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Kaspersky Internet Suite 7.0
Nikhil Rastogi, Feb 17, 2008 1250 hrs ISTHere's a security suite that offers first-rate protection, featuring an anti-virus, firewall, anti-spyware, and more. Version 7.0 forays into parental control and root-kit detection
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Being secure is like chasing mercury. Have you ever chased mercury? I once did when a thermometer broke -- its crazy! No matter what your efforts, it keeps running away, refusing to be caught. The harder you try, the faster it runs. Security is much like that -- it's a cat and mouse game.
(Trivia: Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at ordinary temperatures. Reminds you of T1000 from Terminator 2, doesn't it?)
Still, we can't afford to lose hope: security is one thing all computer users must have. And I'm not talking about just an anti-virus solution of the good old days. Viruses are no longer just viruses; virus writers have evolved and don't want to dominate the world anymore -- just snoop information off our PCs for a profit. There are now adware, malware, spyware... whatever the name, they're all bad. And don't forget social engineering attacks, technically called phishing scams, particularly from friendly neighbourhood Nigeria. These are the hardest problems to solve, because they're more about human psychology than technology.
All said, we need robust security... or shall I say "more and more security." Kaspersky Internet Suite 7.0 is quite the answer to what we need; let's call it KIS7 -- it sounds more exotic!
What comes in the bundle?
The suite comes with an anti-virus (formerly known as AntiViral Toolkit Pro), a firewall that checks inbound as well as outbound traffic, anti-spyware / malware protection, anti-spam, anti-phishing, anti-rootkit (this suite means business!) and parental control (kids beware!) That's a lot of protection bundled in, all for about Rs 2,400.
Testing and Certification
For this review, we didn't go about testing the components of the suite ourselves. We went by the official reports of several well-known, independent organisations that do serious testing.
Hardcore details regarding testing can be had from the following magnanimous organisations. You'll find everything that you want here; the exact test score count, sample sizes, detection of false positives, comparison with other products, and more. We can't include the test scores here, as not all these organisations permit the listing of their test scores. So much so that these organisations do not even allow posting of direct URLs of their tests, only of the main URL is permitted. So here you go...
Note: Some of these sites require free registration to view the test results.
AV-Test
AV-Comparatives
Virus Bulletin
ICSA Labs
West Coast Labs
Anti-Malware Test Lab
In brief, Kaspersky topped in almost all the tests. "Almost," meaning that not all products in the suite have the best scores; the lower ones are simply a few points lower, but nothing ridiculously low. Also keep in mind that, as a general rule, any multi-purpose tool can never be as good as a dedicated tool. This is particularly evident when full removal (not detection) of evil software is concerned. Full removal is complete and total removal of files, .EXEs, temp files, Registry keys, startup entries, etc. That's why you see specific virus removal .EXEs from anti-virus vendors as additional downloads to clean certain infections.
Another factor that makes us believe KIS7's anti-virus the best is that it is the only solution yet to widely power solutions by other security vendors, such as Check Point (ZoneAlarm Anti-virus), Sybari (acquired by Microsoft), F-Secure, Bluecoat, Juniper Networks, FrontBridge, G-Data, GFI Software, Borderware, Netintelligence, Netasq, and more.
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