Internet Security Suites

All-in-one suites with a spam-blocking component

This year's faster and lighter Internet security suites are overcoming their bloatware image, and many consumers are choosing them as a simple, economical replacement for single-purpose security software. Most have an anti-spam component, but critics say the top-rated standalone spam blockers are still more effective.

Symantec has shaken up the market this year with its vastly improved Norton Internet Security 2009 (*Est. $40). Complaints about system drag and software conflicts that plagued previous releases have evaporated with the slimmed-down Norton, and reviewers give it top marks for anti-malware detection and removal. Unfortunately it doesn't make the grade when it comes to spam filtering. PCMag.com, which rates Norton as the year's top suite, describes its anti-spam performance as "feeble;" Neil Rubenking reports abysmal test results, saying Norton "tossed more than a third of my valid personal mail into the spam folder, including messages from my wife, my colleagues, and my HMO. Also, it missed nearly 30 percent of undeniable spam." Which? magazine is the lone dissenter, giving Norton a very good four-star rating on spam filtration.

McAfee Total Protection 2009 (*Est. $40) doesn't come close to matching Norton Internet Security 2009 in reviews for overall performance, but critics say it's the hands-down leader in spam blocking. In PCMag.com's testing, it missed less than 3 percent of spam and blocked no valid messages. According to Rubenking, that puts McAfee on par with top-rated standalone filters Cloudmark and iHateSpam. It's also more flexible than most spam-blocking utilities: it integrates with both the full and Express versions of Outlook as well as Windows Mail, Eudora and Thunderbird. The downside is that the rest of its feature set isn't as strong. Whether you choose McAfee Total Protection on the basis of its anti-spam performance should depend on how important that is relative to other types of malware protection.

ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 2009 (*Est. $45) builds on last year's excellent anti-spam reviews. For spam blocking performance, PCMag.com rates this year's release just half a point behind front-runner McAfee Total Protection 2009. Rubenking calls the spam-blocking component of ZoneAlarm 2009 "one of the most comprehensive in any suite." While it is not quite as strong against other types of security threats as Norton, it is notably better than McAfee in that regard. Which? magazine editors give Zone Alarm the same four-star rating as Norton. Zone Alarm uses blacklist, whitelist, challenge/response and message content filtering technologies. The program also includes an adjustable slider to control how aggressively the program filters. Please see ConsumerSearch's companion report on Internet security suites for more detailed information and a breakdown of each suite's strengths and weaknesses.