Maliciousness in the form of theft, robbery, kidnapping for ransom, forgery and masquerading as someone else has increased human misery since antiquity. Now these crimes happen in the virtual world of the internet. Safe on the other side of the world, criminals plot to use the web to steal your money, data and identity. They can fool you with false messages and tempt you to pay them to stop bothering you. Bemoaning the situation is pointless. Parasitic people have always been among us.
The shock of the new is that criminals are exploiting fellow human beings via high technology and doing so with impressive intelligence and disciplined organization that forces us into defensive postures. Antivirus software is required, certainly. However if you want to guard yourself even more effectively, consider an internet security suite, which is security software that goes beyond antivirus software protection. We offer articles about internet security suites, and we have found that the best products are Bitdefender Internet Security, Kaspersky Internet Security and Norton Internet Security.
At TopTenREVIEWS, we evaluate internet security suites according to how well they perform, the usefulness of their features and the quality of their technical support.
Performance
One reason to use an internet security suite instead of simply relying on the security features native to Windows is that Microsoft never intended for its Windows security to be the ideal way to protect your PC. Windows security is there because Microsoft knows that some users will never purchase third-party security software. So Microsoft wants them to have a baseline of protection. Independent test labs demonstrate that the best internet security suites outperform native Windows security substantially. We especially value the test results from a German lab named AV-Test because it provides objective criteria that clearly reveal the best-performing products.
Features
The function of internet security suites includes antivirus protection but adds more features than most basic antivirus software has. For example, internet security suites usually include a firewall so that you can use a firewall from the same publisher as the internet security suite. Inclusion of a firewall in this category of software is a carryover from the days when Windows lacked a two-way firewall. The Windows firewall is fine, but internet security suites give you a choice. Internet security suites sometimes also provide password managers and parental controls, which are not normally features basic antivirus software.
Help & Support
It should come as no surprise that publishers of the best-performing internet security suites also fill their websites with resources that are helpful to their user base. These companies also extend technical support via online chat, telephone and email.
The best internet security suites include a complete antivirus software module with additional features to protect you that go beyond antimalware safeguards. These security suites warn you about phishing sites and protect your online identity. You will not be as safe as you can be if you only use Microsoft Security Essentials. The product test results from independent test labs such as AV-Test reveal the best-performing internet security suites, and you can use our distillation of that information to choose the best one to protect you.
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