VIPRE Internet Security 2013

By Neil J. Rubenking

User interface trends in the security suite business come and go. This year the big influence is Windows 8, with its flat, matte style. VIPRE Internet Security 2013 has adopted that style throughout, getting rid of last year's 3D buttons. The change is only skin-deep, though. Everything I didn't like about last year's edition is still present.

On the plus side, if you have a house full of computers, GFI's "home site license" is quite a bargain. For $69.99 you can install the suite on every PC in your household, up to ten of them. Given that most vendors charge roughly that price for a three-license pack, GFI seems quite generous.

Antivirus Drama

With one small exception that I'll dig into later, this suite's antivirus protection is identical to that of VIPRE Antivirus 2013. Do please read that review to get all the details. I'll summarize results here.

The independent testing labs all pay attention to VIPRE, but few give it high marks. In three important tests, AV-Comparatives assigned VIPRE the rating STANDARD, the lowest passing rating. In one recent certification test by AV-Test, VIPRE squeaked past with 11.5 of 18 possible points, just a half-point above the minimum. See the chart below for a summary of recent results. The article How We Interpret Antivirus Lab Tests offers more detail about the labs themselves.

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