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PCLive.com provides a free security suite

SecurityCoverage, a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, company, dares to compete with security giants Symantec and McAfee for the home desktop market.

Robert Vamosi Former Editor
As CNET's former resident security expert, Robert Vamosi has been interviewed on the BBC, CNN, MSNBC, and other outlets to share his knowledge about the latest online threats and to offer advice on personal and corporate security.
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Robert Vamosi

PCLive.com, a service offered by SecurityCoverage, is attempting to upstage security giants Symantec and McAfee by offering a complete suite of security tools for your desktop--for free. Included within the basic PCLive Security package is a firewall, the open-source ClamAV antivirus product, antispyware capabilities and a pop-up blocker. What's more, PCLive will take out the trash (clean out old temp files) and check for the latest Microsoft Windows updates that haven't yet been applied to your PC. PCLive will also e-mail you a monthly report of any changes it has made on your computer.

SecurityCoverage offers users of their free PCLive service instant 24-7 technical support for a flat fee of $49.95 per session. That's less than what Symantec and McAfee charge. Short of that, there is a built-in forum link that allows users to surface questions and answers about the product. There's also a limited FAQ available online as well.

For a mere $4.95 a month, PCLive Premium Security includes all the basic PCLive Security along with Web content filtering, parental controls, disk maintenance and 24-7 live technical support.

How does it work? See our hands-on review on Webware.com