In recent years, AVG has branched out a bit from its antivirus and security suiteorigins. The company now offers PC cleanup, top-notch parental control, and online backup. AVG designers also continue to tune and improve their core security technology, the latest example of which is AVG Internet Security 2012 ($54.99, direct; $68.99 for three licenses). Not all of the suite's components come up to the high standard of the antivirus component, however.

The main window of last year's AVG suite bulged with 14 security component icons. This year's redesign managed to represent all the same features with 8 icons. Three additional icons allow integration with AVG Family Safety ($19.95 direct for three licenses, 4.5 stars), AVG PC Tuneup 2011 ($29.99/year direct, 4 stars), and AVG LiveKive online backup.

Under the Hood
Some of the 2012 improvements aren't visible. The new AVG Accelerator promises to significantly speed up downloads from YouTube and Download.com, with other sites to be added. YouTube videos did seem to load faster, though it's hard to measure for sure.

AVG Advice watches your system over time, checking for things you could do to speed it up. At present the main thing it does is warn you to close and restart your browser when it's using too much memory. I wasn't able to reproduce the problem that triggers this advice, but it seems like a good idea.

The LinkScanner feature, which detects malicious code on Web pages, now takes a wider view. In addition to analyzing Web page code it tracks what's running in the browser. This lets it handle modern dynamic threats whose code is spread over multiple Web pages.

Fake antivirus, also called scareware, was a top threat in AVG's second quarter threat report. The product now uses a patent-pending technique to detect scareware program strictly based on their actions and user prompts. This lets it detect brand-new scareware threats without requiring a file signature.

Powerful Malware Protection
AVG doesn't skimp on protection in their free antivirus product. It has exactly the same malware-fighting capabilities as the full suite. I'll summarize my findings here. For full details see my review of AVG Anti-Virus Free 2012 (Free, 4 stars).

All of the antivirus testing labs whose results I follow include AVG in their tests. When the test's constraints permit, AVG submits the free product for testing. AVG antivirus technology gets good marks overall, though not always the very highest. The chart below summarizes a collection of recent tests. For a full explanation see the article How We Interpret Antivirus Lab Tests.

AVG Internet Security 2012 lab tests chart

In my own malware removal test AVG installed without incident and scanned faster than most products. Strangely, its rootkit scan is separate from the whole computer scan. On any test system with rootkit-based samples installed I ran the rootkit scan too.

AVG detected 88 percent of the threats, the second-highest detection rate of products tested with the current sample set. Its score of 6.5 points for malware removal is the highest among that group, and its 6.7 point score for rootkit removal ties for first place with ZoneAlarm Antivirus + Firewall 2012 ($59.95 direct for three licenses, 3 stars). Like Panda Cloud Anti-Virus 1.5 Free Edition (Free, 3.5 stars), Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware Free 1.51 (Free, 4 stars), and several others AVG scored 9.5 points for scareware removal.

For a full explanation of how I come up with these scores see How We Test Malware Removal.

AVG Internet Security 2012 malware removal chart

AVG also scored well in my malware blocking tests, though it didn't take as many top scores as in the malware removal tests. It detected 94 percent of the threats, the second-highest detection rate among products tested with this sample set. Its overall score of 8.4 points would have been higher, but a couple of the threats it detected managed to install and run anyway. AVG detected all of the rootkit and scareware samples scoring 8.3 for rootkit blocking and 9.1 for scareware blocking. For details on where these scores come from, see How We Test Malware Blocking.

AVG Internet Security 2012 malware blocking chart

The LinkScanner component in the suite includes a feature called Online Shield that's not available in the free antivirus. When I tried re-downloading my malware collection it blocked 42 percent of the existing samples, compared with 33 for the free antivirus. That's better, but not great. TrustPort Total Protection 2012 ($89.95 direct for three licenses, 2.5 stars) blocked 93 percent of the samples either at the Web page level or during the download.

