G Data Internet Security 2010 Operational Review

"G DATA INTERNET SECURITY 2010"

Pros: Consistently tops the charts in independent testing year after year. Superior protection against the full spectrum of malware. Ease of use.

Cons: Zero tech support. Weak network activity logging. Can't set individual alerts for firewall rules.

Summary:
For USA customers: no forums; broken on-line tech support; dysfunctional phone support.

Four of my inquiries entered via a Web support form remain unacknowledged and unanswered as does an email directly to two company officers, Dirk Hochstrate and Frank Heisler. Even during business hours in Germany, the automated response at a 1-888 toll free number transfers to Germany and may disconnect after six minutes of silence or just deliver a message in German and disconnect immediately. The one time I did connect to a support person it was at 1:15 AM USA MST (10:15 AM, Berlin). After describing the issue, I was assured of an email follow up; that never happened. And while even the most elemental of IT departments could implement a forum (and most do) in about three hours, G Data has not chosen not to do so. (A British reseller had in August established a support forum for their customers, but as of this writing it remains mostly abandoned by them.)

As such, only seasoned Windows users should consider G Data and the lack of support drops the overall rating to fair from excellent plus. With impartiality, it must be noted neither their Web site nor the user agreement indicate any support is included in the price.

Otherwise, GDIS2010 performs as advertised and updates smoothly. The dual engine model (BitDefender & Avast) ranks in the top tiers of independent testing, returning near 98+ percentiles in protection against a far-flung and sweeping range of threats as well as the usual suspects. By editorial content and popular acclaim GDIS2010 is one of the best suites available at any price.

The firewall has a unique "Autopilot" mode and when set at "Maximum" is the first ever and currently the only firewall I would ever install on Aunt Petunia's computer where her access to Flikr photogs of the grand nieces and searches for new embroidery patterns will go unhindered by pesky pop ups. Experienced users and control freaks will want to forgo the default rule sets, create an empty rule set for each network, set "Custom security" and "Create rule manually," reboot and build rules as each alert presents itself.

Everything else has mostly "set and forget" modes with an acceptable range of geek tweaks. Overall, this is an easy to use security suite.

It's fast and trouble free on my old PIII/1GHz laptop and my E8400 system doesn't even know it's there. There are no issues running it along side Zemana AntiLogger and ThreatFire or IObit S360.

At $40 for a one-year three-license subscription, this is the best deal bar none. For each PC that's about thirteen bucks a pop; practically free.

[acr1965]

For tech support people have been going here-

http://forum.ultimateinternetsecurity.com/

But that may just be for customers who purchased from that vendor.

[Securon]

Good Morning ! Dallas 7...Your assessment mirrors my previous remarks. Consumer Beware...and don't provide them with your Credit Card number...due to the fact their Custmr Service and Tech Support are the absolute industry worst ! I think the British third party vendor has probably severed their connection with G-Data, and if they haven't they should. Sincerely...Securon

[Durad]

I sent few emails to them, no response..

[Sunrazor]

I have also emailed them without any response. It's just not very comforting to rely on a company that doesn't answer. Like a friend of mine that had a virus he could not get rid of, got help from Eset to remove it even though the program could not do it by itself. And that was the same day...

[Narxis]

From english G Data forum:

We have started dedicated support & you can access:

1) Chat: Log onto www.UISUSA.com and click the chat now option. This is the fastest way to get to us. We do remote assistance as well.
2) Email: Shoot us an email at support@ultimateinternetsecurity.com & we will get back to you within the same day.
3) Forums: These will be updated once in 24-48 hrs so that we can stay connected.

[Securon]

Good Evening ! Narxis, I forwarded you an e-mail at Ultimate Security,that was yesterday and re your proclamation that you contact that reply the same day,this hasn't happened. I'm not sure what your affliation with Ultimate Security is but please don't make assurances that aren't followed up on. And if your an employee of Ultimate Security please be forthright in stating so! Otherwise you're engaged in a blatant misrepresentation ! For the North American customer,G-Data needs to open up an afflliate office not a Web-Site calling itself UISUSA,which in reality is based out of the U.K. Dallas 7 is spot on regarding his critique of G-Data. When the day comes that G-Data has a physical presence in North America with a proper Business Office,Marketing and Pre and Post Sales support with an active 1-800 Toll Free number then i'll consider them a Proper Vendor. Until then see you later...much later. Sincerely...Securon

[Hugger]

The 'apparent lack of support' in the US is what kept me from buying GData.
Very good product.
Hope they take care of their support issues.
Hugger

Originally Posted by acr1965

For tech support people have been going here-
url removed /url
But that may just be for customers who purchased from that vendor.

