The Top 10 Internet Security Programs 2012
Are you looking to protect your PC, laptop or netbook? Do you want more than just antivirus protection? If so, you’ll be wanting a complete internet security suite.
There are many bonuses to buying an internet security suite as opposed to a standalone antivirus program. Some examples of the extra features you will gain if you spend a few extra dollars on your security are -
- a firewall
- antispyware
- antispam protection
- protection against dodgy links in search engines
- identity theft protection
Most of the above are fairly common features in internet security programs these days but many vendors add in other useful additions that are unique to their products. In fact, I expect all of the companies I will be looking at to try and outdo each other, as well as improve on their 2011 offerings.
I will be reviewing internet security products from the following companies as they are released over the next few months. So keep popping back as I will add more on a regular basis -
2012 Internet Security Reviews
This internet security program is quick to install and offers a comprehensive level of protection.
Comes packed with more features than you can shake a stick at!
High resource usage put me off using the beta version but…
…BitDefender normally get it right so I expect the final version to be much improved.
I rated the 2011 version good enough to protect 3 computers in my own house.
This year’s version looks just as good.
After all the issues I had with the beta version I thought I would give the final version a try and, wow!, what an improvement!
As predicted, the final version works well.
4. Panda Internet Security 2012
A good program that runs effectively on low spec machines but…
…would Panda’s antivirus program offer you better value for money?
5. AVG Internet Security 2012
I don’t particularly like the firewall that comes with this but
the detection rate is good and the system resource usage is low.
6. ESET Smart Security 5
Very easy to use and quick to run
Effective detection and removal of threats.
7. Is the final version as good as the beta?
My views coming soon….
8. 
9. BitDefender Internet Security 2012
Excellent malware detection rate
Very good at removing malware
10. Now that I’ve finished my reviews for this year you are probably wondering which suite I think is best?
Well, there is no simple answer to that question. There are many factors that you have to consider when buying a security suite -
- how do you use your computer
- what sort of web sites do you visit
- do you do online banking on the machine you are looking to protect
- how fast is your computer
- do you have some computer skill or do you need your hand held
- and many more
That said, a couple of programs do rise to the top this year – BitDefender definitely excels but needs a reasonably good computer to run on. And F-Secure offers all round protection without bringing your computer to a standstill.
Which one of the above did you choose for 2012?
If you would prefer to look solely at antivirus protection then head on over to my reviews of the best antivirus programs for 2012.
{ 71 comments… read them below or add one }
I use VIPRE I think its the best you can get.
Hi I find that Vipre is the best you can get. Check it out you won;t be sorry. I mean the BEST.
i. I have Quick Heal Total on my lap top for 3 years version. Is it good in ur opinion?
ii. Whenever I want to take the printout of Rail Tkt., it opes & says “close Adobe” when actually it was not open.
Pl. help as I do not know much about these things. Thanks.
I’m afraid I can’t help as I haven’t used Quick Heal.
I find that Vipre is the best you can have bar none.
Excellent reviews Lee: which do you think are the top programs to look out for this year?
Thanks Pedro.
Its early days yet of course but thus far I’ve been most impressed with BitDefender and F-Secure. I’d say the former offers the best protection, the latter will run well on older machines.
Help! It appears that the AVG Search has taken over my main homepage. I haven’t trialed or ever even used AVG antivirus so I have no idea where this came from!!
I uninstalled it from Windows Control Panel and then rebooted. BUT it STAYS. Now it doesn’t even show as still installed under Add or Remove. Please help me out! Thank You!!
There are other programs that can add AVG search/toolbar/etc – I think WinRAR is one example – have you installed any new software recently?
I have a problem with Avast. First you can’t download the free version direct from Avast themselves. The only free versions I could get also have Chrome installed by default and I didn’t see any tick box to stop it – though I was tired.
Chrome is a right pain in the BUTT to uninstall once it has added itself as a VIRUS as above. I am going to delete Avast and go for F-Secure!
Its been a while since I tried Avast! but I don’t remember it trying to install Chrome :/
You should be happy with F-Secure though. Good program.
Can anyone help me out pretty please? I was going to change my antivirus but seems there is no point! I’m using Avast and it was running funny so I ran a scan and it detected malware and a few viruses the other day, I moved it to the chest and deleted it. It was totally fine yesterday but now all the double clicking and unticking is happening again, nothing comes up on the scan… Now I’m at a loose end which is why I was thinking of changing antivirus. I’m now unsure whether to do that, can anybody give me advice please?
