PC Utility Tools:

Panda Global Protection has a decent reporting section. It shows statistics of which threats are being blocked and what sort of activity you have going on in your computer. This section also shows what areas your computer is most vulnerable in. One aspect we particularly like in this section is the alerts which spread themselves in the top portion of the status section. When all is well, this section is green; but when threats are evident, this section turns to yellow, which indicates small threats, and red, which indicates severe threats.

This program also has a rescue disk, allowing you to scan your computer using an untainted disc in the event that a virus affects your boot system. Most users appreciate the added security the file shredder and virtual keyboard provide. The suite’s included remote access capability gives mobile users and telecommuters secure access to their PC, regardless of where they’re physically located.

Additional Features:

Panda Global Protection has many solid defenses built into its system that help prevent identity theft. An anti-phishing filter is constantly up and running. This feature is designed to catch fraudulent emails designed to protect you from online scams. Panda Global Protection also has an anti-banking Trojan engine which protects you from having your information stolen while shopping or banking online.

To protect the young eyes who may be using your computer, this program has implemented a parental control features. This program is designed to block sites that you as the user deem inappropriate for children. While we think this is a feature that should be in every Premium Security Suite, we were unable to activate it when we were using this program. We are unsure why, but it simply sat dormant and unclickable on the status page.

There is also no mobile device security, a feature we’d like to see more of in this age of iPhones and BlackBerrys.

We’re giving Panda Global Protection a pat on the back and a poke in the ribs for this section. We liked that they offered local and online backup with 2 GB of memory, which seems to be plenty of space to store sensitive or important documents. We also liked that we were able to backup our documents to an external source like a CD or flash drive. However, we found this section of Panda Global Protection to be confusing and unclear. We were also a little put out with the fact that you must pay for your online backup after a year of use.

Ease of Use:

In the beginning this program seems to be one of the easiest on the market to use. The Status section of this program is simple and clear, providing the user with a great spring board into the software. Under this section there are three categories, protection, maintenance, and updates, which encompass the majority of what you’ll need from this program.

Once you’ve jumped into one of those categories, however, Panda Global Protection is not the easiest program to use. Some sections, such as Automatic Backup Copy, do not have clear directions as to how to perform the task at hand. This left us a little discouraged, and in some instances, completely frustrated. We were also less than thrilled with how long it took to scan our computer. The scanning time was certainly much longer in comparison with our top rated products.

Help/Support:

Panda Global Protection really stood out in this area. In addition to extensive online resources including FAQ sections, user forums, a support blog and more, they added an internet tech support link in the Service section of the program. This link takes you directly to Panda Global Protection’s technical support page and serves as a convenient resource to users.

Summary:

Although not as polished as our top rated products, Panda Global Protection is a solid program. It has everything and more in regards to antivirus and antispyware, as well as offering a good firewall and internet security. However, for the price, this is not one of the best products out there.