CA Internet Security Suite Plus 2009 review (5-Users, Box Set, Download)

There are also Internet Threat Reports, but you have to go get them, since they're not offered on the interface.

We didn't like the antiphishing feature. In both Internet Explorer and Firefox, the browser's own phishing filter caught the page before the paid security suite. Clicking on the page anyway, we noticed a red line at the top of the phishing page. As surveys have shown, if the user isn't knocked over the head with a warning, they'll continue to use the site. Really? A thin red line? In Internet Explorer, it looked like an Active X message or some other alert that could be ignored. CA should block the page and warn the user instead.

Performance
CA Internet Security Suite 2009 scored poorly in CNET Labs' performance tests and in third-party, independent antivirus testing using live viruses. On the CNET iTunes test, CA Internet Security Suite 2009 came in a bit slow at 276 seconds (most scores were 271 seconds). On the CNET Microsoft Office test, CA Internet Security Suite 2009 came in about average at 1,473 seconds (most of the others were near this time). In a test scanning a single folder with compressed and media files, CA Internet Security Suite 2009 finished in dead last at 550 seconds (most scores were around 175 seconds this year). In boot speed, CA Internet Security Suite 2009 came in dead last with the worst time of 46.7 seconds, 15 seconds more than the fastest, McAfee Internet Security 2009.

To find out how we test antivirus software, see CNET Labs' How we test: Antivirus software page.

In terms of protecting your PC, we refer readers to two leading independent antivirus testing organizations. CA Internet Security Suite was not tested by AV-Comparatives.org. AV-test.org did test CA Internet Security Suite 2008 in September 2008 and gave it a 65 score for detecting malicious software accuracy (one of the lowest ratings of the dozen or so products tested).

Support
CA provides better support than the competition. There's a Flash-based Getting Started tour that's worth seeing. There's an automated help support technician known as "Casey" to walk you through a problem, online chat, a new community forum, e-mail, and telephone support at $19.95 per incident (Norton and Trend Micro offer free telephone support, however).

Conclusion
We wish we could recommend this product, but we cannot. Given that nearly every other product in the market sped up this year, we can't understand why CA appeared to slow down; the sluggishness is unacceptable. Overall, we'll pass on this Internet security suite and direct your attention to the faster Norton Internet Security 2009 or McAfee Internet Security 2009 instead.