“It was totally fine yesterday but now all the double clicking and unticking is happening again” – can you give me more information about what you mean here?
Hi
first u need a some friends for best security especially instal Malwarebytes pro,Zemana antilogger,comodo internet security and microsoft essential security this combination saved my pc from the attack of recycle virus that made all files invisible in my office 8 notebooks(they had kaspersky pure and norton 360)but they havent caught this virus asso if u do more i suggest u eset 5 
I have tried using Avast. For a while it was running quite well on my PC. However, due to whatever reason I had to format my PC and I had been using the internet without any Anti-Virus programs for quite some time now. Now whenever I try to open the official site of Microsoft, Avast , Panda Cloud, Avira or any other program my browser (Mozilla Firefox) says Server not found! I can’t install Chrome on my computer (but it downloads just fine). On the other hand all the other sites like G+, Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter run well on my PC. Any suggestions?
There are a few different possibilities there Henry. Firstly, not using an AV program for a while means you could have got a virus. Secondly, that issue with Chrome is one I’ve heard of before – I’ll try and find a link for a solution as I did actually come across one recently.
I just downloaded Avast v.7 to try it as a first-time user but there are some issues trying to register it. According to the Avast forums it’s a “generic” problem and as yet I can’t find a solution.
What issues are you having exactly?
is windows 7 premium home edition firewall a good firewall to use
Its reasonable Jim. I intend to look at a collection of firewalls over the next few months so I’ll have a better idea then of how it compares to others.
I did not see Trend Internet security on your list. Did you not review them or not care for them? I have a small business and am looking for something I can install on a couple desktops and 3 or 4 laptops. What would you recomend? I visit all kinds of web sites and do keep credit card info and such on my computers.
Hi Brian,
I simply chose to limit the number of reviews to ten as they are quite time consuming (and I work too much as it is). Other Trend products I’ve looked at haven’t been bad by any means but they haven’t really excited me either.
As to what else to suggest, I guess some questions comes first – how old are the various computers you are looking to protect and are they all for business and networked to each other?
Most are 3 to 5 years old. Yes they are all networked together at times. They are all used for business some times.
In that case an enterprise solution may possibly be what you need (not my area of expertise unfortunately). If you think your business warrants such a solution (more expensive) let me know and I’ll see what info I can get for you. If you think a personal internet security solution may be sufficient let me know that too and I’ll have a think as to which may serve your needs best.
I think a personal internet security solution would be sufficient. I have been using Trend Micro Internet Security for Dell just because it came with the computers and then just renewed it. I have had no problems to speak of its just with todays enconomy you have to save where you can. Two of the laptops are personal use 90% of the time but if one of these programs offered multiple licenses for a discount I assumed it would be cheaper and easier to put the same on all computers.
Of the 5 computers 3 are running XP and 2 are running Vista if that makes a difference.
I was also wondering do any of these check your registry for unused or unistalled things that should be deleted to speed up your computer.
See my previous answer.
How much should we consider the realtime tests of the following: http://www.westcoastlabs.com/realTimeTesting/ when deciding which antivirus to use?
When it comes to testing sites I would say that they can give you an indication of how effective a security program is rather than a definitive answer – you really need to know how they are testing in order to evaluate their results.
With that in mind, I would suggest checking out more than one source for such tests, i.e. look at av-comparitives as well for example, in addition to reading a few independent reviews also.
Have you thought about writing an article about MSE? I’ve been using it on the recommendation of a friend.. curious about your thoughts.
I have written about MSE Ryan – you can see my thoughts here: http://www.security-faqs.com/my-2012-review-of-microsoft-security-essentials.html
I installed Kaspersky on a laptop with 2gb RAM. It wasn’t a pleasant experience for me. I found it to be a serious resource hog. When scanning it was frighteningly bad. I also just watched a youtube review of it and noted that they too reported high memory usage. Probably fine on more powerful computers, but it really crippled the one I installed it on. I’ve gone with UnThreat which I’ve found to be very good.
I’ve never tried UnThreat Roger – what is it you like about it?
Have you considered CIS – Comodo Internet Security in your tests? It performs really really well in my tests.
I’m done with the 2012 reviews but the ones for next year are underway – I may consider CIS as part of that.
I’ve been a long-time user of Avast! free antivirus. Although I was hearing system performance issues by others, I never ever experienced any slowness or performance hit until the version 7 came out. I am using it since version 4 and till now keep recommending it to one and all.
“I never ever experienced any slowness or performance hit until the version 7 came out.”
Does that mean you’ve had problems with version 7 Gilbert?
