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Kamis, 23 Juni 2011
The set of instruments amassed in Panda Global Protection 2012 are split into three main modules. One of them deals with protecting the system and private information on it while another encompasses system maintenance tools. The purpose of the third one is to keep you informed of the last update’s time and date.
Installation is not too different from what we’ve experienced last year with 2011 version of Global Protection. You have to choose the components you want on your system: firewall, identity protection, Anti-spam, Parental controls, Backup and system optimization module. Next there is a screen requiring you to choose between the default firewall in Windows and the one provided by Panda.
Two more screens follow, one that allows you to avoid receiving firewall messages every time a known program accesses the Internet, and one where you get to enable information about viruses to be sent to Panda totally anonymously. The final step is actually a requirement to restart the system so that the firewall becomes active.
Priced at $71.99, Panda Global Protection 2012 has not changed much since the previous edition, interface-wise. Looks have been affected only by minor interventions, such as squaring up the corners or smoothing the lines in the application window.
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Antivirus
Just like in the previous edition of the suite, Antivirus does not rely on signatures alone, but engages engines capable to recognize threats through behavioral analysis or in depth checking of their code (heuristic scan). This leads to higher detection rate, hence better protection.
Malware detection also relies on Panda’s cloud-based Collective Intelligence technology. It contributes to increased protection level as well as improved system performance during scans.
We noticed that the security layers of the antivirus function a bit weird since working with “unknown threats” detection off (which means no TruPrevent and heuristics) still showed heuristic scan alerts. For the simple test we conducted we used a file that was flagged by the heuristic scan as suspicious. With detection of “unknown threats” off we still received a message from the heuristic engine saying that the file was suspicious and sent to quarantine.
When we reversed the situation, detection of “known threats” turned off and enabled TruPrevent and heuristics, the file was no longer picked up by the antivirus as it normally should have been.
Still on the odd side of things, you benefit from an exclusion list only for the signature-based detection. The downside of this is that we could not launch any of the false positives without turning off “unknown threats” detection, which reduces overall system protection significantly until you re-enable the security layer.
As far as our on-demand scan tests go, despite small database used, only 370 samples, the results were pretty good. The detection rate was pretty high straight from the start, 22 misses bringing it to 94%. Out of the 348 malware samples left it managed to remove 313. The difference of 35 threats that were detected but not removed from the system was dumped to quarantine the moment they were unzipped. Also, most of the 22 misses were decimated once we launched them and TruPrevent kicked in.
The stress on computer resources during the scan tests was quite low, with insignificant RAM and CPU usage. We experienced CPU load peaking around 63%, but turning “CPU load management” function on made sure that other processes are not cut off the juice during scans. Thus, processor power taken up by the scan would decrease whenever other applications would require some juice.
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Firewall
This is a basic tool, more advanced than the default solution provided by Windows, but less effective than standalone products such as Online Armor. The configuration panel is user-friendly with clear indications on what the settings do.
During our tests we noticed that it is not too effective. It would warn on connections of unknown programs and give us the chance to set a rule for them, but we noticed that if no action is taken the firewall would take a decision on its own; in our case it was to allow outbound communication. Also, upon detecting the connection this would not be interrupted on the spot and wait for the decision of the user.
Moreover, our tests indicated that it works against methods commonly used by malware writers, but it is vulnerable to more elaborated attacks such as modifying AppinitDlls or sending info over the Internet using Windows DNS APIs.
Identity Protection
This module is designed mainly to identify confidential information and stop it from being transmitted. But its purpose is not limited to this as you can also make settings to block phishing websites or the use of unauthorized phone numbers for dial-up connections.
As far as monitoring confidential information leaks are concerned, Panda GP’s identity protection can handle any sort of data, from passwords, email addresses, PINs, bank account numbers, postal addresses and social security numbers to names or credit card information.
Each time you try to send private information Identity Protection module is instructed to monitor you will receive a message asking for permission. This happens with searches, logging into accounts or sending the details through instant messaging software.
The blocking works great as long as you do not use an encrypted connection. During our testing we received leakege alerts even when sensitive info was available in attachments, on a regular connection. Also, details pushed through instant messengers (Yahoo! and Microsoft’s) would be picked up by Panda and we’d be asked to let the message through or not.
