Steganos Internet Security 2006
Internet Protection from the Security Specialists
You Can Never Be Too Careful
When it comes to computing, you can't be too careful. To protect your PC, as well as your data and identity, Steganos Internet Security 2006 offers a well-rounded suite that covers the basics. While it doesn't stand out from the rest of a crowded pack that includes Norton and McAfee, it's a decent package that's available at a reasonable price.
The suite comes with five competent modules: Steganos AntiVirus 2006, Steganos Personal Firewall 2006, Steganos AntiSpyware 2006, Steganos AntiSpam 2006, and Steganos AntiDialer 2006.
No Viruses
As the name implies, Steganos AntiVirus offers protection against viruses and comes with significant enhancements over its prior version. It's a competent program that checks for script, macro, file and boot sector viruses, as well as some 100,000 malicious programs, and scans e-mails in real-time and analyzes compressed files. The only thing missing is security for Instant Messaging (IMs).
AntiVirus can update its signature files as often as each hour (the default setting is three hours) and comes with a year's worth of free signature updates, the unfortunate industry standard. Steganos touts its AntiVirus as requiring relatively few system resources. During evaluation, the test PC did not significantly slow down as the program scanned its hard drive.
To balance protection and performance, the program makes it easy to adjust security settings the higher the security, the more computing resources the program consumes. You can easily set options for treating infected files, allowing the program to alert you to their presence and wait for your direction, or delete them. And you can adjust quarantine settings as well.
AntiVirus offers definite improvements over its prior version. It no longer scans previously analyzed files that remain unchanged since the last time they were scanned. This saves time. It scans and disinfects incoming and outgoing mail through any POP3 and SMTP e-mail client. The previous version only monitored e-mail that was sent and received via Microsoft Outlook. The new version disinfects infected files in zip, arj, cab, and rar compressed formats; the previous version only worked with zip files.
A convenience, instead of distributing its functions among several programs, AntiVirus is now a single application that is easier to configure and work with. If you wish to extend the license period with this version, you can. You can also protect settings with passwords and send potentially infected files to Steganos for verification.
Firewall
Like any competent firewall, Steganos Personal Firewall strives to make a computer invisible when it's connected to the internet and guards against hacker attacks by filtering incoming and outgoing traffic. The firewall monitors the network activity of all applications and when it detects suspicious actions, notifies you and blocks the suspect application from accessing the network.
As with other firewalls, you can easily set the program's security level by sliding a bar, choosing from five security levels: block all (nothing connects to the internet), high, medium, low, and allow all (no protection). By default, the program is set to medium, which is essentially a training mode that remembers and adapts to your directions and responses to alerts. You can set the software to allow certain programs to connect to the internet, and there are options for adjusting packet filtering rules, as well as access for specific ports.
No Spam, No Spyware
The useful Steganos AntiSpam works with your e-mail client to effectively sort out undesired e-mails and delete them, and identifies spam that's "phishing" for personal data. When you first use the program, it offers a helpful wizard to configure it to work with your e-mail client. Interestingly, during installation, the program says that the anti-spam programs used by many commercial e-mail providers offer adequate protection, which somewhat renders Steganos AntiSpam superfluous.
As the name implies, Steganos AntiSpyware protects your computer from spyware, system monitors, Trojan horses, adware, and cookies. It "sweeps" your computer to look for threats and reports its findings to let you decide whether to quarantine and remove the offending item or keep it.
Finally, Steganos AntiDialer protects against 0190 and 0900 dial-ups malicious programs that hijack your internet dial-up program and make it call costly premium lines. Of course, this utility is only applicable if you're using a dial-up internet connection. The program works, but if you connect to the internet via DSL or cable, you will have no use for this program.
The Workings
Steganos Internet Security installs quickly and easily. Interestingly, you can't install all the programs at once, probably due to the fact that many will have no need for AntiDialer. As a result, you have to install the programs one by one. The programs feature solid help files and the interfaces are intuitive and easy to use.
Compared against the competition, Norton Internet Security costs $20 more (almost 40%) than Steganos. And beyond Steganos, on paper, Norton offers features that prevent ads from appearing, provide security for Instant Messaging, and allow parents to block their children's access to certain web sites.
On its website, competitor McAfee offers an Internet Security Suite that seemingly contains programs that are more comparable to those found in Norton Internet Security. However, when one tries to purchase "McAfee Internet Security," one is led to a page where the individual programs are sold. Purchased individually, the programs, together, cost far more than the price of either Norton or Steganos Internet Security.
While it doesn't carve a true niche for itself, Steganos Internet Security 2006 offers a viable and competent security package that is mostly comparable to those from the better known companies. And it's available at a lower price. As a result, it's definitely worth your consideration.
Steganos Internet Security 2006 has a list price of $49.95.
Pros: Easy to use, various products cover the basics, inexpensive compared to the competition (Norton and McAfee Internet Suites)
Cons: Doesn''t stand out from other security programs, doesn't offer as many advanced features as the competition.
