Kaspersky Pure 3.0 Total Security

Posted by DSW on February 1, 2014 in SOFTWARE & APPS

When it comes to anti-virus software there’s a variety of freely available digital bloodhounds out there, which come well equipped to sniff out malware lurking on a machine. For example, AVG AntiVirus Free 2014 is a no-frills, but nonetheless effective option that doesn’t hog system resources and slow a system down.

However, for those seeking a more comprehensive package of PC protection Kaspersky PURE 3.0 Total Security combines a potent ability to scan for and obliterate malware with a raft of additional security features.

A challenge of the modern digital landscape is the sheer volume of malware in circulation, combined with the polymorphic properties some of these nasty little programs possess – meaning they can change form and evolve over time. This in turn has meant that a signature-based approach to scanning a computer for “known suspects” based on a virus definition file has become less and less effective over the years.

Kaspersky PURE 3.0 goes beyond signature-based detection by employing a ‘dynamic heuristics analyzer’ to seek out malware. In a nutshell, this heuristics-based technique copies some of the code from a file or application being scanned to a secure virtual area where it won’t actually be run on the computer. It then mimics the code’s execution and watches for any suspicious actions. Files that exhibit sufficiently suspicious behaviour are then classed as malware and dealt with accordingly.

The package also provides serious bang for buck in other ways, including real-time cloud-based updates on threats as they are found on enrolled machines worldwide, a Safe Money feature that checks online banking sites are genuine and not spoof phishing sites, a vault feature for storing encrypting and storing files, a Password Manager and parental control functionality. These features are all controllable from an minimalist, easy-to-use interface.