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PC-Mag Review for Antiphishing Results 2014 vs 2015

  • November 20, 2014
  • 3 replies
  • 33 views

Hi,
I'm evaluating protection products and leaning toward WebRoot. I have a PC with a Pro Tools Rig and want something that will not degrade perfomance, and I also use the same PC for financial banking and stock broker sites. My biggest fear is going to the bank website and entering my login and having the site get hijacked to steal my password and then directing me to the real site and I never know it happened. I have no clue what the bad guys can or can't do - very little hacking knowledge.
 
If I understand correctly, this highjacking can be done using something called man-in-the-middle, or some other similar sounding technique, and the defense is having a product that has really good antiphishing capability.
 
In looking at the PC-Mag reviews, it appears that WebRoot SecureAnywhere Antivirus 2014 anitiphishing was 2% better than Norton, but the WebRoot SecureAnywhere Anitvirus 2015 antiphishing was 14% worse than Norton (PC Mag uses Norton as the benchmark). So, either Norton got better or WebRoot got worse. 
 
I wonder if anyone could please comment on the difference between 2014 and 2015, and to also tell me if the antiphishing capability is what I need to be looking to understand the type or protection I need to prevent hackers from getting my banking password.
 
I appreciate any comments or help. Thanks!

3 replies

nic
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  • Retired Webrooter
  • November 20, 2014
Thanks for the question.  While PC Mag’s test did show a drop for us in this past round of evaluation, our technology in this space has actually improved with the addition of our realtime antiphishing shield. With any test, there is a level of variation and we suspect the drop in performance was the result of an insufficient number of URL’s being included in the test.  WSA includes many layers of protection that aim to keep your private data secured.  You might be interested in this report which shows how our ID shield compares to Norton when it comes specifically to financial malware:
https://www.mrg-effitas.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Online-Banking-Certification-2014-Q2-report-Level-2.pdf
 
Please let me know if you have any other questions!

  • Author
  • New Voice
  • November 21, 2014
Hi Nic,
Many thanks for your reply. I read the report you provided and I'm impressed with how WSA aced all of the tests done by MRG. I also watched the YouTube videos linked from that report and I learned a bit more. I gotta say that the financial malware out there today seems to be getting quite effective, and I see it only getting progressvely more sophisticated.  
 
Anyway, I appreciate your time. As I said before, I was leaning toward WSA and your help has allowed me to feel more confident that WSA will provide what I need. 
 

nic
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  • Retired Webrooter
  • November 21, 2014
You're very welcome, and glad that helped cement the decision!  Please let us know if you have any questions as you start using the software.  We have many awesome folks here on the community who can assist you.