BullGuard Internet Security 8.5

BullGuard has impressed us in the past, and in this month's malware detection test it was one of several suites to score a strong 97%, finishing just a fraction behind G Data and Norton.

We also liked the way its firewall responded to our intrusions: it notified us that an attack was under way and blocked the originating IP address before the attacker could confirm the presence of our protected system.

We were less pleased with BullGuard's email protection. It worked, but when infected messages were cleaned the program also inserted an advert for BullGuard software into the email, complete with a link to the company's online store. That's a little crass.

Of more concern was the web threats test: BullGuard intercepted two malicious downloads, but gave our remaining 52 sites the green light, even though other packages had identified some as hosting active malware.

In addition to all the expected internet security features, BullGuard includes an online backup client with a generous 5GB of storage accessible through a backup/restore wizard, or as a networked drive within Windows Explorer.

This remains its strongest point. As a whole, the interface is easy to navigate, and less experienced users will appreciate the ability to send messages to the technical support team and chat with agents directly within the program.

Unfortunately, BullGuard is let down by its weight. A 14-second startup time is long, and memory consumption was 162MB, making this one of the most RAM-hungry suites on test. It's not bad, but better suites cost less.

• 
  Trend Micro Internet Security Pro 2010
• 
  PC Tools Internet Security 2010
• 
  Microsoft Security Essentials: our verdict on Microsoft's stripped-down virus protection
• 
  McAfee Total Protection
• 
  Kaspersky's Internet Security 2010
• 
  G Data Internet Security 2010
• 
  F-Secure Internet Security 2010
• 
  Eset Smart Security 4
• 
  ClamWin 0.95.3
• 
  BitDefender Total Security 2010
• 
  Avira AntiVir Personal
• 
  Avast 4.8 Home Edition
• - Best Value -
  AVG Anti-Virus Free 9
• - Labs Winner -
  Why Norton Internet Security 2010 is back on our A-list