Firewall F-Secure bad ?

My ISP offers a security package from F-Secure. Usually I wouldn't even look at it, but the price is good.

I've read a seriously negative review in toptenreviews about the firewall. Usually I would take those reviews with a grain of salt, since they may be hyped up (paid).
But I see no point in ignoring the criticism .

How vulnerable is it ?

Any other comments, regarding the firewall, antivirus, and antispyware ?
The cheapest offer is that combination, and there is a more expensive one with parental controls and a spam filter.

 

I got the suite from my ISP also, and am very satisfied with it. The 2006 version was a little heavy and the firewall was a bit of a pain. The 2008 version that I currently have is a much needed improvement and runs a lot lighter and the firewall was intuitive and easy to set up. The only complaint I've heard is that it is slow on some people's machines. There's going to be some lag as it uses 4 scanning engines. Truly a set-it-and-forget-it suite with hourly update checks. Check with your ISP to find which FSIS it is, but can't comment as to the strength of the firewall as I'm behind a router and never tested the FSIS-FW...

 

Does Threatfire play nice with F-secure?

 

FSIS 2008 already has HIPS included in the FW-module so I never bothered with TF with that set-up

 

Agreed - same here.

 

4 scanning engines ? Can you elaborate ?

I'm not looking for a resource hog, my pc is about 4 years old, and I have 512 MB RAM. McAfee is definately a resource hog.

 

Sorry 'bout the delay, this thread here goes into a great deal of comparisons between 2008 and 2009. On your 512MB, it may be a "hog" but also possibly not, as it "needs" to be the only security app. installed. For requirements, check here under installation...

 

I just asked them (ISP) if I could cancel the monthly 'subscription'.
Weird answer, they said that I could terminate the subscription within one month. They also said that after applying for that software I'd get a subscription for one year, after which there would be a renewal for each following month, presumably with the option to terminate the subscription. If anyone understands this ...

I'm not sure what exactly they are offering.

 

My ISP offers F-secure on a monthly basis - it's a rip-off.

Have you considered buying it via the Indian store. Good price for a 3-user licence.

http://www.f-secure.com/estore/in/

Ian

 

My ISP offers it for $2 a month for "Lite" subscribers (that have a limited monthly usage) and for "regular" and "business" subscribers (no cap) get it for free. It can be used on 3 pc's per household, and my family (translate-my wife) is looking for a third, so it fits well in our (translate-my wife's) budget.

 

You're lucky.

*Security Suite:To get the 12 months free offer, eligible Optus Broadband customers must obtain the security suite subscription number by 31 May 2008. After 12 months a $7 monthly fee may apply.

Not sure what they mean by may apply?

I pay $55/month for my internet.

Last time I looked the Optus suite was not the latest F-secure.

Ian

 

I wonder how that would go with the currency !

(I'm in the eurozone)

 

I downloaded F-Secure PC Protection Plus from WOW. It says version 7.03 Build 106. Is that the 2007 or 2008 retail version?

Anyone use the custom or high setting on the firewall?

Does it use both Norman and Kaspersky antivirus modules?

 

Not sure what FS PC Protection Plus is but I use FS IS 2008 and that version is 8.00 so I would say that 7.03 is the 2007 version. Not sure though.

I've just kept everything on default setting and it works fine for me but I'm also behind a router with built in firewall.

As far as I'm aware, 2007 & 2008 products use both Norman and Kaspersky modules but the upcoming 2009 version is going to use FS's own in-house built engine.

 

How often does F-Secure sends out new virus definitions per day? I know it automatically checks them every hour.

11-1-2007 is the date for the major components of the ISP branded version. Wow has their own ftp through F-Secure.

FS PC Protection Plus looks like the Internet Suite. It has all the components. You can opt out of the parental control before you install the rest.

The only thing it doesn't have is the link for the virus world map.

 

FS virus and anti-spyware defs get updated very regularly. According to their website, about 40 per week are released so roughly on avergae 6 a day.

 

Looks like they had an update a couple of hours ago. So Kaspersky is their main anti virus engine at the moment? Anti spyware just Ad Aware and/or Kaspersky?