McAfee Internet Security 2011 – Rush to Release Part VI

McAfee Consumer 2011 Retail Versions Begins Rolling out in Stores

Link to AVG Internet Security 2011 PC Magazine Review AVG IS 2011 PC Magazine Review http://tinyurl.com/366n5mg

McAfee introduced its 2011 security product line (retail editions) on September 30. These include McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2011, McAfee Internet Security 2011, and McAfee Total Protection 2011. A product review of one or more of these solutions will be appearing by numerous publications quickly. McAfee is promoting that with their 2011 product line they provide the fastest, lightest and most effective consumer PC protection in the company’s history. McAfee Labs researchers proactively search for new cyberthreats by using the millions of computers running McAfee software as the discovery beacon.

Some of the Features McAfee is Promoting

• Enhanced performance and fast installation.
• 325% faster scans.
• Updates are only initiated when the computer is idle.
• Easy to use interface. The new products simplify the experience for both novices and experts.
• Scheduled activity throttling which pauses McAfee updates until the computer is idle.

To see the press release go to - http://newsroom.mcafee.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=3680

Some Differentiators

McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2011 - No scan interruptions with Scheduler and Idle Timer. Includes McAfee Quick Clean Tool.

McAfee Internet Security 2011 – Adds the above plus Anti-Spam and email protection, McAfee Online Back-up, Child Protection with enhanced Parental Controls.

McAfee Total Protection 2011 – Adds the above plus McAfee Anti-theft, some home network protection, McAfee SiteAdvisor Plus.

Of course one person’s “great new benefit” is another person’s “bloatware” if they can’t make use of that functionality.
http://home.mcafee.com/root/landingpage.aspx?LPName=/3products&culture=en-us&cid=83103

McAfee touts their SiteAdvisor technology as providing safe web surfing. SiteAdvisor adds small site rating colored icons to search results as well as a browser button and optional search box. These advise web surfers as to the safety of a site.

These site ratings are based on tests conducted by McAfee using a large number of computers that look for all kinds of threats. For details, go to http://www.siteadvisor.com/howitworks/index.html . This product competes against AVG Technologies AVG LinkScanner® offering.


McAfee Certifications and Testing (not comprehensive, not 2011 product)

Certifications are typically given for a particular product, version number, and on a specific platform. Organizations will frequently require that the certification logos be linked back to the organization’s web site. Certification logos may be placed in close proximity of products that that weren’t awarded (halo effect). Where are the logo license enforcers when you need them? For example, a certification for a consumer version of a product doesn’t automatically mean that the business version is certified. To validate certifications, customers should find an area on the company’s site that does link back to the certification organizations' sites.

Virus Bulletin - Customer’s should only be concerned with the last 2 or 3 years of a vendor’s performance when looking at this. McAfee is 11-3 with respect to receiving VB100 Awards for entries since 2008 (through August) 2010.

McAfee Total Protection was not one of the top performers in the RAP Averages Quadrant. It performed under 90% in Reactive Protection and just over 60% in Proactive Detection. This test measures products' reactive and proactive detection abilities against the most recent malware that has emerged around the world. http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/rap-index.xml

www.virusbtn.com

ICSA Labs – Go to https://www.icsalabs.com/products to generate a list of current certifications McAfee has received.

AV-Test – McAfee Internet Security 2010 received 5.0 for Protection, 2.0 for Repair and 3.5 for Usability, out of 6.0, in the AV-Test Product Review and Certification Report - 2010/Q2. The product did not receive certification. www.av-test.org

AV-Comparatives – McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2010 was one of 7 companies to receive an Advanced 2 star rating in AV-Comparatives August “On Demand Detection of Malicious Software Test”. Nine companies received an Advanced 3 star rating. http://www.av-comparatives.org/comparativesreviews/main-tests

West Coast Labs Checkmark – McAfee has a number of Checkmark certified products. Go to http://www.westcoastlabs.com/checkmark/productList/?vendorID=16 They don’t have any Checkmark Platinum certified products as of August 2010. www.westcoastlabs.com

All the above organization are members of the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (www.amtso.org) The Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO) was founded in May 2008 as an international non-profit association that focuses on the addressing the global need for improvement in the objectivity, quality and relevance of anti-malware testing methodologies.

2011 Internet Security Solutions Released

The lines below contain feature checklists for a number of each of the company's products.

• BitDefender Total Security 2011 was released around August 16. For product details - http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/total-security.
• Kaspersky - Kaspersky announced Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 on August 16 For product details -http://usa.kaspersky.com/products_services/compare/
• Panda Security – Panda Internet Security Suite 2011 was announced on July 27. For product details - http://www.pandasecurity.com/usa/homeusers/solutions/
• Webroot - Webroot Internet Security Complete 2011 was announced on July 26. For product details http://www.webroot.com/En_US/consumer-compare.html
• Symantec – Symantec introduced their Norton consumer security solutions in early September. For product details: http://www.symantec.com/norton/products/charts/comparison.jsp?pcid=mp
• Trend Micro - Trend Micro introduced their Titanium product line in early September. For product details: http://us.trendmicro.com/us/products/personal/titanium-maximum-security/ and click on “product comparison”
• F-Secure - F-Secure announced their internet security product line on September 15. For product details: http://www.f-secure.com/en_US/products/home-office/internet-security/ and then click on compare products.
• AVG Technologies – AVG Technologies announced their AVG 2011 product line on September 29. For product details: http://www.avg.com/us-en/home-and-office-security-comparison
• McAfee – McAfee announced their 2011 retail product line on September 30. For product details: http://home.mcafee.com/root/landingpage.aspx?LPName=/3products&culture=en-us&cid=83103


2011 Internet Security Solutions That Haven’t Been Released

• Avast – No official release date has been announced.
• Avira – No official release data has been announced.

McAfee Acquired By Intel

The market for security companies was hot this summer. No longer will McAfee be an independent ship, sailing the internet to protect users from Malware. McAfee accepted an offer to be acquired by Intel for a premium of 60% over the previous day’s closing price on August 18. http://newsroom.mcafee.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=3678.

This blog is subject to updates.