Labs

BullGuard's Internet Security suite contains a firewall, anti-virus program, an online backup service and an anti-spam system. Previous tests have shown its firewall to be acceptable but the anti-virus software to be a little disappointing. This month we have tested its anti-spam capabilities.

Setting up the software is straightforward, and there is a wizard to walk you

ADVERTISEMENT

through various steps designed to improve detection. This includes adding contacts to the whitelist and scanning different folders containing spam and real mail. To get the most out of the process, it makes sense to organise your email before installing this software.

The scanning results were a mixed bag. While the spam detection was average, detecting 66 per cent of the incoming spam, it also flagged 50 per cent of our real messages as spam, too. This was much worse than most of the other products tested here, keeping company only with programs from Kaspersky and BitDefender, which also missed half of the real email.

BullGuard's different security components are average. They are not bad enough to avoid completely, but we wouldn't be happy spending over £30 for the complete package. There are plenty of other, better security suites to choose from, including F-Secure Internet Security 2006, Kaspersky Internet Security 6 and Trend Micro PC-cillin 14.