However, switching to HTTP Secure (https://), Google’s emailing service or Facebook for instance, we were able to communicate confidential information with no problems.
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Anti-spam filter
There aren’t too many changes in this area since last year, but recent improvements count support for both POP3 and IMAP protocols. The filter should pretty much work on its own, with little intervention from the user.
Full support for modern email clients such as Thunderbird and Outlook 2010 is still not available in this edition of Panda Global Protection and SSL traffic in these clients is not analyzed. On the other hand, in Outlook, Outlook Express and Windows Mail you have buttons to classify messages as spam or valid; for the other clients there should be a link at the bottom of the message allowing reclassification.
Just like in the previous edition, the anti-spam filter labels spam in the subject line and it is up to you to create a message rule in the client to direct them to a specific folder.
The developer said that they'll release a hotfix that improves integration as soon as possible.
Parental Control
It deals strictly with online content and allows you to deny access to specific web pages or websites with particular content. There are four default filters at your disposal, preset for kids, teens or employees. You can also impose your own restrictions and personalize the filtering by choosing the content type that should not be displayed.
The list of categories is comprehensive and ranges from harmless subjects like business, culture, job search or news and forums to explicit content, offensive, weapons or security; each of these come with more specific sub-categories to pick from.
The results of our tests showed that the filtering works, but for someone who really wants to bypass it there isn’t too much of a challenge, especially when information is at your disposal as video and images, not only text.
Whitelisting and blacklisting gives you the possibility to filter specific pages; e.g, restricting www.google.com does not prevent http://www.google.com/search?q=search+query from working. So unless you need specific restrictions per page block.
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Apart from the entries available under Protection module, Panda Global Protection 2012 brings is a set of security measures against distinctive malicious attacks. Thus, at the bottom of the main application window you’ll see options for starting USB Vaccine, Safe Browser or Virtual Keyboard.
The first two tools are actually not included in the bundle by default and clicking on them for the first time you’ll be prompted to download and install them individually.
USB Vaccine is designed to eliminate the autorun vulnerability on removable media, thus preventing malware from auto-executing. It is a simple solution that gets the job done with no effort from the user.
Panda’s response to sandboxing and offering the users a safe, virtual environment for financial transaction is Safe Browser. The application does not come with Global Protection bundle and the first click on the option prompts you to download and install it. Furthermore, since it is actually VirtualBox, the license allows using it for personal use only (as per VirtualBox Licensing FAQ, personal use means that you can also use the software in corporate environment).
So what you get is VirtualBox with a custom Linux operating system and Firefox web browser to make your browsing safe and secure. Everything move you make in this environment is discarded the moment you close the machine. If you want to save a snapshot of the machine's state at the next run you’ll bump into an error so ugly you’ll be forced to discard all the changes and start anew.
Although it is not too elegant of a solution, Safe Browser reaches its purpose and it really protects your privacy because nothing is recorded and the virtual machine starts from scratch every time you launch it.
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The Good
Despite being a full security suite Panda Global Protection is easy to handle. All the menus have been carefully laid out for easy access.
The antivirus managed to cut through almost all the malware we put it against. Thanks to CPU load management and Collective Intelligence technology system resources were allotted according to process priority.
“Reports” section offers detailed statistics regarding malware encounter, deflected network attacks or blocked web pages.
Additional functionality in the bundle is brought by its ability to encrypt and decrypt data, as well as erase it beyond recovery.
The Bad
In our case, disabling protection for unknown threats still caused threats to be flagged by the heuristics engine or TruPrevent. We could not place false positives detected by these security layers in an exclusion list.
The firewall is not too strong and does not suspend a suspicious connection the moment it detects it; also, during our tests it showed it cannot block or detect more elaborated attacks.
Anti-spam filtering does not work on Thunderbird and Outlook 2010 with an encrypted connection (SSL).
The Truth
As far as detection and elimination rate are concerned Panda Global Protection 2012 is a really great product. It may not be the fastest, but it is definitely a helpful ally in keeping malware at bay.
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