Found comodo internet security 2012 the best one. it is also very cheap, only 5bugs per year!
I had to uninstall webroot essentials cause it caused crashing of an important software that i use.
I have tried bitdefender, webroot, eset, norton, vipre…but comodo is absolutely the best solution
matousec.com chose it as the best one
“only 5bugs per year!” < typo?
In my humble opinion, the thing to remember is that *ever* since the first virus was written there has never been a single product capable of detecting everything, and never will ;p
You are of course completely right and I do know some people who don’t use AV and have never had an infection. But… would you want to chance it? I guess it depends on how much you value bank accounts, web site accounts and the multitude of other info a hacker *might* get hold of if they compromise your system.
I am an elderly PC newbie using Windows XP on an older EMachines desktop computer (my son put it together for me). It has an AMD Athlon 64 CPU with a hardrive capacity of 200 GB. What Antivirus software would be the lightest for my computer? I don’t game-only music, email, and surfing. Thank You very much for your time.
Hi Robert,
As you aren’t using your PC for anything too intensive you have a good pool of programs to choose from. Also, unless you are internet banking, I would suggest a free program may be adequate for your needs – check out the likes of AVG and Avast!
You should try testing and reviewing the latest free comodo internet security.
I may well check that one out this year
For a while now I’ve been using Unthreat antivirus. It’s running what’s called “viper engine” It seems also really good and probably like Avast. It has quite a lot of features and a real-time scanning function. Also, I read somewhere, it has high detection rates. It was high on another ranking list. Maybe it might also be good for review?
I’ve not heard of that one and do you mean the Vipre engine?
Dear Mr. Munson,
Could you please tell us more about “Vipre Internet Security 2013″ from http://www.vipreantivirus.com
What antivirus/internet security we you can compare it to?
Thorouly yours,
Kian – Persia
Its on my list of upcoming reviews Kian; expect to see something in a few weeks or less.
I’m running Bitdefender!! Works pretty damn nice
Thanks for the reviews! (even though I’m staying with what I got lol)
Actually I don’t blame you – I think BitDefender is the best 2012 choice myself.
Nice article! Been hunting for a good anti-virus software suite. Cheers!
You’re welcome.
Would Panda be a good choice to use on a laptop that when not in use is in Sleep mode? I am thinking of the fact of Panda’s emphasis on the cloud and how that might affect protection while not always having an active online connection as well as when waking the computer. Thank you for the replies.
Does Panda offer real-time protection? I just installed it now, and there’s no option to disable or enable real-time protection. Is it just an on demand scanner or does it automatically block viruses that they face in real-time? I don’t see any files being scanned real-time too from the GUI. Nice article BTW!!
IMO, any of these rated solutions will protect perfectly, or not at all, depending on the degree of help that a user is prepared to give it. Ignoring site ratings and/or surfing into the known bad areas for instance will eventually invite infection no matter what security software is installed unless this is something like Sandboxie and is used 100% as intended.
You’re spot on there Patty – as I always say, a computer is only as secure as the person who uses it chooses to be.
I knew it! Kaspersky 2012 is on top
What about other 2012 Kaspersky products versus KIS12 (Pure, One, etc.)?
Hi Jack,
I could certainly take a look at those too in a few weeks time…
THANK YOU.
Hi Barbara,
Could you please tell me the exact name of the program in question?
Internet Security 2012
I HAVE BEEN BOMBARDED WITH EMAILS THAT SAY I COULD HAVE PROBLEMS.
I DO HAVE AND PAID FOR INTERNET SECURITY 2012. WHAT IS GOING ON???????
Which program are you using Barbara?
What about “IObit Malware Fighter”?
Hi Jose,
I’ll be looking at the free version of that in the near future and reporting my findings here.
In that case Brian I would recommend looking for a multi-user licence of F-Secure Internet Security 2012. In my experience this is the 2nd best such program this year and offers great detection and removal of threats. It also runs very well on older machines (I have it on this, my main PC, and it also ran fine on an old Atom netbook too).
{I say 2nd best as I think BitDefender’s programs just edge it this year but they are somewhat more demanding on resources and you may struggle to run it well on your older machines}.
Thank you very much for your help.
You’re welcome Brian.
I have F-Secure up and running on two machines. I had a bit of a problem getting Trend Micro off of one at first and would suggest to anyone to uninstall it before trying to install F-Secure. After that it was a breeze. Installed quick. Easy setup. Got multiple licenses for a good price. Would recommed to anyone. Thanks again Lee
No problem Brian – glad to hear you are happy and well protected now
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