Internet Security Suites- The shield against cyber crime

Today, the Internet is fully engaged with the talk ofpassword logged.
viruses, worms, spyware, cyber crime, malware, spamIt scans the system regularly for vulnerabilities asking
etc. This is because, as much as the physical world into patch bugs.
which we live, the types of people who exist on theHere the alerts are also displayed in a single window.
internet are also diverse, from scientists to businessKaspersky
professionals to children to criminals. Similarly, as with 
the physical world, the places we visit on the web canThis is one of the best antivirus suites. The major
vary from wild and wacky to academic to detestable.implementation of Kaspersky is an onscreen keyboard
Therefore, caution has to be taken while we deal withwhich allows users to type in passwords on online
people and visit places on the internet. It is essentialbanking and shopping sites without having the
that we do not trust people whom we don’t knowpassword logged.It also scans the system regularly for
on the internet. Similarly, we should exercise cautionvulnerabilities asking to patch bugs. The alerts are also
when visiting unfamiliar websites or sites with whichdisplayed in a single window.
we have no prior relationship. The threat landscape 
has become more dynamic with thousands ofESET Smart security
malware being created everyday. You can forget allIt supports all the basic features but detailed
these fears by installing a licensed internet securitycustomizations and controls are available.
suite.Panda Internet security 2009
 A computer system without an internet security isMajor advantage is that it monitors wireless networks.
like a house without a house guard, where anyone canWhen a new PC appears on the network, it gives an
walk in and walk out anytime with all your valuables.alert asking whether it has to be granted access. This
An Internet security suite works as a filter and doesis the only internet security which supports the feature
not allow any of the data whether confidential or nottruprevent completely. It allows the creation of rescue
to be stolen from your system.disks and uploads suspicious files to their database for
Today, most of the systems have ordinary antivirusinspection.
software installed in it but the users are not aware thatFrom all the above to summarize, the best Internet
these softwares cannot provide the adequateSecurity suites should have the following features:
protection and they happily go on the internet. The kind- Anti-virus
of complete protection that networks require today,- Detects and removes viruses and threats from
can only be provided by an internet security suite.emails, instant messaging, downloads etc.
An Internet security suite ensures that the PC is notAnti-spam
mistaken for a playground for viruses and worms. It is- Prevents spam emails from reaching the inbox.
a combined suite of antivirus software and a firewallAnti-phishing
system that can handle spam, filer Ads and other- Filters phishing emails and protects from accessing
suspicious contents and sometimes there are evenwebsites run by phishers.
other additional features which make it easy to- Gives warning on suspicious emails and unsafe sites
differentiate between the suites. A typical suite shouldAnti-spyware
have features such as antivirus, anti-spam, anti phishing,- Blocks and removes spyware, adware
anti-spyware, a personal firewall, parental control,- Protects against keyloggers, browser hijackers and
privacy control or protection, identity theft protection,other threats
anti-rootkits, e-mail safety, data theft prevention, dataAnti-rootkits
backup and transfer, pop up filters and automatic- Searches underneath the operating system for a
updates.program that takes control of the computer without
Importance of antivirus suite protectionauthorization.
Almost all companies depend on computers andFirewall
internet for business transactions. But all this requires- Blocks unauthorized access while permitting
security, as hackers have innovative techniques toauthorized communications.
break into the company’s computer network.- Provides protection from intrusions and data leaks
Another issue is while sending emails, i.e., all informationParental control
send over the internet passes through intermediary- Provides real time content filtering from inappropriate
computers before reaching the destination. This is outwebsites and emails.
of our control as any malicious computer savvyIdentity theft protection
individual operating an intermediary computer has the- Secures personal data while buying, banking and
ability to tamper with the information and there arebrowsing online
many ways to deceive the sender. For example, an- Alerts when details are about to move out of your
intermediary computer could exchange informationPC and helps to stop it if desired
with the intended destination and thus inducing toData theft protection
reveal private data such as passwords, contact details- Protects personal and private information from being
of partners, credit card details etc. Even a firm usingcaptured
intranet is under the threat if one system in it isPop-up filter
connected to the internet. All these issues can be- Blocks pop-up ads
handled using an internet security suite. And, thereforeTruprevent
the need for an antivirus suite protection is endless and- Rapidly blocks attack caused by unknown viruses
the following are some of the reasons to have anand intruders, even before the antivirus has been
internet security suite:-updated to combat them.
