Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 - 3 Users

Installation & First Impression:
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Installation of KIS 2012 was quite speedy. At the beginning of the installation process the program looked for any conflicting security programs that were already installed and to my surprise, it actually found remnants of Microsoft Security Essentials that I had previously uninstalled. After this was cleared up, it was a simple case of activating the product online and viola!, I was up and running. Albeit needing a definition update.

Once KIS was up and running I downloaded the latest update, which took quite a while, and then gave it a quick scan. As this is the first 2012 malware product I've looked at thus far, it is difficult to be objective as to how Kaspersky's latest will compare with others that are released in the latter part of the year, but my initial impression is quite positive. KIS 2012 is jam-packed full of all the features that you would expect to see in such a program and definitely offers quite a significant level of extra protection when compared to standalone Anti-Virus programs. The interface is nice and simple to understand, with all the typical items you'll need easily accessible.

Features
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To say that Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 is feature packed would be quite an understatement. This program has everything up to and including someone to fold your laundry. (Ok, I made that last part up.). Personification aside, it's quite packed.
Here's a quick list of the more important features KIS offers:

* Anti-Virus protection (of course)
* Spam protection (everybody knows this one)
* Application control (Allows you to setup rules stating which programs can run and which can't)
* Firewall (Much more thorough than the built-in Windows application)
* Network monitoring (monitors all traffic on your internal network)
* Network defense (provides protection of internal network mentioned above)
* Parental controls (Keep kids from visiting unwanted sites)
* Ad blocking (No more relentless male enhancement ad's!)
* Gaming profile (Keeps your system responsive while playing resource heavy games)
* Quick response to new threats via cloud (stored on the internet) protection
* Virtual keyboard (Defends against keyloggers)

Effectiveness
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I tested KIS 2012 by visiting a list of malware-infested sites (The list can be found online, but due to the nature of said list, I won't be posting it in this review. I will say, however that the words "malware" and "domain" in Google return interesting results. But I don't recommend visiting unless you absolutely know what you're doing). KIS was tested by visiting 18 infected URLs from this list and all were successfully identified as a threat and stopped before any damage could be done. This is obviously a quite small test sample compared to the thousands of threats that are out in the wild everyday but it does showcase program effectiveness and gives me a nice warm and fuzzy.

Resource Performance
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I noticed no huge memory drains, nor any hit in performance while the program was running in the background and only a small hit while actively scanning. Kaspersky has long been known to be "resource friendly" and tradition continues on this years product. As long as you're running a machine made within the past 5 or 6 years, you shouldn't have any issues.

Negatives
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I'm being absolutely honest when I say there aren't many. My only real annoyance was the speed of the first update of the database and the program. It took quite a while. Somewhere upwards of 10 minutes. The first update was around 100mb. But after that, updates were much, MUCH quicker.

As stated previously, the program has a metric TON of features and various settings. Something a novice really shouldn't delve into, with the exception of one setting. The program is set by default NOT TO SCAN if running on battery power. This is for scheduled scans only, it looks as if realtime protection is not affected. I can understand why they include this option, but this could potentially be an issue, so I reccomend turning this feature off in the program settings.

Conclusion
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As a veteran of just about every known malware software known to man, I can happily say KIS 2012 really impressed me. It installs quickly, does it's job well and doesn't get in the way and is packed with features. The non techie crowd should have no problems getting Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 up and running fairly quickly and keeping their systems safe.

RECOMMENDED

I received Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 from the Amazon Vine Reviewer Program. Because I received the 3-license version I installed it on two PC's: desktop running Vista 32-bit and a desktop running Windows 7 64-bit.

I had planned on also installing it on an XP desktop as this software gives you one code to license 3 machines for 1 year, however that is being old and fussy upon this writing and may need to die a natural death, thus I may have to install Kaspersky on yet another Win 7 machine instead. I will update this review after the third install.

**Note that this software works with 32 and 64-bit Windows OS's Vista, XP and 7, but doesn't support Mac.**

The Positives:
Installation on both machines was easy, but much quicker on the Windows 7 machine. Probably more about the OS than this software. On both the Vista and Win 7 PC's the system moved quicker than with other antivirus' used before - Trend Micro on one and Kaspersky Pure on the other were both removed and PCs rebooted prior to fresh install of Kaspersky Internet Security 2012.

The interface is simple, yet full-featured. I liked how uncluttered it is and how easy it is to find what you want to tweak to your liking. The defaults seem to be set correctly for both web browsing and email, and the only real issue right away was spam filtering needed to be set-up.

The software makes recommendations which were helpful, but realize they are not must-dos. In this way, the security is helpful. Parental controls are there, as are 'Tools'. In Tools I created a Rescue Disc - burned it to a CD, although you can put it to a USB too. This is to be used in the event of a virus taking over your system - this would help you get it back.

Also in Tools is a Browser Configuration - but it's only good for Internet Explorer - which I don't use. Privacy Cleaner - something that can be found in many good free programs - is also in Tools. Microsoft Windows Troubleshooting is there as well. I think that may be helpful, but I've yet to use it.

Applications activity is good info, but overwhelming for novices I'm sure. Network monitor is helpful too, although most people running with a wireless router would have that information already and not need to look in Kaspersky for it.

Run Safe for Websites is a neat idea, and I've been using it. Essentially you are able to block out unwanted sites this way, and great if you have kids in the house, but may inadvertently block things you want too. Time will tell if consistent use of this feature yields positive results.

Virtual Keyboard...I'm never sure how I'd use this, other than if my mouse worked and my keyboard was locked. A good feature in that case for sure, but I'm betting I forget I have it the next time that happens.

Reports, quarantine... all the standard features of a good security suite are here. But you have some extras too like an IM (Instant Messenger) Antivirus as well as Proactive Defense, which is getting to the bugs before they hit your system.

Overall I like this software, but I have to admit - in all honesty, I'd rather have a Kaspersky product on my PC than any other on the market to date. I've tried BitDefender, Trend Micro, Panda, McAfee, Norton, AVG and others, but none comes close to the Kaspersky products for ease of use and speedy protection.

I also like the cloud technology. Takes a bit of getting used to, but really lightens the load on your machine and works well.

The Negative:
The reason for a 3 vs.5 star review is that the full scan of the entire system took 8 hours on a 500GB hard drive. To complete a scan that took Kaspersky Pure 3-User 90 minutes to do, on the same PC. That's WAYYYYYY to long and quite frankly, unexpected! The indicator of how long it would take to complete continued to jump around and was never accurate either. My PC is connected via a high-speed connection, but truly, this scan was like it was connected to dial-up. Very bad Kaspersky...you're better than this one!

My guess is that the 'hybrid technology' being tied to the 'cloud', is the core of the lack of speed for a scan. Don't allow your PC to go into sleep mode either, as that stops the scan all together!

This negative was a disappointment for me. I think the security suite is excellent otherwise, but this lack of scanning speed, is something that Kaspersky should work on improving in 2013 and beyond.

I would only recommend this software to those users who don't mind a slow scan. Yes, it can and does scan in the background while you do other things, but that slowed the process even further!

Conclusion & Recommendation:
Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 is a feature-rich program which offers protection for online banking, social networking and all the usual suspects: malware, virus', bots - known and unknown. The software is essentially excellent, with one problem: extremely slow scanning of your computer for virus' and other bugs.

If you're looking for a security suite for Windows-based PCs... this is a good choice, but not if you're in a hurry to do a full scan of your system!

This is a fantastic product. I've been using Kaspersky for 4 years now with no virus/firewall issues. Easy to install, use and update. I'd highly recommend this product.

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