Cameras
Camcorders
Cell Phones
Components
Desktops
HDTV
Home Theater
GPS
Laptops
Monitors
MP3 Players
Networking &
Printers
Storage
Print
Digg
Twitter
Facebook
More…A cursory look at CA Internet Security 2008 might lead you to consider it a worthwhile security suite. It has a good-looking interface and helpful features such as a first-use tutorial and help for setting program options. It also covers the bases on expected security suite features, with parental controls, defenses against spam, and (purportedly) antiphishing browsing protection.
Computer Associates CA Internet Security Suite Plus 2008
2.5
7 User Reviews Add your own »
$8.95 - $49.99
From 4 Vendors
Get Best Prices »
Pros
Easy to use
Cons
Faulty malware detection
CA Internet Security Suite Plus 2008
CA Internet Security Suite Plus 2008 Review, by Erik Larkin November 29, 2007
But beneath the surface, CA proved abysmal at the fundamental task of identifying and blocking malicious software. German research company AVTest.org performed the malware testing portion of our "All-in-One Security Suites: Tried and Tested" story. When it pitted CA's suite against its 674,589-strong collection of dormant malware samples, AV-Test.org found that the suite caught only 63 percent, meaning that almost four out of every ten pieces of malware slipped right by its defenses. This result isn't even in the same league the other suites we tested. The next worst product, McAfee Internet Security Suite, caught 86 percent of the samples in this test.
In addition, CA failed to detect almost half of all spyware and adware; its catch rate of 56 percent was the worst recorded for any of the eight suites in our roundup. And in tests of the suite's ability to use one-month old signature files to detect newer malware, it again hit rock bottom. The suite spotted a scant 3.5 percent of new threats.
CA did prove quite effective in dealing with rootkits, however, detecting and cleaning all six samples that AV-Test.org threw at it. Only Symantec Norton Internet Security 2008 matched the strong performance of CA's suite on this test. Further, the CA suite issued just one false positive warning in connection with a harmless file; and it was relatively speedy, scanning 9.9MB of data per second during user-started scans--the third-best result we got among the suites we tested.
CA wasn't nearly as quick at responding to malware outbreaks, however. delivering signatures for new threats in an average of 12 to 14 hours (tthe slowest delivery time of the bunch.
The CA suite's firewall proved solid, successfully blocking attempts to scan a protected PC from the outside. The firewall will warn you if an unknown program attempts to connect your PC to the Internet, and it has a good list of known programs that it checks first to avoid needlessly alarming you.
The suite's antiphishing protection didn't fare as well. CA adds a toolbar to Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Avant, and the AOL internal browser; and the company says that it uses 54 different checks to determine whether a site is safe. Nevertheless, the toolbar gave the green light to the first phishing site we visited, seemingly because the site was hosted at a known domain. But there's no way that a page on a domain registered to the Korea National Tourism Organization should ask for a visitor's Chase bank user ID and password.
CA's antispam feature adds a spam folder to Outlook, Outlook Express, and Windows Mail. It scans existing e-mail in those programs to build an initial list of approved senders. Any subsequent mail whose sender isn't on that list will go into the spam folder, until the user okays that new sender, so you'll have to check your spam folder continually for legitimate e-mail messages.
We found using CA's suite relatively simple, but the options for the antivirus, antispyware, and firewall programs seemed skimpy. And if you want to check past events, such as which malware the program actually blocked, you have to dig through unformatted text files.
In pleasant contrast, CA's parental control software shines. You can set filters for all users at once or for each user individually, based on categories such as hate, gambling, or adult; and the blocked-site message in the browser clearly defines why a site was blocked.
Though CA might provide some nice hand-holding for a beginning user, its terrible performance at keeping a PC safe makes it suitable for no one. Avoid this suite.
Erik Larkin
Show Less 
0 Comments | 0 Topics | Print Only This Review
User Reviews
Average User Reviews for Computer Associates CA Internet Security Suite Plus 2008
2 Reviews Add your own »
- Latest User Reviews 2 reviews
-
Reviewed by: brainpup
Duration of ownership: 1 Year
Strengths: Suite came free with my Road Runner account and I've only got hit by 9 Trojan's and only infected by 5 virus's. So after a year I've only had to reformat my hard drive 14 times, not bad, I mean I did'nt really have anything on my 250GB Hard Drive I wanted to keep anyway and it only takes about 3 days to get all my programs and games back up and running. I can always take those pictures of my 14 month old son next year at Christmas when he's 2, heck who needs pictures of their kids first Christmas.
