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CA Internet Security Suite Plus 2010 Review: Internet Security Software |
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| Excellent protection for PC; Very user friendly; Exclusive 15% discount with promo code ISSP15 | |
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[EDITOR'S NOTE: CA is offering NextAdvisor visitors 15% off the purchase of CA Internet Security Suite 2010, bringing the price down to $59.00. Just follow the links from NextAdvisor and use coupon code: ISSP15]
It's CA's turn to enter the 2010 Internet security fray. At $69.99 per year, it's a bit on the expensive side (though a current discount brings it down to $59.00). For that price it comes with a substantial bundle of offerings, and a $10,000 guarantee against failure (more on that below), though oddly there's no free trial or satisfaction guarantee. CA's strength has always been its user interface. For the most part, it does not disappoint. The interface is well-organized, though some items could use more explication. The firewall monitor, for instance, tells you which IP addresses have been denied access to your computer, but not anything about them. It might make you paranoid, instead of well-informed. CA has the only xenophobic site-warning system we've seen. We were alerted when we visited sites from the Ukraine and China. It's unobtrusive, and could be useful, though deceptive sites can come from any part of the globe. There's also a built-in risk assessment module which we have mixed feelings about, particularly when it indicated a site was "low risk" and we knew it contained scareware. CA, like many other Internet security products, rates sites that come up in search results. It's quite a bit slower than most, and color blind users may have trouble with the color coded system (most other products we've tested use distinct icons to differentiate between safe and unsafe sites). Additionally, you can decide to have CA rate links as you mouse over them. It's occasionally useful, but we recommend the option that allows you to use it selectively by using a hotkey. CA didn't fare too well in our battery of tests. It allowed us to download a phony flash plug-in that's well known to carry malware. It also didn't stop us from hitting an image-based trojan, nor did it indicate that we'd downloaded any scareware on sites that had carried it in the past. That being said, when we ran other virus scanners to see if the viruses were downloaded, they were not found. The suite does contain a number of bonus features. You get free registration for MobileLifeline, a service that allows you to remotely recover and wipe the files from your laptop if it's stolen (you must, by the way, register for the service to take advantage of the CA guarantee). There's also a component that helps you back up your important data to an external drive, as well as a migration assistant for transferring your data to a new computer. A parental controls module is also included. It runs a bit on the conservative side, and configurability is limited. "Gay" is included in the adult blacklist, and there seems to be no way to edit the blacklist beyond basic categories such as: adult, weapons, hate, violence, shopping, etc. It should be noted that CA does partner with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and receives their seal of approval. They also donate up to $1.00 to the organization with every purchase. CA guarantees the effectiveness of its products with up to $5,000 in identity theft protection and an equal amount in technical services if your PC and/or identity is compromised. There are restrictions and requirements, of course. As we mentioned above, you must have the above-mentioned MobileLifeline installed. The number of components that CA bundles together is impressive, but the slowdown with search result pages, lack of blacklist configurability, and somewhat disappointing virus scanning are potential drawbacks. It does offer licensing for three PCs, but for the price class, we'd have to recommend Norton instead. System Requirements: Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 |
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| Price: | $59.49/yr for up to 3 PCs (after 15% discount with code: ISSP15) |
| Virus Protection: | $5,000 virus protection if PC fails due to infection |
| Adware and Spyware Protection: | Detects and removes spyware |
| Identity Theft Protection: | $5,000 coverage if identity is stolen |
| Spam and Phishing Protection: | Phishing site alerts; Spam blocking |
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