Product Review: CA INTERNET SECURITY SUITE PLUS 2009

       PROMOTIONAL


Computer Associates (CA) Internet Security Suite offers a variety of effective Internet security tools. These are the very same Internet security tools and computer protection tools that they provide to major corporations worldwide.

CA offers a full suite of Internet security software products including protection against viruses, spyware, phishing and spam. This product really shined when it came to identifying potential risks while on the web. Rather than using popup windows or other alerts, CA adds a button to your web browser which identifies the owner of a particular website, their location and an associated risk level. Trusted sites have a green indicator while sites with low risk are yellow and high risks are red. This graphical representation in real time makes safe web browsing a breeze. These same tools work on links in emails or on web pages. You can simply scroll over a link with your cursor and a small unobtrusive window alerts you to any potential risks with the website associated with that link.

Downloading CA Internet Security Suite took about 30 minutes. There were several customization options available throughout the installation process where we could decide whether or not we wanted to install certain portions of the software and leave out others. For example, one can opt not to install the parental controls if no children would be accessing your PC.

CA also offers a unique monetary guarantee of $10,000 covering damage to your PC or identity theft. If your computer containing a properly downloaded copy of CA Internet Security Suite fails as a result of a virus or other malicious software then they will spend up to $5,000 to fix the problem. Additionally, they will spend up to $5,000 to help you recover from identity theft perpetrated against you as a result of criminals accessing your personal information from your computer while using the CA Internet security software product. CA has added some promising new features to their latest release, Internet Security Suite Plus 2009, including WiFi hot spot detection when you enter a new network, a full screen mode that will prevent interruptions while you are playing video games or watching movies, and continuous upgrades whenever new features are available.

CA Internet Security Suite is one of the more expensive reviewed products at $79.99 per year. It does offer licenses for up to five computers, more than any of the other Internet security software services reviewed here, as well as a full suite of protection against viruses, spyware, phishing and spam. Many of the lower priced products in this category either don't offer such extensive protection or are only licensed for a single computer.

CA Internet Security Suite is some of the most thorough and user friendly Internet security software on the market and is highly recommend to most consumers.

System Requirements: Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista

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