Review AVG Internet Security 2012 - Download

Next up in my continuing series of personal reviews of internet security products for the coming year is AVG Internet Security 2012.

The Good:

• Good detection rate
• Small performance hit when running
• Gaming mode

The Bad:

• Antiquated firewall
• Spam filter not particularly effective
• Free antivirus program from the same company represents much better value

Having recently reviewed the sister product, AVG Anti-Virus Free 2012, it will be interesting to see what extras this internet security suite can add to what the cut down version already offers.

Installation and first impression
Installation and setup of AVG Internet Security 2012 is a quick and easy affair. After downloading the small installer (just a few megs in size) you double click on the file and then have to wait just a couple of minutes for installation to complete.

Features
This latest offering from AVG has many features as you can see in the image above. These include:

• Antivirus
• Firewall
• Anti-spam protection
• Link scanner
• Anti-rootkit protection
• System Tools
• ID protection

Additional features such as a PC analyser and parental controls are set up for use but require additional payments to be made.

One last feature that is always worth mentioning these days is the gaming mode – no good security product should ship without one! With AVG Internet Security 2012 it is not set as on by default – you’ll have to check a box within the firewall area of the program, as seen above.

System Requirements
The minimum system requirements to run AVG Internet Security 2012 are as follows:

• Processor: Intel Pentium 1.5 Ghz or faster
• Memory: Minimum of 512 Mb of RAM
• Hard Drive: At least 1550 MB of free space
• Operating System: All 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Windows XP / Vista / 7

Effectiveness
The effectiveness of this program is a bit of a mixed bag. Antivirus protection is the same as the company’s free Antivirus program – good, and comparable to many of the paid alternatives.
The anti-spam component, however, was not particularly good on my system. Working in tandem with Microsoft Outlook, the spam filter didn’t cause any slowdown but equally I still received plenty of spam. That said, I didn’t notice any legitimate email getting blocked which is something I’ve noticed with my paid-for spam filter recently so it would, perhaps, be unfair to label this as totally disastrous.
With the firewall I can’t say that it is ineffective, because it isn’t. But I do think it could have been implemented better. By that I mean that when it comes across an unknown program it asks the user to decide the level of access that should be granted. That may not sound so bad until you factor in layer 8. In other words, the user is the weakest link in any security system so why give them unnecessary decisions to make? Other internet security programs use firewalls that make intelligent decisions about security for the user and that is what I think should have been the case here.

+ Plus Points

• This year’s security products from AVG have a good detection rate
• Malware blocking is also good
• Resource usage is higher than AVG’s antivirus program but the performance hit still seemed quite low when multitasking during a scan

- Minus Points

• I think the firewall could have been much, much better than what is present here
• I need to look at more anti-spam programs in the future to put things into perspective but, for now, I am not impressed with the feature in this program
• Install a free firewall from elsewhere and grab AVG’s free antivirus program in order to get a much more cost effective solution
• Some people like new search engines and toolbars but if you don’t then you need to untick two boxes during installation:

Conclusion
AVG Internet Security 2012 isn’t a bad program. It does what it should and the main component, the antivirus, works very well indeed. Unfortunately, other components are not so good in my opinion. Considering the strength of AVG Anti-Virus Free 2012 I would have to say grabbing that along with a good free firewall from elsewhere would be a smarter choice at this time.
Do you want to see what the other vendors are offering this year? If so, read my other 2012 Internet Security reviews.