Best Antivirus 2013 - Best Antivirus Software 2013

Internet Security Suite and Antivirus vendors are now starting to release their Antivirus 2013 solutions.  Most of the solutions being shipped are still Antivirus 2012.  Below are the rankings of a few antivirus solutions that have been reviewed by PC Magazine.  The stars are out of 5. Norton (Symantec) and AVG Technologies received Editors' Choice designations from PC Magazine for their paid and free versions, respectively. This    document won’t be static.  It will be updated as other releases occur.

Paid Antivirus

4.5 - BitDefender Antivirus Plus 2013 Editors' Choice 

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2406906,00.asp
4.5- Webroot SecureAnyWhere Antivirus 2013 Editors' Choice  
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2410545,00.asp

4.5 – Norton Antivirus 2013 Editors' Choice http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2409388,00.asp

4.0 - Kaspersky Antivirus 2013   http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2409056,00.asp

4.0 – Trend Micro Titanium Antivirus 2013 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2409578,00.asp
3.5 - Avira Antivirus Premium 2013   http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2411315,00.asp
3.5 - F-Secure Antivirus 2013  http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2409673,00.asp
3.5 - BullGuard Antivirus 2013   http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2410871,00.asp
3.0 - Viper Antivirus 2013  http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2410465,00.asp

2.0 - Panda Cloud Antivirus Pro Edition http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2407426,00.asp

For Free Antivirus

4.0 - AVG Anti-virus Free 2013 Editors' Choice
 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2391931,00.asp
3.5 - Avira Antivirus Free 2013
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2410666,00.asp

Neil Rubenking of PC Magazine reviews antivirus and internet security suites in depth.  People looking for a solution should look at these individual reviews.  They contain detailed   (and extremely knowledgeable) qualitative data about the products as well as results of malware tests that were done by Rubenking.  Check out Rubenking’s Malware Blocking charts!  Most internet security firms seem to have a basic antivirus package, an internet security suite, and then one or more ultra or uber internet security suites.  People can also go to CNET to read reviews of these products. Avast and AVG Technologies have typically been trading off the first and second positions in CNET's weekly free antivirus security downloads. For the week ending September 9, 1.18 million for Avast and 1.00 million for AVG Technologies.

Trend Micro has released their Titanium 2013 set of consumer products 

http://www.trendmicro.com/us/home/products/titanium/index.html

PC Pro Excellence Awards 2012 -  Product of the Year, Best Free Antivirus

AVG Antivirus Free 2012 (yes, 2012)  recently  won UK publication  PC Pro’s  award for Best Free Antivirus.    This wasn't  a product test. Readers voted on it. There are advantages to having a lot of Facebook fans! For details, and to see what other products won PC Pro Excellence Awards 2012, go to

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/376954/pc-pro-excellence-awards-2012-the-full-results

From CNET

5.0 - AVG Antivirus 2013
5.0 - BitDefender Antivirus Plus 2013
4.5 - Kaspersky Antivirus 2013
4.0 - Norton Antivirus 2013
4.0 - Trend Micro Titanium Antivirus Plus 2013

5.0 - AVG Antivirus Free 2013
5.0 - Threatfire Antivirus Free Edition
3.5- Ad-Aware Free Antivirus



In the end though, isn’t it protection that rules?  How well does the product stop malware?  How well does the product protect your identity and protect you while you are on the internet?  An install is done once.  A complete scan can be done in the evening or while you are aware from your laptop.  Would you rather have a product with a 5-minute install that stops 90% of malware, or a product with 15 install that stops 99.99% of malware.  Why install and scan times are important metrics is debatable

Despite “the wisdom of crowds”, what is irrelevant is how many “likes” these products have.  Many Facebook fans have never met a like button they couldn’t click “like” on.  Fear the “like” count!  Fear any comments that begin “Best product ever!”

The major test sites such as Virus Bulletin, www.virustbn.com, AV-Test, www.av-test.org , and AV-comparatives www.av-comparatives.org   haven’t begun their testing yet with 2013 versions.  You should still visit these sites to review 2012 performance.

 Note how the freemium and paid antivirus solutions promote basic protection.  You do need a firewall.  Depending on your own situation, you may or may not need family protection, for example.  There are then the up sells to internet security, uber security, total protection, and more (!) depending on the vendor (subject of a future blog).

