McAfee’s Internet Security Suite (McAfee Total Protection) for small business is designed to keep your business safe and running smoothly. It offers a complete package of internet peace of mind by combining a complete array of security features for your small business. McAfee Total Protection is different than the other small buisness internet security suite solutions in this comparative review because it is a service (Security-as-a-service) rather than traditional software. That means that the solution is hosted by McAfee, web-based, and won’t require additional hardware, software, or IT personnel.

McAfee Total Protection Service Advanced includes hosted protection as a service for your endpoint desktops, file servers, and email servers.

Certifications:

McAfee’s desktop firewall can continuously monitor your computer to help keep your computer free from breaches. The firewall can be configured to allow connections on certain ports, or to block them altogether.

The integrated centralized desktop firewall helps you keep hackers and identity thieves at bay, while still facilitating secure business communication. Essentially the firewall acts as an initial barrier between your business data and intruders, but is permeable enough to allow secure communication.

Detection & Cleaning:

McAfee’s antivirus function is one of the few companies whose software has been approved by three major testing labs: ICSA, Virus Bulletin, and West Coast Labs. Like most antivirus applications you are able to schedule scans, scan on demand, or scan select files one at a time.

Virus protection within McAfee Total Protection protects desktop computers, file servers, and email. McAfee features immediate scanning of files, so that malware is stopped before it has the opportunity to install and deploy.

Internet Protection:

McAfee does a good job of catching spyware on your computer. The software is constantly being updated as new threats are made known. The software did allow a few tracking cookies through, but this is typical as no antispyware software was able to completely eliminate everything.

McAfee Total Protection protects your business resources from spyware, adware, viruses, phishing scams, hackers, and even spam. The Advanced edition includes McAfee Secure Messaging Service Small Business Edition for integrated email security in real-time. This option is monitored and run in-house (as opposed to the rest of the hosted solution), and provides a great way to protect your employee inboxes from spam and malware.

Management Features:

McAfee does a good job at keeping your computer free from viruses and spyware. In addition, McAfee will scan e-mails and instant message attachments for viruses and other malware. The security suite can also alert you if you land on suspicious Web sites, such as phishing Web sites which will try to hack your computer for sensitive information.

If you implement SiteAdvisor on your employee’s computers, they will be protected from internet threats. With simple at-a-glance (color-coded) security ratings, you know about potential dangers before you click-thru the site.

Ease of Use:

McAfee has been making computer security software for some time, so it’s no surprise that the user interface is easy to use. Accessing reports and security threats is easy to access and understand, even for the most novice users.

One of the greatest benefits of using McAfee Total Protection Service is that it’s all hosted and run for the most part by McAfee professionals. You don’t have to spend a good deal of time and money invested in additional IT resources, and all the hard work is done by McAfee. Of course you can maintain quite a bit of control and you have access to the automated reporting. The solution is extremely easy to use, especially for businesses that need a hands-off approach or simply need somebody else to take care of their security.

Help & Support:

The McAfee SecurityCenter is a web-based control console that gives you centralized installation, configuration, and control. Within the console you can access security reports, updates, and configure multiple user groups if necessary.

Because Total Protection is hosted by McAfee, most of the installation and initial setup is already taken care of. The single management console makes it easy to monitor and report on the all-in-one security solution.

Summary:

McAfee does a good job of keeping your company’s computers free of viruses and other malware. Where McAfee Total Protection Service Advanced is hosted by McAfee, it lessens the burden of owning and managing a business security suite, but still offers a good deal of features and powerful protection. McAfee Total Protection is a great way to go for all-in-one business computer security, covering email and file servers as well as protection for individual client workstations. The Security-as-a-Service option may be perfect for your business, and McAfee’s protection is certainly effective.

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