G Data, founded in 1985, is a global internet security company whose software continues to pass independent malware detection tests. The G Data Internet Security suite includes two powerful scanning engines, a firewall, spam filters, web protection and parental controls. This is one of the few suites in this review that also provides some mobile phone protection and 24/7/365 U.S.-based telephone and email customer support.
The G Data internet security suite is streamlined. The modules it includes are virus protection, signature updates, web protection, email check, firewall, spam protection and parental controls. From the home screen, you can easily view the status of all areas as well as license information and real-time CPU load data. We found this software quick to install and simple to configure. However, the parental controls and file shredder are separate downloads. Our first scan ran rather quickly, but it did pause a few times for high system use issues.
G Data tests quite well and in most tests scores above the industry standard mean. AV-Test, a respected independent IT-security institute in Germany, has tested the G-Data internet security suite three times in 2011 and in 2010. They passed all six tests with most scores rating above the industry average. The most current G Data test score rates them 96% in protection against zero-day threats, 100% in detection of malware released within three months and 100% in detecting known malware. As with many security products, this software is better at detecting than repairing. However, their repair scores are still above average. AV-Comparatives, in their July 2011 reports, rated G Data protection at 98.9%, which placed them in the top 25% of the products tested. In the past two years, they passed nine of their 11 VB100 tests; however, the two they failed were for their business edition not their consumer versions. Based on our experiences and third-party tests, we can conclude that with G Data you can expect to receive above-average internet protection.
In terms of the type of protection that G Data provides, it includes the majority of the elements that we were looking to find. It scans and filters emails, protects from all forms of malware, provides website recommendations and rootkit protection, ensures safe chat interactions and includes a configurable firewall. It can also filter spam, protect from phishing attempts, monitor network access and manage lists of allowed and blocked email addresses.
The G Data security suite is simplistic and succinct. It has a clean, easy-to-manage interface that does not contain some of the additional features that our higher-ranked products do such as a game mode, application control, a password manager or a sandbox. This version does not have laptop-specific settings; however, their notebook version does.
This suite does include custom scans, hourly virus signature updates, a safe reboot option, device scanners and parental controls. It also provides a few bonus tools such as image backup, data recovery, mobile protection and file shredding. In future versions, it would be helpful if the parental controls and file shredder were included with the initial download.
Though G Data provides generous 24/7/365 telephone and email support, we found their online support lacking. Their support center only consists of their phone number, an online form and a link to their support tools. Their support tools include security software downloads but not tutorials, FAQs or helpful user guides. Beyond the help files included with the software, they do not provide self-assisted support. If you have a question, you have to call or email them.
G Data Internet Security is the company’s mid-level computer protection product that is positioned rather uncomfortably between their virus scan product and their premier internet security suite. If you’re sold on G Data, we’d suggest the more advanced product or the economy of the basic antivirus program. In general, we believe that most consumers will find more desirable internet security software products among those that we’ve ranked more highly on this review site.
