Category: Software → PC Tools Internet Security 2010

Pros

Good dynamic malware detection

User-friendly interface
Cons

Weaker signature-based detection
Bottom Line

Despite good heuristics, PC Tools Internet Security missed two Conficker variations.

PC Tools Internet Security

Internet Security Review, by Robert Vamosi, PC World May 28, 2009

PC Tools Internet Security ($60 for up to three computers for one year as of 5/21/09) offers a decidedly mixed bag of protections. (We reviewed it for our midyear security suites roundup and security suites chart.) Symantec acquired the security vendor in 2008 to increase its worldwide market share with consumers in new and emerging regional markets. Though now part of Symantec, PC Tools continues to maintain a separate development operation from Symantec's consumer business unit (responsible for the Norton Internet Security Suite), and its entry in the Internet security suite market comes with strong heuristic malware detection, but it's weaker in other areas such as traditional malware detection.

PC Tools uses its own antivirus protection, and at first glance it appeared to score very well in AV-Test.org's extensive malware-detection tests for both the on-demand and on-access detection of 2735 files, macro viruses, and scripts, scoring nearly 100 percent in each. However, PC Tools is the only security suite to miss at least two variations of the Conficker worm in both on-demand and on-access testing. Against the zoo Trojan horses, worms, password-stealers, and other nasties, PCTools identified on average only 58 percent of the 722,372 collected samples, placing it second to last, just ahead of Comodo.

But on behavior-based detection of malware, PC Tools scored the highest of any suite tested. In overall detection, PC Tools produced a warning 93 percent of the time; detected and blocked 87 percent of the malware; and removed 80 percent of the malware. PC Tools also produced strong numbers for detecting and removing rootkits--stealth malware used to hide infections from PC users and security software alike. It successfully removed all nine active rootkits we tested it against.