Washington Post: The Best Security May Still Be Free - Internet Security: Washington Post

By Rob Pegoraro
November 5, 2006

Security software doesn't exactly top most people's wish lists. You know you need it -- how else will you protect Windows against viruses, spyware, trojans and whatever other creepy stuff the Internet throws at you? But there's no joy attached to using these defensive programs.

That's somewhat unavoidable with software that, by nature, has zero productivity or entertainment value. Anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall applications can only help your computer if it's already infected; otherwise, the best they can do is keep your PC in the same condition.

And in the meantime, you have three or more separate programs to maintain. Combining those applications into a unified whole should at least minimize the nuisance factor and, ideally, give your computer a software bodyguard who looks out for trouble at all times.

But a tryout of new security suites from five major developers -- CA, McAfee, Panda, Symantec and Trend Micro -- revealed many of the same sins all around. (Two other developers, Microsoft and Zone Labs, are between updates.) Too often, the software meant to keep your computer safe does so at an unnecessary cost.

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