  

Best Antivirus Software 2012

  

The link below will take you to reviews and rankings of  Antivirus 2012 software solutions.

http://kensek.blogspot.com/2011/08/best-antivirus-software-2012-pc.html

Best Internet Security Suites 2013 - Best 2013 Security Suites - PC Magazine

Internet Security Suite  and Antivirus  vendors are now starting to release their Internet Security Suite 2013 solutions.  Most of the solutions being shipped are still Internet Security 2012.  Below are the rankings of a few internet security suites that have been reviewed by PC Magazine.  The stars are out of 5.  This dynamic document will be updated.

4.5 – Norton 360 (2013) Editors’ Choice
 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2409973,00.asp

4.5 - Norton Internet Security 2013 Editors' Choice

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2409925,00.asp
4.0 - BitDefender Internet Security 2013 

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2410717,00.asp

4.0 - BitDefender Total Security  2013 
 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2407239,00.asp

4.0 - Kaspersky Internet Security 2013 
 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2409124,00.asp

4.0 – Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security 2013  

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2410155,00.asp

3.5 – Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security 2013  
 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2410055,00.asp

3.0 - Panda Internet Security 2013
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2409847,00.asp 

3.0 - AVG Internet Security 2013
 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2409806,00.asp

From the AVG Internet Security 2013 review - "I just don't see that it offers enough beyond what you get in the free antivirus to merit its price."  "Extremely accurate spam filter." "Gained a number of enhancements under the hood."

There are some  differences between the scores for AVG Internet Security 2013 and Norton 360 that PC Magazine and CNET gave the respective products. It'd be worthwhile checking out those reviews in detail.

Neil Rubenking of PC Magazine reviews antivirus and internet security suites in depth.   People looking for a solution should look at these individual reviews.  They contain detailed (and extremely knowledgeable) qualitative data about the products as well as results of malware tests that were done by Rubenking.  Most internet security firms seem to have a basic antivirus package, an internet security suite, and then one or more ultra or uber internet security suites. Rubenking will probably start compiling everything in a Best Security Suites 2013 or some other area on the PC Magazine site. People can also go to CNET to read reviews of these products.

PC Pro Excellence Awards 2012 -  Product of the Year

Kasperksky Internet Security 2012 (yes, 2012)  recently won UK publication  PC Pro's award for Security Suite of the year. This wasn't  a product test. Readers voted on it. For details, and to see what other products won PC Pro Excellence Awards, go to

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/376954/pc-pro-excellence-awards-2012-the-full-results

From CNET

5.0 - AVG Internet Security 2013
4.5 - Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security 2013
4.0 - F-Secure Internet Security 2013
4.0 - Norton Internet Security 2013
4.0 - Norton 360

Internet Security 2013 Products Released but Not Reviewed (by PC Magazine)

Many of the links below are comparative grids of the company's Internet Security 2013 and Antivirus 2013 offerings.

McAfee's Internet Security 2013 solutions are released

http://home.mcafee.com/store/internet-security

 

Symantec/Norton  consumer Internet Security 2013 products appear to be out the door, http://www.symantec.com/about/news/release/article.jsp?prid=20120905_01



F-Secure has their Internet Security 2013 products out the door

http://www.f-secure.com/en/web/home_us/internet-security  

G Data has their Internet Security 2013 products released

http://www.gdatasoftware.com/products/anti-virus-produkte/shop/123-private-user/1864-g-data-internetsecurity-2013.html

TrustPort has their 2013 products out the door. 
 http://www.trustport.com/en/products/trustport-internet-security#comparison 

Isn’t it Protection That’s the Most Important Criteria?

In the end though, isn’t it protection that rules?  How well does the product stop malware?  How well does the product protect your identity and protect you while you’re on the internet?  An install is done once.  A complete scan can be done in the evening or while you’re aware from your laptop.  Would you rather have a product with a 5-minute install that stops 90% of malware, or a product with 15 install that stops 99.99% of malware.  Why install and scan times  are important metrics is  debatable.

Despite “the wisdom of crowds”, what is irrelevant is how many “likes” these products have.  Many Facebook fans have never met a like button they couldn’t click “like” on.  Fear the “like” count!  Fear any comments that begin “Best product ever!”

The major test sites such as Virus Bulletin,  www.virustbn.com , AV-Test, www.av-test.org , and 

 AV-comparatives www.av-comparatives.org  haven’t begun their testing yet with 2013 versions.You should still visit these sites to review 2012 performance.

Double check during installation to see if you’re opting in to have a toolbar installed that you may not desire.  Double check during installation to see if you’re opting in to have a toolbar installed that you may not desire. 

For the 2012 Internet Security Suites (over a dozen 2012 products)

http://kensek.blogspot.com/2011/08/best-internet-security-suites-2012-pc.html