Trend Micro Maximum Security for Windows

Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security is the second-highest antivirus offering from Trend Micro. In addition to a robust malware scanner, Titanium Maximum Security offers a built-in password manager, an in-app Web browser, and a packaged set of tools for protecting and managing your Android device. This review focuses on desktop performance.

Pros

Design: Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security shares the same interface as its lesser brothers, the Antivirus and Internet Security editions. The interface has a clean, organized menu layout. Tabs have nice mouseover effects, and the overall app has a modern feel and original visual direction. Though not exactly minimal, Titanium Maximum Security's five-tab header layout feels uncluttered and easy to navigate.

Scanning: One option we appreciate is the ability to shut down the PC after finishing a scan. This is present during the scanning process, so you don't have to dig through menus. That's great, because we often want to shut down after running long tests, especially full scans -- this way you can initiate overnight scanning and go to bed. Though full scans are naturally longer, we found the quick scan especially fast and responsive.

Security: Trend Micro quickly responds to security vulnerabilities and automatically removes suspected Trojan horses and malicious files. When we plugged in an infected disk, Titanium Maximum Security quickly deleted the file and displayed a notification from the taskbar with assuring language. Third-party tester AV-Test confirms Titanium Maximum Security's effective protection: It scored a perfect 100 for protection in malware scanning and beating industry averages.

Cons

Default toolbar installation: Titanium Maximum Security installs a toolbar in popular browsers like Chrome and Firefox without opt-in or -out during installation. Though that practice is common, it's annoying, and you may be caught by surprise. Luckily, uninstallation is as simple as unchecking the box in the settings panel.

Aggressive: Titanium Maximum Security sometimes considers certain legitimate programs to be malicious and prevents them from running, taking a "better safe than sorry" approach. Quitting notifications individually can be a chore, though you can switch out this behavior in the settings menu.

Bottom Line

Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security combines good design with excellent malware protection. Apart from a few quirks, it demonstrates a nice balance of considerate features, and it really shines in up-to-date security, with the numbers to prove it.

• Our cloud-based AI technology delivers highly effective and proactive protection against ever-evolving malware infections. You can depend on Trend Micro to defend against known and never-before-seen attacks, keeping you ahead of the rapidly changing threat landscape.
• PayGuard--a protected web browser that adds an extra layer of protection when banking or shopping online.
• Anti-ransomware technology using Folder Shield that safeguards your valuable files and digital assets both locally and on cloud-synced folders like Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive.