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First Looks: Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security 2006

By Daniel Lim - 8 May 2006

Overall Protection for Your PC

Overall Protection for Your PC

Make no mistake, virus outbreaks and malicious spyware attacks are worldwide epidemic issues and it is foolish not to have any protection to safeguard your data from these threats. Those who take on-line security for granted may quickly find themselves victims of virus attacks, damaged data or even information theft. Anti-virus applications that scan and remove/quarantine harmful viruses have already become a staple requirement for any PC in the home and office, but they alone are not enough. Today, Internet security suites, which usually comprise of anti-virus, anti-spyware, personal firewall and spam filtering features are very popular among end-users because they can provide a more complete level of protection against on-line threats. There are several such 'security suites' in the market, but one really captured our interest. Besides providing the common forms of protection, Trend Micro's new PC-cillin Internet Security 2006 comes with additional useful features that its competitors don't have and costs about US$20 cheaper than other leading anti-virus developers like McAfee and Symantec. Let us go over some of the features of Trend Micro's PC-cillin Internet Security 2006 that make it stand out from the rest.

Something Up the Sleeves

With the boom of personal wireless networking, anyone with some network knowledge can easily tap into an unsecured connection and start stealing Internet bandwidth. Such unethical acts cripple the full bandwidth allocation meant for the paying user and raise additional security and privacy concerns especially if the stolen line is used for illegal purposes. While it is true that many routers allow you to add security perimeters such as MAC address restrictions and WEP encryption to secure your connection, there are still ways around it. Interestingly, PC-cillin Internet Security 2006 comes with Wi-Fi intrusion detection that monitors your network. Every time a new device is connected to the Internet via your network, PC-cillin will prompt you the type, IP address issued and the MAC address of the particular device. This feature arms users with more information and increases their ability to self-police the network.

Keeping It Real

Phishing fraud defense is another cool feature from this lovely package. Notably, the web site filter, fraud filter and Antifraud toolbar for IE help to identify phishing contents from the ever growing fraud emails and fake Internet banking and auctioning sites. The web site filter allows you block out pre-defined web site categories and content related to spyware, adware, phishing, gambling, adult and more while web sites with related keyword advertisements/banners will be replaced by an un-clickable Trend Micro message. Also, by enabling the fraud filter and Antifraud toolbar for IE, you can easily identify a phishing website from the real deal by checking the actual URL of the images and the log-in site.

Internet Security for Everyone

Just getting anti-virus, anti-spyware and personal firewall applications these days may no longer be enough. A wise consideration would be a complete Internet security suite. From the many developers in the market that offer different solutions, not many can claim to be as feature-packed as Trend Micro's PC-cilin Internet Security 2006. There aren’t any Wi-Fi intrusion alerts we’ve come across that work independently from the router settings and even after bundling additional applications such as phishing fraud defense, Trend Micro’s PC-cillin Internet Security 2006 only cost around US$42 (S$69.90). Another advantage of this suite we have experienced is that it is not as system intensive compared to its competitors. Our only gripe is that the Antifraud toolbar doesn’t work for other popular browsers such as Firefox and Opera. With so many good features, it is no wonder Microsoft has extended the agreement to use Trend Micro’s antivirus solution for all MSN Hotmail customers. If you are looking out for a complete and affordable Internet security suite, we highly recommend the Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security 2006.

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