Reviews of antivirus programs and security suites

Michael Horowitz

Michael Horowitz wrote his first computer program in 1973 and has been a computer nerd ever since. He spent more than 20 years working in an IBM mainframe (MVS) environment. He has worked in the research and development group of a large Wall Street financial company, and has been a technical writer for a mainframe software company.

He teaches a large range of self-developed classes, the underlying theme being Defensive Computing. Michael is an independent computer consultant, working with small businesses and the self-employed. He can be heard weekly on The Personal Computer Show on WBAI.

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Michael Horowitz

Jan. 29, 2008 9:17 a.m. PT

If you're like me, you find many software reviews, especially those published in hard copy, lacking in detail. I recently ran across a long article All my Life's a Circle: More Rounds with new Security Guards written by someone who identifies himself only as Briard. I don't know this person, but the article is published in conjunction with The Support Alert Newsletter, which, in my opinion, is a credible source.

The article starts at a high level, reviewing and aggregating other reviews of antivirus programs. This led Briard to conclude there are six top antivirus programs (in alphabetical sequence):

AntiVir
Bitdefender
F-Secure
Kaspersky
NOD32
Norton

Most of the article though, is first-hand reviews. The following security suites are reviewed: ESET Smart Security, AVIRA Premium Security Suite, Kapersky Internet Security V7, F-Secure Internet Security 2008 and Bitdefender Internet Security 2008. Also reviewed are three "All-in-one security and housekeeping suites" Norton 360, McAfee Total Protection 2008 and VCOM/Avanquest System Suite 8 Professional.

I didn't detect any bias in the article which is dated January 2008.

See a summary of all my Defensive Computing postings.