F-Secure TOTAL
Can this Finnish security product compete with the big boys? TOTAL’s ‘bonus’ tools are a password manager and VPN software
£59.99/year (1 device);
£79.99/year 3 devices)
FROM F-Secure, f-secure.com
NEEDS macOS 10.11 or later
TOTAL is F-Secure’s top-of-theline security product for Mac, and comprises three products, which you install separately.
F-Secure SAFE offers core antivirus protection, backed up with ransomware protection, browsing and banking protection, and parental controls. It’s easy to install, and steps you through the process of giving the app the access it requires. The main interface is straightforward, but bare. Configuration is virtually non-existent – a stark contrast to the likes of Bitdefender and Norton. There are just two types of virus scan: full or ‘choose what to scan’. Most other controls are on/off with a handful of advanced controls buried in the app’s entry under System Preferences. Parental controls offer a bit more tweaking, although even here you’re limited to setting time and usage limits, plus web filters, for other users of your Mac.
TOTAL’s ‘bonus’ tools are a password manager and VPN software. ID Protection protects passwords and other sensitive info – everything is double-encrypted behind your master password, but there’s no additional security in the form of 2FA. The app also betrays its Windows focus by failing to provide a Safari add-on (Chrome and Firefox are supported). The omission is doubly strange given that SAFE’s browser protection component does integrate with Safari.
Not a TOTAL solution
Similarly, FREEDOME VPN can’t hold a candle to dedicated VPN services. On the upside, you can use it on your phone as well as your Mac to encrypt your internet connection when using public Wi-Fi networks, and it can also block tracking attempts via insecure HTTP traffic plus scan for malware, tracking cookies and other online threats. Weaknesses include restricting you to a choice of just 28 servers across 22 countries, with a focus on Europe and the Americas. Performance is noticeably affected too: Speedtest reported a 25-30% drop-off over our fibre connection when using FREEDOME. Nevertheless, it’s competitively priced as part of TOTAL, and is fine for occasional use, plus can be used to bypass geo-restrictions abroad too.
As a simple, set-it-and-forget-it solution TOTAL does a reasonable job. However, SAFE’s current AV-Labs test scores of 5.5 out of 6 for both protection and performance reveal two key issues. The first is less-thanperfect protection – a 99.6% malware detection rate isn’t bad, but four products (Norton, Trend, Bitdefender and avast) score 100%. And second, there’s a noticeable – if not cripplingly slow – impact on accessing files and opening programs thanks to SAFE’s real-time scanner.
You could definitely do worse, but there are better options out there. Nick Peers