- Protects confidential information- Additional protection against network viruses
- Prevents hacker accessTotal Scan
- Reinforced protection against theft of important data- Permits periodic in-depth scanning to detect and
- Virus and spyware freeeliminate threats missed by antivirus programs installed
- Blocks spamon systems.
- Protects children on internetData back-up and transfer
- Prevents the loss of important files- Allows to run scheduled or on-demand backups of
- Keeps the computer running at maximum efficiencythe PC to protect it from unforeseen incidents
- Allows periodic exhaustive scanningAuto updates
Internet security suite providers- Ensures that the system is protected against latest
Today, there are more than 15 internet security suitethreats.
providers with different packages and software to suitThe antivirus suites Kaspersky and McAfee are
the specific needs of a company. All suites haveknown to be the best antivirus suites and below are
antivirus and firewall components, and there are othertheir feature summarization:
additional features which builds the difference between Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â McAfee
the suites. Some of the famous internet security suites Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Exists
are Kaspersky, GDATA, Norton 360, McAfee, AVG, Â Â Â Â Â 
eScan, FSecure, Panda, ESET etc. It is important to Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Exists
know the major features other than antivirus and Â 
firewall provided by these suites. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Exists
Norton 360 Â 
It provides a free downloadable parental control addon Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Exists
that gives control to every user account and over the Â 
kind of content allowed. It delays the startup of Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Exists
suspicious applications during bootup. Data backup Â Â Â Â Â 
features which lets users move data to a different Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Exists
drive, network share and even to an online service soParental control                   
that it ensures no data is lost if the PC gets infected or Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Exists
even during a system crashIdentify threft
It recommends the installation to be downloaded from Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Exists
internet. The suite scans the system before theData threft protection         
installation to make sure that the system is not already Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Exists
infected. It has the ability to delete files to preventPop-up
recovery. This feature is similar to the file shredder offilter                        
GDATA. Also supports data backup feature as inbut poor performance
Norton 360.Truprevent                     
GDATADoes not exist                Exists but
It has a free downloadable parental control addon thatpoor performance
gives control to every user account and over the kindTotal
of content allowed. Also includes a file shredder toscan                           
delete files and make them unrecoverable. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Exists
McAfee’s internet security’s installerData back-up and transfer 
It recommends the installation to be downloaded from Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Exists
internet. The suite scans the system before theAuto
installation to make sure that the system is not alreadyupdates                       
infected. It has the ability to delete files to prevent Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Exists
recovery. This feature is similar to the file shredder ofThe latest version of McAfee also supports additional
GDATA. Also supports data backup feature as infeatures such as remote monitoring, printer sharing
Norton 360.tasks, configuration of other personal computers and
FSecure Internet Security 2009gives frequent alerts for intruders on the system.
Focuses on parental control and the access to theThe last version of Kaspersky includes features like
main control panel is denied unless authorized.isolation of infected workstations, avoids the unwanted
AVGrescanning of files in the system and launches multiple
Ability to allow access of games to the internetcopies of the antivirus engine.
through the firewall without any hassels. It also allowsTherefore, through an efficient internet security suite
updating of downloaded virus definition by importingone can ensure that business continues without any
them from a folder.eScan internet securitydisruption and need not fear of any cyber miscreants.
This is one of the best antivirus suites. The majorBut, just buying and installing it is not sufficient, it has to
implementation of Kaspersky is an onscreen keyboardbe regularly updated and the system must be scanned
which allows users to type in passwords on onlineregularly.
banking and shopping sites without having the