F-Secure's Internet Security suite contains an effective anti-virus scanner, a reasonably good firewall and an anti-spam program. The anti-spam component in the previous version, Internet Security 2005, was poor and let the package down, so has the company tightened things up?
In a word, yes. Our last tests showed F-Secure's anti-spam software let 95 per cent of our incoming spam through to our inbox. This
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latest version allowed through only 33 per cent. Unfortunately, it also misclassified 20 per cent of the real messages. If you use this program, you'll need to keep a close eye on your spam folder for the first few weeks, and use the included whitelist to enter the email addresses of friends and colleagues.
The software is easy to use and detected scam/phishing emails as well as spam. Its settings are wide ranging, although you don't need to get stuck into them. A simple set of radio buttons is available to set the aggressiveness of the spam scanner. The addition of the anti-virus software means incoming email is checked for viruses and other nasty software as well as spam.
If you're happy with your anti-virus and firewall software, you shouldn't move to F-Secure Internet Security 2006 on the strength of its anti-spam program. Instead, consider investing in SpamCatcher or Cloudmark Desktop. But if you want an all-in-one package then F-Secure's package beats the others on overall value.
By Simon Edwards
SPECIFICATIONS:
INTERNET SECURITY SUITE Requires Windows 98 or later, Pentium II processor, 64MB RAM, 190MB disk space