Features Shared with Antivirus
Both the antivirus and the suite include LinkScanner's Surf-Shield and Search-Shield features. Surf-Shield identifies sites hosting malicious exploits and steers the user away from them while Search-Shield marks dangerous result links on popular search sites.

Surf-Shield is also meant to keep you away from fraudulent (phishing) sites, but in testing it did a poor job. Its detection rate was a full 59 percent below that of Norton Internet Security 2011 ($69.99 direct for three licenses, 4.5 stars). The article How We Test Antiphishing explains exactly how I derive antiphishing scores.

AVG Internet Security antiphishing chart

I also tested Surf-Shield by attacking it using exploits generated by the Core Impact penetration tool. It blocked about 20 percent of the exploits, identifying them by name. The antivirus component eliminated files dropped by another 12 percent. None of the exploits succeed. However, when last tested Norton blocked and identified 100 percent of the exploits.

Like the antivirus, the suite installs a toolbar that offers safe search and quick access to Facebook, among other features. The PC Analyzer tool checks your system to see if it could benefit from use of AVG PC Tuneup 2011 ($29.99/year direct, 4 stars), a separate purchase that can be integrated into the  suite.

Retro Firewall
The suite's firewall comes with protection profiles for business network, home network, and public network. Each profile has its own full set of configuration settings, settings that nobody should meddle with except under instruction from tech support.

In testing the firewall easily managed the task of stealthing all of the computer's ports. It passed all of my port scan and other Web-based attack tests. As noted, LinkScanner did its part to prevent attack across the network by blocking and identifying exploits.

AVG maintains a database of trusted programs. By default the firewall automatically configures network permissions for those programs. For unknowns, it pops up an old-fashioned query asking you, the user, to decide whether each program should be permitted full access, access only to networks identified as safe, or no access at all.

I'm unimpressed with this style of program control. Modern firewalls like those of Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 ($79.95 direct for three licenses, 3.5 stars) and Norton use built-in intelligence to make security decisions. Asking the user to decide is asking for trouble.

I tested the program control system with a dozen leak tests, programs that evade normal program control using malware-style techniques. They evaded AVG quite well; it only recognized that one of them was attempting an Internet connection.

AVG remains vulnerable to a simple attack that a malware coder could easily devise to turn off its protection. All that's needed is to set the startup status of AVG's essential Windows services to disabled and the force a reboot. Smarter suites like Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security 2012 ($79.95 direct for three licenses, 3.5 stars), Kaspersky, ZoneAlarm Extreme Security 2012 ($79.95 direct for three licenses, 4 stars), and Norton simply don't allow any external change of this setting.

The firewall component just doesn't match the quality of the antivirus. It uses a dated ask-the-user technique for program control, it doesn’t handle leak test techniques, and it can be disabled programmatically. I had hoped for more improvement in this area.

Plenty of Spam
Not everyone needs a client-side spam filter. Many email accounts get filtered at the server level, or by the service provider. AVG can filter incoming POP3 email accounts and add an identifying marker to the subject line of spam messages. It integrates with Microsoft Outlook to automatically move those messages to the spam folder. Those using some other email client will have to define a rule to divert the spam.

Like the 2011 AVG product, the current suite's advanced settings dialog includes pages and pages of painfully detailed settings for the spam filter. The only one that an ordinary user might reasonably tweak is the big slider that controls the level of spam filtering. The less aggressive level (the default) avoids false positives but allows more spam through. The more aggressive level catches more spam but may throw out good mail too.

Downloading a thousand of email messages with AVG checking for spam (and viruses) didn't take appreciably longer than doing so with no filtering. However, AVG's accuracy wasn't nearly as good as the 2011 edition. It didn't block any valid personal mail or valid bulk mail such as newsletters, which is good. But it let 46.4 percent of undeniable spam into the Inbox, compared with 7.8 percent for last year's model.