Weaknesses: Firewall is a nonstop warning device, with popup windows galore, you can't even download windows updates without turning it off, and then when you do that you get hit with Virus/Trojan/malware.
Overall: I orginally got this suite from Road Runner (Time Warner) and it was named ETrust Security suite, Then after all its bad reviews RR switched to CA's Suite, guess what its the same Suite, CA bought out E Trust. and the product is still junk. (must got it real cheap)Antivirus is full of holes, Firewall is incompatible with everything, antispyware is so fast it misses most, don't use Outlook so I don't use the anti-spam program(thats all it works with) which is a gas cause it doesn't even work with RR's Web Mail, which its suppose to protect??? Like the guy from PC world says, "do your self a favor,STAY AWAY". Thank god I never put this garbage on my laptop, and now I have Kapersky's Suite on both Home and Laptop and its been fast and flawless.
-
Reviewed by: rickk1
Duration of ownership: 6 Months
Strengths: none
Weaknesses: Does not find and/or remove alot of viruses that other antivirus/antispyware programs report and remove. Removes saved adult favorites without warning.
Overall: Just another wannabe. It is almost as bad a Norton/Symantec. Don't buy it. Wouldn't ever recommend this to anyone. Junk...pure junk! Want problems? Buy this! Does not do the job as promised.
Review Now! Already own it? Tell us What You Think
User Reviews From Around the Web
-
Reviewed by: bloodmango
Strengths: none
Weaknesses: slow down the system
Overall: I guess the software is working OK for me. The biggest problem with this software is that my computer system was completely hung up upon installation. The software does its job fairly. I prefer to go with another brand.
-
Reviewed by: Vijkays
Strengths: The only positive point I can say about this product is ease of install. Other than that I have had only problems with this software.
Weaknesses: After install my computer seemed to have slowed down a lot. I found the firewall to block many of the common programs. The software seems to phone home every so often.
Overall: I have been using Norton products for a while and decidied to give this CA product a try. I regret my decision. My experience with this suite has been terrible. I might have used it for 2 days at most before I uninstalled it and went back to my Norton Internet Security. I wouldn?t recommend this product.
-
Reviewed by: slickguy
Strengths: Easy install and good security level. Anti-Virus and Parental Controls are top notch
Weaknesses: Slow down your system
Overall: The Firewall part of the program slowed my laptop down to a crawl. Adding more memory did not help. I'm running 2 gig of memory, and very few programs on my laptop. I uninstall the Firewall portion of the program and the laptop picked up speed again. This program is "Quirky", and takes patience. It also freezes up at times. Personal thoughts on this program so far is, " the firewall doesn't work good for me, slows the computer down drastically. Went back to my old firewall, but used the rest of the CA Program.
-
Reviewed by: cheapwoodsley
Strengths: none
Weaknesses: strongly not recommended
Overall: This CA software is very very bad. It shut down my computer after the installation. So I had to reboot my comuter and tried to remove the software. And I continued to have trouble removing it since somehow it was stuck in my computer forever. I had to ask help for the software removal. Very bad experience.
-
Reviewed by: woodsley
Strengths: none
Weaknesses: low performance
Overall: It looks like that CA softwares never got improved. It is still a bloat ware upon your installation. The computer worked very slowly due to the presence of this software. It still works but it is not as good as I expected.
Shop for the Computer Associates CA Internet Security Suite Plus 2008
Antivirus and Security similar to the Computer Associates CA Internet Security Suite Plus 2008
We recommend these Antivirus and Security for their similarities to the Computer Associates CA Internet Security Suite Plus 2008 in features, specs, ratings, and user interest.
 |
|
|
 |
|
Latest Prices » |
 |
|
|
 |
|
Latest Prices » |
 |
|
Latest Prices » |
 |
|
Latest Prices » |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
People who looked at the Computer Associates CA Internet Security Suite Plus 2008 also looked at:
Pricing
$8.95 - $49.99 From 4 Vendors Get Best Prices »
Start New Topic Don't see the answer to your question? Ask it here!
Featured APC Accessories
-
APC Back-UPS ES Safeguards your equipment from damaging surges and spikes that travel along your utility & data lines.
-
APC Smart-UPS Loaded with cutting-edge features, unique battery life predictor, unbeatable on-line efficiencies and software agents allowing remote UPS monitoring. Get 10% off your entire kart purchase!
