F-Secure Antivirus and F-Secure 2009 software have been developed by F-Secure plc (formerly Data Fellows), a publicly traded computer security company based in Helsinki, Finland. The firm is a direct descendant of the conglomerate Frisk Software International of Iceland which developed the F-Prot antivirus and which broke up to form different companies. However, F-Secure products still retain some functionalities of the F-Prot scan engine. Originally designed for Windows systems, F-Secure products are now available for Linux and mobile versions are available for use on smartphones with Symbian technology as well as for Windows. The company claims it was the first antivirus vendor listed on the web.
- Installation– A fairly simple install procedure is a plus and the time taken to save the program on the disc drive compares well with that taken by F-Secure’s major competitors.
- Features and Ease of Use– The software features CounterSign, which integrates results from a number of scan engines to identify malware, rootkits and adware. F-Secure antivirus program’s effectiveness and popularity is evident from it being included as an OEM in the security suites of nearly 150 other ISP providers such as Dish Network, Airtel PC-Secure, Cincinnati Bell, Sprint, etc. Another feature is DeepGuard, an advanced system monitoring technology, which is supposed to automatically block suspicious processes and kill all threats, including malware that don’t have any signatures. Detection rates have improved from earlier results and system resource use has also improved a lot. F-Secure antivirus provides the traditional defence against viruses, while F-Secure 2009 is for use at home – both for laptops and desktops. Other F-Secure products include ‘Protection Service’ for small companies, ‘Client Security’ which is an integrated form for corporate workstations running on Windows and includes antirootkit, sandboxing, firewalls and behavioural analysis. There is also antivirus and antispam defence for corporate mail server exchanges
- Performance– F-Secure Internet Security 2007 was placed ahead of Norton, McAfee Panda and Trend in an antivirus test carried out by MikroBitti. C’t magazine ran a series of comparative tests on virus and other malware threats, where F-Secure’s DeepGuard was unique in preventing all the 12 tests from proceeding, because it detected suspicious changes in the system.
- Help and Support– Chat, email and limited phone support is available, but is inadequate.
- Other Issues – Some of the features mentioned above (like DeepGuard) consume a lot of system resources, and can severely disrupt work being done on the computer
While there are many advantages to purchasing an F-Secure product to safeguard your PC, there are areas where the competitors are doing better. As a result, F-Secure still needs to keep the updates flowing steadily so that customers appreciate value for money spent, especially in these difficult times. F-Secure’s research and development department has to think ‘out of the box’ to solve the numerous concerns raised by an ever changing variety and volume of attacks faced by a system these days. F-Secure have shown they have the capacity to do so and I am sure they will keep coming up with the correct, most appropriate answers in the future too!