McAfee Internet Security 5.0

On the virus front, McAfee Internet Security 5.0 operates on many levels. The new Hostile Activity Watch Kernel (HAWK) constantly monitors your PC for viruslike activity and integrates well with many e-mail clients. VShield runs constantly in the background, checking files as you open them. Even if you choose to disable VShield, the program still protects Microsoft Office files by scanning them before you open them. It also protects against invisible and malicious e-mail scripts by looking for suspicious behavior such as trying to open, write, or delete files. Any suspect activity is immediately stopped.

Of course, any antivirus product is only as good as its ability to stop viruses from infecting your system. Happily, McAfee Internet Security 5.0 has been given a 100% rating by Virus Bulletin, so long as you keep it up-to-date. Like the other products in McAfee's security lineup, McAfee Internet Security 5.0 uses Instant Updater, which constantly checks for product updates and automatically downloads them when you are online.

The firewall function in McAfee Internet Security 5.0 controls which of your applications can access the Internet, and stops them from divulging your personal information without your knowledge. It also stops hackers from accessing your PC remotely.

The firewall recognizes most common programs and automatically creates rules to allow them to communicate with the Internet. Users can create their own rules, but this can be tricky for the novice as some of the warning dialog boxes tend toward jargon-filled prose.

McAfee Internet Security 5.0 works with Windows Internet Connection Sharing, and has also been enhanced for broadband so home networks are fully supported. Also new in this release is an intrusion-detection system that blocks port scanners.

Of course, the most important aspect is how well it actually works, and the firewall passes all the usual tests with flying colors. It happily deals with all the usual intrusion techniques, and the auto update feature ensures the product is able to cope with any new threats as they appear.

We did have some difficulty getting an e-mail program called Ameol to work with McAfee Internet Security 5.0, but all other programs we tried worked fine.

Novice users may struggle to get the most from the firewall in McAfee Internet Security 5.0, but the more experienced will find a powerful firewall and antivirus program that can be used with confidence. --Iain Laskey, Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com Product Description
Protect your privacy and secure your computer and data with McAfee Internet Security. Incorporating McAfee's award-winning technologies, McAfee Internet Security provides one of the most comprehensive sets of privacy and security tools you can buy. McAfee Internet Security destroys viruses, outwits hackers, secures your personal information, and privatizes your Web browsing. Internet Security also blocks ads and pop-ups; manages your cookies and passwords; locks down your files, folders, and drives; filters objectionable content; and puts you in control of the communications into and out of your PC. McAfee Internet Security provides powerful protection for today's Internet users.

https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

I also do this on a monthly basis as a security measure for my PC. When testing this product AFTER configuring the firewall for maximum security and ensuring I had no applications using any open ports, McAfee had 3 PORTS that were shown as OPEN when tested by Shields Up!, not as stealthed, not as even closed. According to the Shields Up! website, the firewall at the very least should have notiifed me of open port(s). It didn't. Also, I setup the antirvirus for real-time protection and automatic updating. Yet, whenever I did a weekly virus scan, it found new viruses. These viruses were not discovered AS they were introduced to my system, only after the fact in a routine scan, during which time they could have attached themselves to emails or damaged important files. I have since installed a FREE firewall, now all of my ports are now fully stealthed. Another antivirus program found TWO undiscovered viruses after I uninstalled McAfee. I went to the store and got my money back.


Is Norton starting a bad-publicity Campaign?   February 1, 2004
Ctks
Ok, Norton must be hiring a lot of people to come on here and trash McAfee Products. I've used this program for... what is it now... somewhere around a year I think. I've never had any problems with it. I hear people complaining about not being able to connect to the net or shared files. Most likely because something is configured wrong. But as far as I see. McAfee rocks.


The WORST piece of software I have ever encountered   November 23, 2003
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

I can't say enough bad things about my experience with this software. (If you decide to try it be sure to backup your system before starting - you'll need it.) The installation software will probably crash, leaving you in a half-installed limbo. You will be able to get the software installed but this is only the beginning of your problems. You will not be able to receive email without manually fixing a conflict between the Privacy Service and Virus Scan components. You will have to disable the popup blocker if you want to follow links in email from some popular mailing lists like ZDNet. Compuserve now greets me with six error messages before completing login. Everything is slower with ISS 6.0 - either get used to it or be prepared to disable much of the functionality you paid for. Finally, you won't be able to play Microsoft Solitaire without killing a process or two. Good luck trying to uninstall the software; there doesn't seem to be either a program or instructions to help you do it. You can call them for $2.95 a minute, but given the number of problems you're likely to have you will be paying a fortune only to end up (at best) with a substandard product and vague promises of fixes. I suspect that customer support is the true source of their profit on this product. AVOID THIS PRODUCT!


Don't go near this product   November 4, 2003
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

If you want Xp to crash with a blue screen of death when someone sends you a file across the LAN and to have emails with attachments bigger than 50k fail and to spend all day setting options that the program doesn't remember then go ahead .... waste your money!

Oh and uninstalling is very easy if you are good at editing the registry manually

Never again will I tread the mcafee path


Blocks WAY too much   October 13, 2003
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

We purchased this product after we subscribed to a DSL service and were flooded with pop-up adds even when our browser was closed. While this product certainly stopped that, it has been a complete pain in the arse to browse the internet with. It prevents us from accessing our e-mail account with SBC unless we turn off both the security and the firewall (what's the point then?!) and it prevents us from accessing web sites that we want to access. Supposedly, we should be able to add those sites to a safe list, but even after doing so, we're unable to access the sites unless we disable the product in its entirety.

I've spent more time trying to adjust our personal settings with McAfee than I spent dealing with pop-up adds. As much as it kills me that we wasted $75.00, I am going out today to buy Norton's product. We just can't handle this product any more.

In all fairness to McAfee, from an installation standpoint, the product worked great. We had no problems with Windows XP, nor did we experience any slow-down with our laptop.