Kaspersky Internet Security 2009

Introduction

All-in-one security packages are one of the most popular and easiest ways to secure your computer from a wide range of threats, however not all products perform to the same standard. Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 includes an anti-virus scanner, anti-spyware scanner, firewall and parental controls. All of these features are integrated neatly into the control panel, which sits in the system tray and provides quick configuration and scan access. There are graphical improvements since the previous version of KIS we reviewed last year, but users that upgrade will find the interface familiar:



Using the default scanning options there was no noticeable decrease in performance whilst using KIS 2009 over several weeks (on a Q6600 Quad Core system with 2GB Ram). The only time at which there appeared to be a delay was when opening large installation packages, which are scanned when opened for the first time. This only adds a few seconds on to the initial opening time and this is to be expected with any active AV scanner. The system resource usage is relatively light compared to some scanners that cause a heavy RAM footprint and a flurry of HDD activity on the slightest action. Scanning speed also seems faster than previous versions, in both on-demand and on-access mode.

Anti Virus

The most important component of KIS 2009 is undoubtedly the anti-virus scanner, which is the backbone of protection for any computer. Some of the most comprehensive AV testing is done by a company called AV-Comparatives, which test a variety of scanners against a huge database of viral infections. This is one of the most effective ways of measuring the performance of AV scanners, and provides a much more representative result than personal testing. In the latest test of on-demand AV scanners (Feb 09), Kaspersky is tested alongside 16 other products in their default modes. A 97.1 overall detection rate was achieved, which is roughly a mid-table result – however the number of false positives was significantly lower than many other scanners. Combining these results means AV-Comparatives placed Kaspersky into the top 4 products, awarding an “Advanced +” mark (the highest possible). It is important to note that the detection rate alone is not the defining performance criteria (although still extremely important), as it is easy to mark any file as a virus when it is not. Looking through past performances, Kaspersky are consistently among the top performers each time a test is performance.

The e-mail virus scanning component works well and automatically plugs in to the main types of e-mail client. Not only are e-mails containing a virus detected, but also phising e-mails that try to fraudulently extort information using seemingly legitimate e-mails from large institutions:



One excellent addition to KIS 2009 is Secunia vulnerability scanning. Although available as a separate free download, having this feature built in to the suite is a great preventative measure for computer users. When you perform a system scan, you will be notified of any applications which contain known vulnerabilities and need to be patched. Frequent offenders are Java, Adobe Reader and Flash, which are often used as methods to surreptitiously infect machines. To activate this type of scanning, enable “signature scan of vulnerabilities” in the manual scan options.