ESET Smart Security 4.2 is another free antivirus similar to Avast Internet Security and Forticlient, in that it provides award winning antivirus, firewall, anti spam etc. all in one package. Some of the features that allow ESET Smart Security to stand out are its centrally managed features for businesses, support for Rescue Disks, and a highly customizable firewall. The antivirus has 2 versions, one for the consumer and one for the business environment. The software also comes in 32bit and 64bit variants.
Installation:
The installation file was only 39 megabytes which is on the small side for free antivirus and internet security software.
The installation was very smooth and polished. Smart Security 4.2 has 2 installation options automatic and customized. The customized open allows you to tweak the programs update settings and even create a password to protect the program’s modification from unauthorized users. I also like the Threat Sense.net (or submit a file to ESET) customization options. This is a new trend in the antivirus industry in which viruses or suspicious files are collected from users’ computers and submitted to antivirus companies for analysis. For example, with Microsoft Security Essentials, the program’s Spynet only gives you the option to submit everything (including identifiable information about your computer) or nothing. However, with ESET Smart Security you can customize what information is sent, ask for a confirmation when a file is sent, and include or exclude statistics etc. The customizability is a great functionality because it will ensure your private files don’t leave your computer at anytime.
The installation also allows you to turn on heuristic based detection and customize how the firewall functions including, automatic, interactive, policy, or learning modes. The automatic mode relies on predefined firewall rules only (similar to Avast internet security). The interactive mode allows the user to modify and confirm predefined firewall rules. The policy mode is based upon the network administrator’s policies. Finally, the learning mode only takes into account how a user uses their own computer and builds a rules list based on the activity with yes or no dialog boxes (similar to Forticlient firewall. Generally, this is the annoying way).
Features:
After the installation completed, the program immediately checked and updated virus signatures.
Smart Security has two interfaces a basic and an advanced. The advanced mode really adds a lot of menus and the software provides a huge amount of features.
The first feature that caught my eye, was the inclusion of the rescue disk functionality. ESET Smart Security will help you install the Windows AIK (Windows PE) and put it on a cd/dvd or USB flash drive. I have never seen this level of automation in a free antivirus software. This will help a user whose computer has been disabled to completely restore functionality. Smart Security also includes a SysInspector system snapshot which will save all of the current computer settings for restore at a later time. My only pet peeve about this entire process is that it’s not automatically included or explained on the first startup. I feel that most users won’t dig into the software like this, so it would be nice to at least prompt the user about these features.
The ESET Smart Security 4.2 includes a ton of antivirus and antispyware detection capabilities. The real-time shield can detect viruses even on computer shutdown. The software can also scan local and networked drives. All of this can be heavily optimized and customized down to even which USB ports are scanned. I am not kidding; you can actually configure what USB ports on your computer have heuristic virus detection activated on them. See the screen shot below.
The Smart Security firewall literally seems like it came out of a corporate antivirus package. In the advanced configuration, the firewall includes a ton of IDS (intrusion detection system) based rules that will automatically detect suspicious internet activity such as worms, Trojans, or other malicious activity. The firewall will also monitor malicious modification of important network files (svchost.exe etc.) to ensure safe internet access.
ESET Smart Security also includes document protection which will ensure that important documents won’t get affected by viruses.
ESET includes antispam and email virus scanning functionality. The antispam engine is again kind of vague at how it detects and handles spam messages. But, you can setup a whitelist to ensure important emails aren’t quarantined.
Resource Usage and Scanning:
The only problem with ESET Smart Security 4.2 is that it’s a little bit heavy on the memory usage. The program uses 46 megabytes when idle which eclipses many of its competitors. ESET also uses 6 megabytes for the menus that are displayed. Interestingly, when a virus scan is started the program doesn’t really increase its memory usage; it stays around 50 megabytes. This means that the software is still on par with other free antivirus programs when actively scanning.
ESET Smart Security includes two scanning options a Normal and a Smart Scan. I hate to say it, but the Smart Scan is not quick at all. I have already been waiting for 10 minutes and the virus scan progress is still at 26 percent. Update: the Smart Scan took about 40 minutes. The scan also used at least 50 percent of CPU power during the scan, even on a dual core CPU with a 4 MB cache. This is in contrast to Prevx’s 1 minute and 39 second virus scan and minimal CPU usage.
The smart scan is significantly slower than competing products including PC Tool antivirus. Smart Security 4.2 just takes a while to look at each file. So, it would be hard to run a scan on every startup.
Regardless, I like the option to move the scan to a background process. This means that a virus scan, while slow, will not detrimentally affect normal computer operation.
ESET is certified by all major antivirus testing outfits including VB100 and Westcoast labs. This will ensure that the software can detect and remove viruses. I have also seen a lot of positive user reviews on the software.
Conclusion:
ESET Smart Security is one of the programs that you really need to download and install for yourself. The free antivirus has hundreds features and customizable options.
Download ESET Smart Security 4.2 Beta HERE.
