problem as viruses.

A three-PC licence as standard, superb silent interface and effective security utilities make Norton 360 a tempting buy.

More approachable than ever, with excellent malware detection in an affordable package

A new interface and extra web-protection capabilities make AVG our top free antivirus choice

We've had a quick play with the new version - and we like what we see. Definitely one to stick in your PC toolkit for 2008.

With peerless detection capabilities, this well-conceived package towers over its rivals.

With peerless detection capabilities, this well-conceived package is a joy to use.

AVG offers a free home user edition with free updates for the life of the product and that has made it popular with a lot of home PC users looking for a cheap anti-virus solution.

Sophos Anti-Virus is clearly aimed at the enterprise market, with the minimum purchase being a 10-user licence, renewable annually. Unlike some of the other packages, Sophos is available for most operating systems including Unix, Open VMS, NetWare and Macintosh.

The power and flexibility of an enterprise product, but F-Secure Anti-Virus Small Business Suite 8 also comes with a good deal of the complexity of one.

While this Spanish anti-virus program is hardly a household name in Australia at present, it is gaining in popularity through its availability on the internet. Its low cost (around $78) and plentiful features have been a strong selling point for people looking for something a little less expensive than the popular Norton or Trend Micro products.

One of the original anti-virus programs, Norton AntiVirus is one of the trusted standards. The current version is extremely easy to set up out of the box and, if you are regularly connected to the Internet, it will automatically keep itself up to date.

A simple package whose two detection engines ensure great malware detection, but it fails to inspire in other areas.

Finjan delivers unique security measures and stiff anti-virus protection in an easily deployed and managed appliance.

A good concept, but the on-demand anti-virus scanner lacks real-time email and IM protection.

A best-of-breed approach to Internet security pays off. This flexible and resource-friendly suite returns to the A-List.

Norton AntiVirus (NAV) remains the world’s most popular anti-virus program -and for good reason. It is the ideal set-and-forget anti-virus protection that is as close to idiot-proof as anyone has yet got. However, it is not the cheapest and some of its competitors, such as PC-cillin now offer more for the money.

Norman Virus Control is a very unobtrusive anti-virus program that sits in your system tray and performs much like Norton AntiVirus from Symantec. It scans all incoming emails, new files, removable media and downloaded files from the internet as a matter of course without any user interaction.