Avast Internet Security 2014

Editors' review

by: Eddie Cho on April 25, 2014

Pros

Noninvasive: Avast does what it can to stay out of your way while it runs scans on your machine. As with the Free and Pro versions, Avast Internet Security enlists its community of users to whitelist Web sites and alert you to suspicious or untrustworthy places via Community IQ. Avast also includes Do Not Track integration in its browser add-on.

Streamlined design: The design is exactly like that of the Free and Pro versions. Avast's security center is pleasant to use, with basic animations, minimal pop-out menus, and reduced clutter.

Features: Internet Security gives users an additional firewall to help fight off hacker attacks, a feature that's not available in the Pro and Free versions. Avast also throws in its own VPN service. Though these aren't features that greatly impact the overall user experience of Avast, they are a nice benefit, considering the respectable asking price.

Cons

Average security: Since its release, Avast has seen mixed results in security performance, settling at above average. A recent AV-Comparatives report lists Avast at the near-bottom of the false-positive test list. Based on the report, Avast detected about 97.7 percent of out-of-the-box malware that Microsoft usually provides.

Bottom Line

Avast Internet Security is relatively high in security efficacy. But its greatest value lies in a robust feature set and clean design, with minimal impact on system performance.