That is the "British reseller" I referred to. I didn't want to mention them by name, but since you did... they're trying hard, but they're not corporate. Enough said.

I did actually connect to a support person - it was at 1:15 AM USA MST (10:15 AM, Berlin). After describing the issue, I was assured of an email follow up; that never happened.

The issue I was having with GDIS2010 was the persistent hits evoked by AVKproxy.exe every 30 seconds to an IP address that resolved to a domain owned by CommTech. As such I didn't perceive the behavior to be malicious but I did measure a network bottleneck as a result of, at times, up to a dozen local endpoints in time_wait state. Sniffing the packets revealed hits to a CommTech share point /SpamResolverNG/SpamResolverNG.dll. Using google and translate I was able to determine from a German forum that this was OutbreakShield. My disappointment at the lack of the promised email response to my phone conversation (and their Web form) was further exacerbated by the tech not knowing the activity was generated by IS2010.

To disable OutbreakShield, uncheck it in Email check Scan options and reboot. (The reboot is necessary.)

OutbreakShield runs almost constantly, even if you don't even have an email client open.

According to GDIS2010 Help: With the activated OutbreakShield, G Data software creates checksums of emails, compares these with current anti-spam blacklists and, as a result, it is able to react to a mass-mailing before the relevant virus definitions become available. OutbreakShield uses the Internet to monitor increased volumes of suspicious emails, enabling it to close the window between the mass mail outbreak and its containment with specially adapted virus definitions, practically in real time. The OutbreakShield is an integral part of the email virus blocker.

I'm not sure if the behavior I experience with this feature is unique to my environment. If not, I would hope it may be fixed in a future update. As it is, I use Gmail via POP and trust their Postini and their other anti-bad stuff efforts as well as G Data's anti-virus monitor as a hedge against bad email. Outbreakshield will have to remain as some icing on the cake I'll have to do without for now.

Additional operational review: G Data Malware Information Initiative

During the installation process, one is invited to join the G Data Malware Information Initiative. As described by the InstallShield Wizard dialogue (see GDsuGDMII.jpg):

Malware feedback - Collecting information about malware infections
More and more malware is lurking on websites strewn across the entire Internet. However, our G Data specialists find it hard to deal with such malicious sites and can only do so imperfectly. In order to protect all G Data customers from threats of this kind, and to collect data on and analyse the viruses that are found, we rely on the cooperation of our customers.
For this reason we have founded the G Data Malware Information Initiative. Under this initiative information about the infections involved and the status of virus protection is sent to G Data. You can read about precisely what sort of data is sent in the Data Declaration.

By clicking on the Data Declaration button the exact terms and conditions are explained, captured in GDMIIdataDec.jpg.

I elected to opt out for the time being while I became familiar and comfortable with this new-to-me app. I figured I could always join in later. Wrong.

The InstallShield Wizard Malware-Feedback dialogue is presented once and only once. Evoking setup by again running GDIS2010ENG.exe or via Change in Add or Remove Programs brings up the choice to remove or modify. The latter presents only the InstallShield Wizzard Custom Setup (see GDsuCustom.jpg) and no options exist therein for GDMII. Nor is there anything in the SecurityCenter settings to opt in or out. You make your choice for the Malware Information Initiative at setup's first run and that's that.

There could be something buried somewhere that I'm missing, but it doesn't look like it. Maybe I'll send G Data Support an inquiry. Ha! I make with the little joke.

[trjam]

regardless, you cant deny its detection ability. I cant after comparing several.

[firzen771]

wer can u check how long is left on ur subscription in gdata?

[trjam]

Originally Posted by firzen771

wer can u check how long is left on ur subscription in gdata?

In the GUI, main screen on left side. Mine is good till 9/24/2010

Originally Posted by trjam

regardless, you cant deny its detection ability.

I never did.

Originally Posted by trjam

I cant after comparing several.

That's nice.