Antivirus – Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2011 Review
Kaspersky routinely releases its new versions in Europe several months before they do so in the U.S. You could have installed the latest version months ago, however for us within the states Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2011 ($59.95 direct for three licenses) is brand-new, and it’s really pretty good, too. Based on user feedback the organization has toned down the consumer interface. The main window utilized to bristle with full-color icons symbolizing different security components. Now it provides simply a couple of icons-simple one-color silhouettes.
For the “Protection Center” tab you will find panels for several types of protection. Increasing a panel lets you easily enable, disable, or configure the consumer components. Kaspersky offers the now-expected red/yellow/green status indicator with a button to fix any problems. A savvy user could possibly get additional information about any pending actions by clicking the Status tab from the Reports window. Overall, the UI is attractive and easy to visit.
Praise in the Labs
The independent testing labs have absolutely nothing but praise for Kaspersky antivirus techniques. West Coast Labs and ICSA Labs both certify it for virus detection and cleanup; West Coast gives it additional checkmark certifications including detection of Trojans and general malware. One of the most up-to-date Kaspersky technology has passed all the last ten VB100 tests by Virus Bulletin, though an older product tested earlier this year didn’t quite result in the grade.
When AV-Test.org ran a particular two-month dynamic protection test this past year Kaspersky ranked in the top three for both malware detection and malware blocking. Another two top slots in each case went along to Norton Internet Security 2010 ($69.99 direct, ), which took the top score for detection, and PC Tools Internet Security 2010 ($49.95 direct, ), which demonstrated the best removal.
AV-Comparatives.org regularly tests antivirus products, alternating between on-demand tests and proactive non-signature tests. In both the latest on-demand make sure the latest proactive test, Kaspersky scored ADVANCED+, the top score possible, and in both cases it registered few false positives. AV-Comparatives ran their own dynamic protection test last year; Norton and Kaspersky were the one products to accomplish ADVANCED+ in that test. Kaspersky also scored ADVANCED+ in a performance test, less impressive considering over 60 percent of the products tested achieved this top score.
Easy Installation, Helpful Support
It is specifically designed to install even on malware-infested systems. Installation wasn’t any trouble on 11 of my 13 test systems, but a devious malware trick derailed its installer on the other two. Simply burned a Rescue Disk on one of the successful systems and used that to clean up up the holdouts. You could also have downloaded the Rescue Disk directly from Kaspersky or tried the no-installation Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool.
Specifications
Type : Business, Personal, Professional
OS Compatibility : Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 7
Tech Support : Free US-based phone support 8am to 8pm EST; free live chat support, email support, knowledge base
You did run into one condition where Kaspersky deadlocked with a pesky malware sample. Kaspersky detected it and offered to run a special disinfection scan followed by a reboot. However, on reboot it made the same offer again and again, ad nauseam. The Rescue CD didn’t help, scanning in Safe Mode didn’t help, and this clash of the Titans rendered the test system almost unusable.
Kaspersky’s amazing built-in support stumbled on the rescue. On advice from the support tech, You turned on tracing and generated a log file. Then used a built-in tool to create a system state report, and ran a Kaspersky-supplied tool called GetSystemInfo. After analyzing the resulting data the tech supplied a cleanup script. When you fed the script into the built-in support tool, it wiped out the malware, damaging the deadlock. Keep in mind that U.S.-based phone and live chat support is free of charge for all Kaspersky users.





