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Computer viruses are nastier and sneakier than ever. Show them no mercy. Inoculate your system with one of these ruthless virus-killers.
IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE, or at least a well-stocked zoo. Despite the popularity of antivirus software, computer viruses are multiplying like fruit flies. New strains appear at a rate of about zoo per month, and researchers have identified nearly i8,ooo to date. The increase of e-mail and Internet downloading offers more ways to get infected, too.
Only about 250 viruses exist in the wild-in circulation-but many of those can cause significant damage, waste time, and cost you and your company money. According to the International Computer Security Association, your chances of falling victim to a computer virus run about 1 in 30. In an office of loo PCs, at least 3 systems will face a virus incident during the course of the next year. Are you feeling lucky?
Though your company will likely get hit, you needn't panic. As our extensive tests show, most antivirus packages protect ef fectively against the current crop of viruses and include technologies for catching asyet-unidentified strains. Okay, so most products do a good job; now how can you choose from among the numerous possibilities? We reviewed seven prominent antivirus products and found that they differ significantly apart from their viruscatching capabilities. Some make it easy to update signatures-the lines of binary code that identify virus behavior-and regular updating is the best way to catch new nasties. Others offer smooth interfaces, quick scan times, or strong support. And the best include all of these: Our Best Buy, Norton AntiVirus 5.o, took less than minutes to scan a iGB hard drive, caught just about every virus we threw at it, and proved easy to use and update.
NATURAL SELECTION
SINCE WE REVIEWED antivirus software last March (see "Virus Killers 1998," www. pcworld.com/marchg8/antivirus), the antivirus industry has consolidated. Network General first acquired Dr Solomon's and subsequently merged with McAfee; the enlarged company, renamed Network Associates, retained McAfee Virus Scan in the lineup and incorporated some of Dr Solomon's technology in subsequent versions. (The products remain separate for now, but Dr Solomon's will eventually disappear.) Meanwhile, McAfee's archrival Symantec purchased IBM's antivirus technology, effectively killing IBM AntiVirus, and incorporated it...