- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Windows XP/2003/Vista/Server 2008/7
- Date added: January 20, 2010
- Total Downloads: 1,879,488
- Downloads last week: 35,478
- See full specifications
- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 336 votes
See all user reviews
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: Seth Rosenblatt on November 23, 2009
ThreatFire offers real-time prevention of virus and malware infections by identifying suspicious behavior ("zero-day" events) as it happens, before malicious code installs itself on your PC. Since PC Tools--formerly known as CyberHawk--bought the program, it has made some dramatic and noticeable feature improvements.
ThreatFire seeks out rootkits, heuristics-based threats, viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware, adware, keyloggers, and buffer overflows. The software real-time protection didn't noticeably slow down our computer, and the customizable advanced settings were excellent. Users can pick and choose their preferred trusted processes and create rules for detection, such as scanning for SCR files created by an e-mail client. You can also avail yourself of the scheduler, and create a system restore point before moving threats into quarantine. The IntelliScan took about 15 minutes on our machine, but it didn't lock us into scanning mode. We were still able to check out other panes in the ThreatFire interface.
The only problem encountered was that occasionally, threats would be detected but without a name label. This made it hard to determine if they were genuine or false positives. ThreatFire has improved markedly, though, and working as a complement to your currently-installed antivirus it should be considered a serious protection tool.
Publisher's description
From PC Tools :Traditional antivirus solutions cannot protect you until after they have discovered a new threat and produced a signature to counter it. ThreatFire does not rely on signatures, but instead provides behavior-based protection. It is designed to be used alongside your existing antivirus software and it fills the gap in protection between your antivirus signature updates. ThreatFire protects you against major security threats including viruses, worms, trojans, rootkits and even some spyware. Its advanced ActiveDefense technology intelligently analyzes the behavior of processes and programs on a system and immediately halts any malicious action. It continuously monitors all activities on your PC at a very low system level and uses a proprietary combination of analytics, risk algorithms, program histories and tolerance thresholds to identify and shut down threats so you are always protected, no matter how new the threat. ThreatFire is easy to use, instantly effective, and very light on system resources.
What's new in this version:
Version 4.7.0.17 includes various compatibility and malware detection fixes.More popular Antivirus Software downloads
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User reviews
- Average user rating: 3.2 stars out of 336 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 15 user reviewsSee all 15 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: ThreatFire AntiVirus Free Edition 4.7.0.17
Pros: Easy to use runs in the background would never know its there.
Cons: Have no cons
Summary: Good extra bit of free security
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Version: ThreatFire AntiVirus Free Edition 4.7.0.17
"An excellent tool to feel safe while using your pc."
Pros: Very sensible.
programed scanner which makes it reliable with thw two types of scanning processes. adjustable personal configurations which give you exactly the protection you need.Cons: It's kind of slow while scanning which I think might be improvedand if you switch it to the highest sensibility, it really anoys you with so many unneeded pop- ups.
Summary: It's , in a few wodrs and excellent and well developed tool, but still can be improved.
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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: ThreatFire AntiVirus Free Edition 4.7.0.17
"Will work if you pay attention !!!"
Pros: Installs very easy, won't bug the h*ll out of you and is very reliable ...
Cons: Pay close attention to it for a few days to make sure it really works with your other installed AV...
Summary: I installed the free version with the new Avast 5 and within a few days started noticing a few problems that I could not correct (most often lags in opening files and the AV shutting itself down for no reason)... I then ditched Avast and installed t... read more >>
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Version: ThreatFire AntiVirus Free Edition 4.7.0.17
Pros: Works well. Good interface
Cons: None yet found
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1 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Version: ThreatFire AntiVirus Free Edition 4.7.0.17
"This app is claimed to run together with a main anti-v"
Pros: Once I discovered what was causing my problems, I didn't like anything about it and promptly uninstalled it.
Cons: It slowed my sytem down noticeably.
Summary: I only discovered what was causing this after I'd contacted Avast! (my main antivirus) to ask why it kept telling me to register with them even though I'd already been through that process three times. I also mentioned my installation of Threatfire,... read more >>
- See all 15 user reviews Write review
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