Are Security suites a good idea !?

[dylanfan]

Hello guys and gals ;)

We all know some software we really like (or liked) whose developers sudddenly decided to go for an all-in-one software, what I call a security suite.

Do you believe that for a software to go from "simple" security software [say, a firewall or an anti-virus] to "security suite" is a good idea?

Or do you think that, to the contrary, adding "more" functionalities tends to quickly become "too many" functionalities, which tends to mess up otherwise good softwares?

Feel free to comment and share experiences.
Cheers

[Alphalutra1]

Security Suites are excellent for novice computer users who want to be left alone and only have to worry about updating one device every year to ensure they are protected against anything malicious coming their way. They don't care if the suite is running heavy on their computer of if the suite isn't very configurable. They also don't care if a component is weak, as long as it gets the job done.

On the other hand, security suites are disliked by people who are interested in computer security, because they like to mix and match to find the perfect solution for their computer. I even mix and match my inbound firewall with a different outbound. It depends on the user, their experience, and preferences.

Alphalutra1

[sweater]

For some yes...;D suites is a good idea, especially if this was being made by a very reputable software company. That the one who make it has a very good track records of providing the best solutions for different pc users. A combination of the best programs into one is very handy and can also save us money in compared to buying programs from different developers. ;) Of course, this was just my opinion. On the other hand, still, an individualized programs made to do one thing only can be a good choice for some coz it has some kind of specialize funtions that only "concentrates" on doing one task according to its purpose. 8)

Again, some security suites are good and some are not good enough...:dry: better test it for yourself in your own pc and see what happens coz only your very own experience can gave you the final judgement for what a suite is. :blink:

[trickyricky]

No definite opinion, some are good and some aren't.

Alphalutra1 said more or less what I feel as well. Suites are great for the less experienced (read the majority of) PC users as they ensure that all the most important areas are covered.

However, perfectionists prefer to pick and choose apps to make sure they have the best all-round protection and that rules out most suites.

I must say that I greatly prefer the idea of a suite to the concept of an antivirus app that also tries to cover adware, spyware and so on as those apps never do an even reasonable job.

[metallicakid15]

the only good suites are avk,kav, and defender pro..

[bigc73542]

I am useing the F-Secure internet security suite and it works excellent.

[WSFuser]

as previously said, suites are more targeted toward newbies. it give them all around protection and theres less chance of conflict between components. also i think companies should have them both. some people may prefer standalone applications, others may prefer suites.

[ErikAlbert]

I call them Frankenstein Security Suites, because some of these suites have components from different origins. :)
I agree with what have been said.

[sweater]

And some software developers starts making suites just to attract new customers...;D this was a kind of marketing ads that looks very attractive to some pc users. :o

One thing to look for in a security suite, was maybe, aside from being "effective" was that it should not be a system resource hogs and will not slow down the pc. ;D

[Vikorr]

There's a few benefits to security suites

1. They should cost less than the parts combined
2. They should provide good protection for most people
3. a single update point instead of multiple update points (this is only a presumption on my part - never owned a suite)
4. It 'should' be lighter on resources than the individual components combined would be (once more just a guess)
5. 'computer security' shouldn't require more than one program...even if it currently does

Their current obvious weakness is that where one or more parts may be strong, often one or more other parts are also weak.

[the Tester]

I agree that some security suites are good for "newbies".
It all depends on the company that is producing the suite.

[chrisretusn]

I have never been a suite sort of person. I prefer to have multiple applications that do a good job for the purpose they were made. Suites tend to become bloated and less specialized across the full spectrum of the applications they are supposed to replace.

Another reason I dislike suites is they also force you to go by their rules, they way they do it. I want to be able to pick and choose applications to meet my requirements. I have never found a suite that did that.

[mercurie]

They have their place (for those who want all in one) but I do not like them..."they tend to mess up quickly"....perfect choice. ;)

[rdsu]

3ª option...

[ErikAlbert]

Security Suites could be a good idea, if you combine them with one of these snapshot softwares like Rollback, FDISR, DeepFreeze, ShadowUser, ... combined with encryption.
Anything that is missed by these security suites will be destroyed by the next reboot/restore of a clean snapshot within a period of 4 or 8 hours.
Anything what is stolen will be unreadable (encryption).

[PCJohn]

They will be a good idea if the price is much lower.
Max. 20$ a year.
In about 2 a 3 years max. 1$ a month.
More people will use them,prices should drop fast.

[bigc73542]

-{ Quote: "as previously said, suites are more targeted toward newbies. it give them all around protection and theres less chance of conflict between components. also i think companies should have them both. some people may prefer standalone applications, others may prefer suites." }-


Well I am definatly not a newbie and I still like my internet security suite. It gives as good a protections as an assortment of security apps developed by several different people. But it is up to the individual user to decide what they consider good protection. If I do have a problem with my security suite,( which I never have ) one email or phone call covers it all.

[timcan]

My ISP (Charter) includes F Secure internet security suite in their service for up to 3 computers.Seems to work well.:)

[sosaiso]

I have Zonealarm Pro since 4.5, and I do not see anything wrong with it.

