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When you purchase a computer security suite, and then spend extra money to obtain the most up-to-date scanning files, you may not realize just how unprotected your system truly is. Being lulled into a false sense of security makes this situation even worse because you may never be able to retrieve corrupted data, restore privacy to leaked sensitive information, or repair computer hardware that has been corrupted by malicious code.

AVG

Even though AVG routinely scores in the top 5 on various list sites, consumers have already figured out that it is one of the worst security packages on the market. In fact, there are a number of consumer complaints about viruses, malware, and other problem code that were able to destroy data after slipping past the AVG scanners. Aside from that, when bench marked in comparison to other security software sites, AVG usually receives barely passing scores.

Anti-Virus Rating – In recent bench tests, the 2015 version of AVG received a barely passing rating when it came to detecting and removing viruses. This is very dangerous if you plan to browse anonymously because viruses can easily enter your system and install key loggers or even destroy hardware that you may be using to try and protect data. Today, remotely programmable BIOS chips make it entirely possible for viruses to be stored in the very heart of your computer and strike when you try to use Bit Torrents or other anonymous browsing methods.

Firewall Rating – Bench mark studies also indicate AVG’s firewall was only able to stop or block 41% of malicious sites. To make matters worse, a number of consumers reported that they could not get online at all because of AVG’s firewall service while others reported serious problems with malicious sites gaining access to their system.

Intruder Detection and Neutralization – If you are planning to browse in complete privacy, it does absolutely no good to use a security suite that allows invaders to prowl around your system. Since these intruders go undetected, they can easily take control of your computer and watch everything that you are doing. Given AVG’s poor overall rating in this area (it does not protect MS Office, Adobe, or other products) ,don’t be surprised if government agencies consider it a snoop bonus if you have AVG installed on your system. That being said, if you want a security suite whose code and data will remain almost impervious to attackers, then AVG may just be the program for you. As long as you do nothing but run security scans on your computer, you should be just fine!

Bitdefender

Bitdefender is another program that tends to be very popular with ratings sites, but not with consumers that have installed the program and attempted to run it on their computer. The most common complaints include difficulty with installation and a very high rate of “false positives”. Others have also noted that Bitdefender will essentially hijack the system and not let anything else run until it is done scanning (something that it does automatically and not always with user awareness).

Anti-Virus Rating – relatively poor because it is unable to detect malicious sites, fails to detect malicious payload over 80% of the time, and does not remove payload in real time. Despite this, Bitdefender is often touted as being one of the best anti-virus scanners on the market.

Firewall Rating – consumers note a number of false positives, and also many flags for programs that are not even installed on the system.

Intruder Detection and Neutralization – uses a “Safepay” system for financial transactions and deletes browser history. As with any other program, it will not block the browser from transmitting your IP; nor will it replace it with something else since the firewall is not attached to a torrent nor does it create a VPN.

Kaspersky

When Kaspersky first made its way onto the market, it was known for excellence. Now, consumers often complain that they cannot get database definition files to update, and that the scanners themselves have let all kinds of viruses and trojans through. Despite this, just about every listing site for security software places Kaspersky in the top 10. Even though it often benchmarks better than other protection suites, it pales in comparison to the efficiency of threats to your privacy.

Anti-Virus Rating – Kaspersky gets high ratings from independent labs, and can catch about 80% of malicious code. That being said, your system is still quite vulnerable because the real-time scanners pick up less than 10% of dangerous websites and are unable to eliminate payload from these sites.

Firewall Rating – somewhat more impressive because you can use a screen based “keyboard” to thwart keyloggers.

Intruder Detection and Neutralization – can help reconfigure browsers for greater safety, but does not create a safepay box.

McAfee

Those who have been shopping for anti-virus suites for a long time are sure to remember the days when McAfee issued CD’s with a Spider-Woman like power hero that quickly installed a battery of anti-virus tools to go along with a card that had to be installed within the computer. Even though McAfee quickly left this model behind, it did not lose its reputation for being one the first and fastest to detect new threats and issue tools that could be used to repair and patch systems. Sadly, McAfee has fallen to the same level as other “top ten” programs in the security suite arena. Consumers continually complain about malware installing on their systems as well as other problems. McAfee still enjoys a good reputation with independent labs even though consumers in the field have lost millions of dollars because of failed security protocols.

Anti-Virus Rating – Blocks less than 50% of all malicious payloads. It is somewhat more efficient at detecting malicious programs, however, the real time scanner and eliminator does not work as well as the routine scanner.

Firewall Rating – fairly poor because ports are not kept in stealth mode. You will find that computers without any firewall actually do better if they have a high speed router attached than if they have McAfee installed.

Intruder Detection and Neutralization – McAfee is easily disabled by malware and tends to allow a number of invasive payloads to run on the system. This is absolutely catastrophic if you want to pay bills safely/in complete privacy, or if you want to prevent others from tracking you online.

Norton

Back in the day when Michelangelo was all the news, Norton was the silent hero that gave away free anti-virus tools to help people get rid of this particular virus. As with McAfee, all good things did not stay that way. Today, Norton tends to be popular with independent testers and pundits that routinely review security software. You will find that Norton often stands as the benchmark, and that a program is either better or worse than Norton. Usually, Norton is within just one or two percentage points off from other programs in the field.

Anti-Virus Rating – consumers tend to be annoyed by constant popups that demand preferential installations of programs they have no interest in. Consumers have also noted that the most recent version of Norton only scans newly downloaded files, and does not check the hard drive to ensure malicious code has not installed in other locations. Even though consumer comments are troubling, Norton is still given a high rating by most review sites.

Firewall Rating – gets bad reviews because it is slow, and tends to work about as well as BitDefender or McAfee. Since neither program is stellar, Norton is not much better.

Intruder Detection and Neutralization – Once again, Norton falls into range with other security suites, making it popular with “experts”, yet very unpopular with people that actually use it and try to rely on it for protecting their privacy. A well designed configuration for a handful of non-security suite tools will do more than this program