Trend Micro's antispam has exactly one setting—on or off. Just last week it managed to block all but 11.2 percent of a sample set that mostly overlaps the real-world emails used to test AVG. Cloudmark DesktopOne Basic 1.2 (Free, 5 stars) blocked no valid mail and missed only 2.6 percent of spam. If you need spam filtering, consider turning off AVG's and installing the free Cloudmark instead.

The article How We Test Antispam explains how I measure antispam accuracy.

AVG Internet Security 2012 antispam chart

Other Features
Many suites include a parental control component, but the closest AVG comes is the option to integrate the separately-purchased AVG Family Safety ($19.95 direct for three licenses, 4.5 stars) into the suite. It is true that the company's current promotion lets you have AVG Family Safety for free with a 99-cent donation to the Red Cross, so if you're interested, get it now!

Opening the System Tools component gives you a number of options for analyzing what's going on in your system. The Processes tab lists all processes whose behavior is being watched by AVG, along with specific behaviors it's watching. These include good behaviors like having a visible window and iffy behaviors like running from the Windows directory.

The Autostart page lists all programs that launch at startup, along with the fully pathname and the system location from which the program launches. It includes an option to delete any startup entry, but deletions are permanent. There's no undo. You'd be better off using Windows's built-in MSCONFIG to reversibly disable unwanted items.

As for the network connections, browser extensions, and LSPs tabs, these should be left alone by any who aren't versed in tech arcana.

Minimal Performance Impact
According to AVG's surveys and my own experience, the most important trait users look for in a security suite is low resource usage. They just don't want to be slowed down, and they consider this even more important than effective protection against malware. AVG did very well in my performance tests.

Waiting for a slow computer to boot is torture, so anything that makes that process take even longer is anathema. Averaging results from 100 automated boot-time tests, I found that booting a system with AVG installed took just 6 percent longer than the same system with no suite. The suite average in this test is 12 percent. When last tested, Norton 360 Version 5.0 ($79.99 direct for three licenses, 4.5 stars) had no measurable impact.

Antivirus products check files on access, but if they do it more than necessary they can slow file operations. I measured the time required to run a script that moves and copies many files between drives. With AVG installed the test took 5 percent longer; here again the average is 12 percent. Another script that zips and unzips those same files took 6 percent longer with AVG installed, quite a bit less than the average of 22 percent. These two tests didn't take measurably longer with avast! Internet Security 6.0 ($69.99 direct for three licenses, 3.5 stars) installed.

LinkScanner and other Web-protection components didn't slow browsing appreciably. A script that measured the time to fully open 100 Web sites took 11 percent longer under AVG's protection than with no suite installed. Given that the current average is 29 percent that's quite good. TrustPort didn't slow browsing at all, but also didn't offer the level of protection AVG does.

While AVG didn't have the lowest impact on any individual test, it consistently showed quite a bit less impact than the average suite. The company promised reduced resource usage and it seems they delivered on that promise. For details on how I measure security suite performance see How We Test Security Suites for Performance.

AVG Internet Security 2012 performance chart

Antivirus Is the Best Part
The best part of AVG Internet Security 2012 is its antivirus protection. It scored very well in my malware removal and blocking tests, and also did well in tests by independent labs. The suite also demonstrated a low impact on system performance, a significant improvement over AVG's 2011 suite.

However, the firewall's program control is old-fashioned, and the firewall could be disabled programmatically by malware. Tons of spam slipped past the antispam component, and LinkScanner's antiphishing detection still lags far behind the best products. On average it's a good suite, but you can get it very best elements for free as AVG Anti-Virus Free 2012 (Free, 4 stars). If you want a full-scale suite I'd suggest Editors' Choice Norton Internet Security 2011 ($69.99 direct for three licenses, 4.5 stars).

Sub-ratings:
Firewall:
Virus removal:
Virus blocking:
Performance:
Antispam:
Privacy:
Parental Control: n/a

 

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