It has good configurability, ranging from what I want to do with the firewall to what kind of ims I want to receive. Sure, lots to improve upon, but no one should just be like, "OMG A SUITE, YOU N00B." It's a matter of having your management console in one place, for me at least.

[aigle]

-{ Quote: "Security Suites are excellent for novice computer users
" }-

Agree upto this. Ordinary users can,t be dedicated security geeks. Infact some ordinary users can mees up all the PC if they have to play with so many security programmes.

[Antarctica]

I am a register user of NOD32,PG,OA,RD,L'n'S and Ewido. About three weeks ago, I uninstalled everything and I am now testing KIS6.0. So far I am very satisfy and my PC has never been running so smooth and so fast.The only other security software running now is RollBack RX and Image for Windows as a Backup.

Layer defense is probably good, but in my case, with my configuration, the cost was a big slowdown and at time it was frustrating.???

[aigle]

-{ Quote: "I am a register user of NOD32,PG,OA,RD,L'n'S and Ewido. About three weeks ago, I uninstalled everything and I am now testing KIS6.0. So far I am very satisfy and my PC has never been running so smooth and so fast.The only other security software running now is RollBack RX and Image for Windows as a Backup.

Layer defense is probably good, but in my case, with my configuration, the cost was a big slowdown and at time it was frustrating.???" }-
Right said.

[herbalist]

I'd much rather pick my own components and build my own suite, both on my own PCs and on ones I maintain. It's rare that a "do it all" suite will perform any of its intended functions as well as a single purpose app designed for that specific purpose. My security package can only be described as paranoid, yet it uses much less disk space and consumes far less resources than most suites. Didn't cost nearly as much either.
Rick

[ErikAlbert]

-{ Quote: "I am a register user of NOD32,PG,OA,RD,L'n'S and Ewido. About three weeks ago, I uninstalled everything and I am now testing KIS6.0. So far I am very satisfy and my PC has never been running so smooth and so fast.The only other security software running now is RollBack RX and Image for Windows as a Backup.
" }-
Nice security setup !!! Have something similar in mind.

[progress]

No definite opinion, 'cause some are good & some bad ::)

[blacknight]

" I don't like suites..": IMHO HIPS must be a software indipendent from fw and av, I don't believe that an all in one program is fully projected and builded. Too mixed. Moreover, to use security softwares of different producers make life more difficult for malwares developers.

[siberianwolf]

-{ Quote: "All-In-One Solutions

I need to start by disrecommending all-in-one solutions. By that I mean a single program or "security suite" that claims to do it all: firewall, anti-spyware, anti-virus and often much more all in one. What I see in reports coming in to Ask Leo! are simply that these types of suites typically have or cause more problems than other alternatives.

My theory on these types of packages is this: most are built around a company's flagship product, perhaps an anti-virus tool, anti-spyware tool or firewall. That particular product may in fact be quite good. The problem is that in order to create a suite the company creates or procures significantly lower quality products to fill in.

You want top quality in all corners, and there's certainly no requirement that the various solutions all come from the same place." }-
http://ask-leo.com/what_security_software_do_you_recommend.html

agreed :thumb::thumb:

[raven211]

What can I say... even if I would use a Security Suite (disabling the FW/Webguard features in it, running a properly config. hardware one which I for various reasons think is better...), I still kinda make up my own as I complement it with what I think is needed.

[tipstir]

-{ Quote: "What can I say... even if I would use a Security Suite (disabling the FW/Webguard features in it, running a properly config. hardware one which I for various reasons think is better...), I still kinda make up my own as I complement it with what I think is needed." }-


All-in-one, but do you really need all those plugins modules? They can really slow down older systems.. The Comodo IS you got there has a lot of stuff. Have you run into those FPS yet. When I got dirty malware showing up as JPEG/BMP icons in CIS on all the systems here that uses WinRAR it's so strange that that IS would do that. Never detected the real threat. PC Tools IS is not for the power users, Spam module or plugin won't be use by most and there is a bug in there too. It does stop stuff but not the real bad ones. Most clients I know use Norton 360 and Mcafee suites sure they have the backing but the suites hog the system. Avira IS I see you didn't test that one. It's firewall isn't like PC Tools Firewall Plus to me that Avira is weak there in IS.

[spy_protector]

good security suites:avira,,comodo,,bitdefender:thumb:
:doubt:
bad security suite:mcafee,,pc tools,,avg:thumbd:
???

[vizhip]

As others have posted, security suites are fine for newbies... or folks that can't be bothered with research...

Unfortunately, I have found that security suites tend to specialize in one area more than others and thus if you want the best of everything, you are going to want to pick and choose what is on your system and suites tend to leave drivers strewn all over the place, thus making it even more difficult to firm up a small area where you found the security lacking...

Regards -
-Bob

[tipstir]

Prior suites were crap.. Today some are better than others.. Key is protection and low on system resources, less Fps and crashes. How well can they handle large invasion of attacks from the fake crap online that we're all trying to defend against. On your main network everything should be able handshake, from media servers, print servers, file servers, web servers without getting that dragged message saying access denied!

[Saint Satin Stain]

I prefer to make my own custom secutity suite by selecting the best of breed that work together.

PGP
Online Armor
NOD32
Sandboxie
SpywareBlaster
Trojan Remover