Review: Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0 security software

Computer users looking to keep the various bugs, hackers and other nasties away from their PCs will probably be more familiar with big names like Norton and McAfee than Kaspersky.

The Russian-based company is, however, a well-respected brand in its own right, particularly in the field of corporate anti-virus protection.

Aimed at home-users, Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0 seamlessly integrates anti-virus software with a number of other kinds of protection. It offers defence against hackers, spyware, spam, phishing emails, rogue diallers and rootkits as well as viruses, Trojans and worms.

Compared to some of its competitors, Internet Security is fairly lean. It installs quickly and takes up less than 12Mb of disk space.

In the past, Kaspersky security applications have occasionally been criticised for being a bit techie, but the company has tried to put a friendlier face on things here.
Set-up, for example takes the shape of a step-by-step wizard. Some of the options presented in the wizard– such as whether or not to disable your DNS cache – are, however, much more technical than the average user will probably feel comfortable with.

Conversely, once setup is complete, Internet Security presents users with a relatively simple interface. The seven different types of defence are listed on the left-hand side of the screen and clicking on each one will tell you the level of protection is currently being offered, as well as allowing you to adjust relevant settings.

Grouping things by the type of protection offered rather than by individual utility (firewall, anti-virus and so on) makes the concept of internet security a little easier to deal with. We still take issue with some of the rather technical language used in both the program itself and the accompanying manual.

Its antivirus updates – a vital part of ongoing protection – are issued with remarkable regularity. System scans, meanwhile, are extremely fast and none of the suite’s background operations seemed to have any dramatic impact on the performance of our test machine.

Aside from our minor quibbles with some of the complicated terms used, Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0 would seem to offer rock-solid all-round protection that won’t slow down your system or cost you as much as a west London football team.

You can download a trial version of Kaspersky Internet Security from our web site.

Related reviews 
Zonelabs Zonealarm Internet Security Suite 6
Verdict: An excellent all-round product with strong features and usability
Rating: 5
Price: £50

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