Trend Micro Internet Security
Two things count against this effective suite: first, its impact on system speed; second, that price
SCORE ✪✪✪✪✪ PRICE 1yr, 3 PCs, £35 (£42 inc VAT) from trendmicro.co.uk
Trend Micro Internet Security has a straightforward interface. It’s divided into four pages, dealing with protection for your device, privacy, data and family respectively – and there’s something useful on every one. Under Device, for example, you’ll find general antivirus settings, plus a toggle for “Mute Mode”, which suppresses all alerts and notifications. There’s also a PC Health Checkup tool, which automatically fixes security risks – such as unpatched applications – and disables unneeded startup items that could be bogging Windows down.
On the Privacy page you’ll find a web-based tool that reviews your
privacy settings on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn, and alerts you to any potential for over-sharing. It’s powered by a browser extension for Chrome, Firefox and IE that also adds trust ratings to search results from all major engines.
Under Data you can configure the Folder Shield feature, which blocks all unauthorised access to nominated folders – so even if a ransomware attack somehow slips through the net, it won’t be able to encrypt your key files. There’s a file-shredder here too, but ignore the link to Trend Micro’s password manager; this is clearly marked as a free trial of a paid-for product, and we suggest you go with a genuinely free third-party alternative.
Under Family, you can set up the parental controls, restricting access to certain categories of website and limiting internet usage and screentime. You can also limit the use of specific programs to certain times of day, but there’s no native way to block games according to their age rating.
It’s a good practical feature set, and it’s underpinned by a strong antivirus engine. AV-Comparatives found that Trend Micro Internet Security blocked 99.7% of attacks – and only returned one false positive. That puts it a step behind Bitdefender and Kaspersky, but it’s still a creditable performance.
Sadly, while the engine might be effective, it has a larger than average impact on system performance. Trend Micro proved merely “fast” – rather than “very fast” – when it came to launching applications, even ones that had been opened and scanned before. And in the web-browsing test, Trend Micro’s performance was rated as mediocre – putting it behind every other paid-for security suite.
And then there’s the price. At £42 for three devices, Trend Micro is one of the most expensive packages here. It’s a shame as it’s a likeable piece of software, but unless you have money to burn, it’s best to look elsewhere.