Kaspersky Antivirus 2011 is well known for fast performance and amazing security capabilities. The software is said to be one among the fastest antivirus software that does not slow down the computer at all. Also, it provides maximum protection against virus and other forms of threat, online and/or offline. Fully compatible with Windows 7, Kaspersky provides security software for home computers, business computers and enterprises. Also, Kaspersky provides antivirus software for desktops, notebooks, mac computers and mobile devices. Kaspersky provides the best antivirus software for business computers and our chosen best enterprise antivirus software. If you are looking for best antivirus software for business computers or for enterprises, Kaspersky is the software for you. Based on our analysis, Kaspersky ranks at #6 in our top ten antivirus list.
Advanced Features:
Kaspersky Antivirus 2011 offers the following key technologies:
- Real-time scanning of internet activity, emails, instant messaging and any other activity.
- Improved identity theft protection system that protects you from spyware that can track your activities.
- Constantly scanning web pages you visit and disabling links that lead to malicious websites.
- Self-protection from malware and protection hijacking of your computer.
- Next generation proactive protection from zero-day attacks and unknown threats
- Free email, phone and chat support from Kaspersky's skilled tech team.
Lab Test Results
We found that the latest version of Kaspersky Antivirus looked more polished than the previous year's version, but there wasn't much actual new functionality. Still, the improved user interface makes the features more accessible and visible. However, we experienced that the new version is faster than the previous versions. So if you are looking for a fast antivirus software, Kaspersky is among the fastest antivirus software.
Installation was quite fast, though not as fast as the one-click install of Norton Internet Security 2009 and Norton 360 Version 3.0, but at least it didn't require a reboot. The main window of the suite has a red-yellow-green status indicator which flashes for attention if a problem is found, and clicking on a "Fix it" now button resolves most issues.
Unlike Panda Antivirus 2011, Kaspersky doesn't use a pre-install malware scan, but immediately after installation its real-time protection becomes active. On almost all of our test systems, active malware was found and fixed. Malware interfered with installation on a couple of systems but Kaspersky's technical support was able to resolve those issues.
Independent Labs Testing
Kaspersky Antivirus technology is highly regarded by the major US and European antivirus labs. It is certified by ICSA Labs and West Coast Labs for virus detection and removal - West Coast adds checkmarks for malware and Trojan detection. Virus Bulletin awarded Kaspersky the VB100% award in seven out of their last ten tests.
For detection of spyware, detection of malware, and response time to new malware outbreaks, AV-Test.org awarded Kaspersky its highest rating of Very Good. For proactive detection it rated Good, and for few false positives and fast scan speed it rated only Satisfactory. For both proactive detection of unknown threats and on-demand malware removal, AV-Comparatives.com rated it ADVANCED+.
Malware Removal
In almost all of our malware-infested test systems, Kaspersky's real-time protection dealt with active threats upon installation. In some cases multiple 'special disinfection' scans and reboots were required before it was able to do a full scan.
Kaspersky's default action is to prompt the user for action with less risky threats, and automatically remove more serious threats. We repeatedly clicked the 'fix it now' button after each scan until all threats were removed. Often, there was no visible effect after clicking the button. We had to click over and over again until everything was cleared up.
93 percent of the malware samples were detected by Kaspersky. After removal, Kaspersky left behind lots of non-executable traces and many executable. Its overall score here was very satisfactory as far as our tests are concerned.
In a rootkit removal test, covering both keyloggers and malware, and a scareware (rogue security software) removal test, Kaspersky scored excellent scores with tests against rootkits and tests against scareware.
Malware Blocking
When we opened a folder containing downloaded malware samples, Kaspersky's real-time defenses started cleaning them up immediately. It took quite a while, and a few of the samples required 'special disinfection' and a reboot, which you would normally expect to find with active threats, not installation files. Nearly 70 percent of all samples were removed by this initial purge.
When attempting to re-download the samples (those whose URLs were still active), we found two-thirds of the downloads were blocked by Kaspersky. In some cases, the URL itself was blocked, in others, the download was blocked as soon as it started.
We next returned to a folder of already-downloaded samples and launched the remaining 30 percent to see how well Kaspersky would block installation. Kaspersky scored 9.6 points in this test, better than many antivirus software. The beta of Norton Antivirus which scored 8.6 points. In the separate keylogger blocking test, Kaspersky was excellent. Kaspersky proved to be better at blocking scareware and rootkits than at removing them. It scored exceptionally good against scareware and excellent against rootkits.
Conclusion: In our real-world malware blocking and removal tests, Kaspersky performed AMAZING. It seems to be performing excellent when we talk about the huge array of static samples used by the independent testing labs.
Impact on System Performance
Our test system took very less time to boot with Kaspersky installed. This is a really good aspect ofKaspersky Antivirus 2011. Also, it did great in the browsing test, adding just little to the time required.
Kaspersky fared great in the test for moving and copying files, adding little to the time required. In the zip/unzip test Kaspersky performed really good, better than many other antivirus software. In the Windows automated Installer test, Kaspersky again performed very fast.
Conclusion: Kaspersky's spam filter has hardly any impact on downloading e-mail. The malware scanner takes just a few minutes (after the initial full scan). Overall, the performance is a little better than last year's edition.
Effective Firewall Protection
Kaspersky, unlike most firewalls, doesn't automatically put all ports in stealth mode. Instead, it targets attack-type traffic specifically. Keeping ports closed is enough to stop brute-force attacks, and putting all ports in stealth mode can cause problems for ordinary users, according to Kaspersky engineer John Hogan. Most of our port-scan tests passed, even without stealthing all ports.
The firewall responded very intelligently to the Core IMPACT penetration tool, which tries to generate exploits similar to those used by malicious websites. Kaspersky blocked the exploits actively and reported on each of them by name.
We tried to disable the firewall using similar techniques to malware. Using Windows Task Manager it was impossible to end the firewall's processes or disable its essential services. All attempts to alter the firewall's registry settings resulted in an 'access denied' message. This is a really good aspect of Kaspersky antivirus, malware can't shutdown the security.
Safe Run Sandbox
Kaspersky's suite incorporates Intelligent Application Control to decide which level of access to the system specific applications should be granted. One of the most powerful features is the new "Safe Run" sandbox environment - anything running in this environment is unable to make any permanent changes to the system. All registry and file alterations are virtualized - clicking on the 'Clear' button undoes all changes. It functions in a similar way to Zonealarm Antivirus ForceField feature. This feature is great - you can launch suspicious programs without fear and surf the web without risk.
Overall Conclusion: The new versions of Kaspersky Antivirus and Kaspersky Internet Suite 2011 have an improved user interface. It has some impact on system performance, and its performance in anti-malware tests is not spectacular, but it has a very intelligent firewall and "Safe Run" is extremely effective at protecting your system. We recommend Kaspersky Antivirus 2011 for home users, business users and Enterprises.
