VIPRE Internet Security stands out with outstanding virus detection and performance, scoring well in AV-Comparatives real-world protection tests with no false positives and minimal impact to system performance.
MyVIPRE features an easy and straightforward layout that makes scheduling scans, checking definition updates and more a snap. However, it may not be clear how to delete scheduled scans immediately.
Virus Protection
VIPRE is one of the premier security software packages available, providing unparalleled virus protection with virtually no impact to system performance. VIPRE identifies, blocks and eliminates viruses faster than any other top program while having minimal effect on system resources.
VIPRE stands out among other top programs by employing a lighter engine than most, and also using cloud-enabled malware library detection times for faster malware detection times. Furthermore, its lightweight installation process and user-friendly interface makes VIPRE stand out as well.
The interface is relatively uncluttered and organized into MyVIPRE, Account, and Manage sections; Manage is used for accessing settings and configuring options, with MyVIPRE providing quick access. In Manage it’s also possible to change any options easily; though settings could have been easier accessible. There’s a good selection of scanning methods available as well, such as those for new or modified files; saving power by delaying updates/scheduled scans when not at your computer; keeping removable drives safe by scanning as they’re plugged in; plus automatic scanning them every time they’re plugged.
Once a virus is discovered, an antivirus program attempts to determine its threat level before quarantining or automatically deleting infected files if applicable; it may also allow manual deletion if needed.
Alongside its virus protection capabilities, this program also comes equipped with a firewall. While it performs an admirable job of blocking off malicious traffic, its level of intelligence falls short of that found in more advanced firewalls such as Bitdefender or NortonLifeLock. That being said, its Learning mode enables you to teach it what constitutes dangerous web activity; useful if you want to avoid having to approve every unknown request manually.
VIPRE’s other security features include Edge Protection, which prevents browser exploits from infecting your computer and can also hide sensitive documents that contain personal data like contracts and tax forms containing it. While I found this feature effective overall, I did have to manually mark certain documents as nonsensitive in order for this feature to work effectively.
Web Filtering
VIPRE Internet Security also features comprehensive web filtering features to assist organizations meet regulatory compliance and limit data leakage, as well as tailoring employee experiences with customized whitelists/blacklists/database customization and SSL decryption policies.
The interface is user-friendly and clearly organized into five sections: MyVipre, Updates, Email, Firewall and Privacy – with a handy dashboard showing status updates of these features.
VIPRE is designed to make configuring and customizing the program simple, enabling you to quickly adapt it to fit the way your system operates. Simply change definitions or detection algorithms as necessary – for instance identifying certain file types as suspicious if necessary – or set schedules so it scans for viruses at times and dates that fit with both work and personal life needs.
After running a virus scan, I was delighted to see it had caught most threats and sent them straight into quarantine. You can check what’s there and even mark certain items as safe so they wouldn’t get quarantined again in future scans.
AV-Test and BitDefender both found that VIPRE was effective at detecting viruses while having minimal negative impacts on computer performance compared to some competitors. Although VIPRE didn’t top the detection rates chart, it remains an excellent choice for most people and didn’t cause false alarms during testing.
However, I would have preferred a simpler process for managing quarantine and settings. It would have been useful if these functions had been combined into a single easy-to-navigate dashboard instead of having to switch between three separate pieces of software for each function. Overall though, the program is very straightforward and I recommend it for most users; plus its price makes it worthwhile if you’re searching for an antivirus/firewall/web filter solution!
Email Protection
VIPRE’s email protection services do a good job of keeping malicious links and attachments out of your inbox. With real-time threat intelligence and the industry’s premier malware sandbox to identify phishing attacks, polymorphic threats, weaponized attachments, and more – VIPRE makes sure in-transit emails contain only safe attachments by scanning them against known phishing URLs rescanned during transit emails; while its personal protection feature rewrites URLs in messages to stop users clicking dangerous links when browsing in an email exchange or when shopping online phishing scams have occurred.
VIPRE’s firewall does a solid job blocking out unwanted traffic, but lacks some of the intelligence found in top competitors. This becomes especially evident when using Learning mode – you must manually decide whether or not to approve new processes that have yet to be identified by VIPRE. This process may prove tedious for advanced users who require fine-tuning of settings.
VIPRE’s antiphishing functionality is powerful, but requires some setup to function effectively. To activate it, specify which email clients the software should monitor for both incoming and outgoing traffic; additionally, port values need to be set correctly for them. Once enabled, VIPRE will start scanning for potential phishing attacks automatically, with pop-up windows alerting users if it detects one and asking whether you would like to report it as phishing email.
Another useful feature is its capability of scanning for and hiding sensitive documents, helping prevent identity theft by keeping hackers at bay by safeguarding sensitive documents such as addresses, credit card numbers and signatures that could otherwise be vulnerable. It does this by scanning PC files containing such sensitive data as addresses, credit card numbers and signatures and then securely storing those files.
VIPRE’s website boasts both a knowledge base and user forum; both provide useful resources for finding how-to guides and answering common queries; however, they don’t compare as extensively to what’s offered by some competing products we reviewed.
File Eraser
VIPRE Internet Security’s File Eraser feature can effectively delete deleted files from your hard drive by overwriting them with random data multiple times – this makes it nearly impossible for third parties to recover them and serves as an excellent preventative measure when selling or gifting away computers. This feature should be considered essential when selling or giving away computers as it protects their information while remaining user-friendly.
Though this program doesn’t boast all of the same features found in other antivirus software, it offers a worthy set of tools that include a secure file eraser that writes 1s and 0s over deleted data, an advanced history cleaner, a system scanner to expose hidden processes, lightweight use that requires very minimal CPU power consumption – perfect for computers with limited memory or older hardware.
Cloud-based security of this software communicates with an online virus database to keep its threat listings current. Web protection prevents access to malicious websites and blocks ransomware (computer software that locks files until an extortion fee is paid), while email filtering removes spam, phishing emails and malicious attachments; social watch modules scan personal profiles for unsecured login credentials that need deleting; as well as providing email protection with spam/phishing filtering technology for email delivery.
VIPRE performed admirably in our tests, detecting and blocking 100% of malware threats – matching up with top competitors like Norton and Bitdefender. VIPRE’s web protection feature used a blacklist of known harmful sites to block nearly all attempts at accessing these pages, outperforming competitors that merely use whitelists of trusted sites.
Full scan took quite some time, yet only consumed 17% of CPU resources – leaving plenty of room for other programs and tasks. There is also a quick scan option which works much faster; additionally, multiple data sets – like clearing free space or wiping disks- can be scheduled at once to run simultaneously.
This program offers customer assistance via phone, email, FAQs and user forum. Phone support is offered in the US, Canada and six European nations; however users may experience long wait times due to rising call volumes.
