I have been a happy and satisfied McAfee Internet Security Suite user for the past 12+ years on several desktop and lately laptop computers at home. I have written in this blog about anti-virus software, anti-phishing softare, and the need for consumers to keep the anti-virus software on their home computer current. I do.
Given this, I was concerned to read in the June 2011 issue of Consumer Reports magazine about an extremely low rating of the McAfee Internet Security 2011 software. The 31-point rating was far below the 65-point rating of BitDefender. This low rating was the opposite of my experience with the McAfee anti-virus software. I really like and use heavily the McAfee SiteAdvisor browser plugin.
So, I wrote to McAfee asking them what they thought of this low rating by Consumer Reports, and their plans to address it. I received this reply via e-mail:
"From: McAfee NA Customer Service
Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2011 8:43 PM
Subject: RE: McAfee Customer Service - SR-xxxxxxxxx
Dear George,
Thank you for contacting McAfee Customer Service. I understand that you are disappointed with the McAfee ratings that has provided by Consumer Reports magazine.
George, I would like to inform you that the results in the area of virus and firewall protection in this one particular review, are disappointing to us as we always strive to earn top ratings and therefore the rankings for our various products.
However, the review results are a direct opposite of the test results shown in reviews performed across the top anti-malware vendors by other testing organizations like NSS Labs and AV-Comparatives. Also, the article in Consumer Reports shows nothing more than an overview chart of ‘their findings’ and it is not clear how the various products were specifically tested by Consumer Reports.
In spite of this, let me assure you that McAfee takes this test seriously and remains dedicated to further improving threat detection. In doing so, we are continually working to enhance our malware detection processes including through our Global Threat Intelligence, and through our company-wide Trust & Safety Initiative. Please be confident that McAfee remains relentlessly focused on security.
You may also contact us by phone by dialing 1-866-622-3911. Our business hours are from 8 am to 8 pm CST, daily. xxxxxxxxx is the Service Request number for this issue. You can quote this number in your further contacts. For all your future Service and Support needs, please visit http://service.mcafee.com. Thank you for contacting McAfee Customer support!
Sincerely,
Rengarajan K.
McAfee Customer Service-Tier 1
PC World reviewed McAfee Internet Security 2011 and rated it 3.5 of 5 stars. A prior blog post discussed some of NSS Lab's findings. I revisited the NSS Labs website and downloaded the Q3 2010 NSS Labs review of consumer anti-malware products. NSS Labs rated McAfee Internet Security highly on several measures, and recommended it plus two other products. You can download the NSS review for free (PDF).
I plan to continue using McAfee software and will watch for more test results by other independent labs.
What anti-virus software do you use/ Why?
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