Avira Premium Security Suite in Software

German security guru Avira doesn't have a high profile in the UK: most people only know the company for its free AntiVir package, which we reviewed in 2007. But as our tests showed, Avira's Premium Security Suite is an undiscovered gem, putting in strong performances across the board.

Admittedly, it didn't come first in any individual test this time round, but it was one of the few suites to score consistently highly in every area. In our malware detection test, its score of 89% outshone big names such as Norton and Kaspersky, picking up numerous generic threats that others overlooked. Performance was backed by a strong showing against our web threats, coming second only to AVG.

We were particularly pleased with Avira's response to our network vulnerability scan. Several security packages managed to repulse every attack, but Avira simply dropped the offensive packets, causing the attack to time out. A port scan ended up taking more than an hour, wasting the attacker's time and resources.

Although effective, the package is lightweight, adding just a few seconds to Windows' boot time and settling down to one of the lower RAM footprints. The interface is simple and logical - it suffers from just a few cryptic icons, and thankfully they're equipped with tooltips to explain their purpose. Email integration is unobtrusive, too: Avira adds a "spam" tag to the subject line of suspected spam, and pops up when you receive an infected email, but otherwise it's invisible.

Given this emphasis on simplicity, it's no surprise that features such as system tune-up and parental controls are absent. If you're after bells and whistles, look elsewhere. Avira's most exotic features are a backup module (although there's no online storage provided) and a bootable rescue CD.

But for our money, this unassuming approach is just what the doctor ordered, and the price is equally modest. A three-PC Avira package will cost you the same as a one-user licence for many other packages, and for a single machine it's a full 30% cheaper than the competition. For the protection you get, it's an unbeatable proposition.

Author: Darien Graham-Smith