by Network Associates
Platform:
Windows NT / 98 / 2000 / Me / 95, Mac, Linux, Unix
(3)Buy new: $27.99
11 used & new from $2.94
(Visit the Bestsellers in Networking list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)
The Web is full of cynics, and for good reason. Privacy and security are always under some new threat. There are tools that can lower your risks. McAfee Consumer Products’ Internet Guard Dog Pro 3.0 is one such suite. The program is actually three safeguarding products in one box—Guard Dog, VirusScan, and WebView—that protect your privacy and data from attack.
When you first insert the program CD, you can choose to install one or all of the programs; I installed all three. The installation takes a few minutes, and once installed, you’re led through each of the programs. I got started right away with Guard Dog, which acts as a sentinel for anyone who uses your PC to access the Web. I set myself up as the administrator -- meaning I’d be the only one that can make changes to the program -- added two fake accounts to the program, and got ready to play. As an administrator, I was able to view all of the activities of each of the program’s users, including where and when they surfed. I could also set limits to everyone’s surfing, blocking access to specific sites or genres.
The program also acts as a cookie blocker and Web trail cleaner, if you desire to use these features. Of course, since I’m a privacy hound, I liked the cookie finder option. I found that I had more than 350 cookies on my drive, most of which were for sites that were not bookmarked or frequently visited and I was able to wipe one or all of them out at once. From previous experience using cookie programs, I knew that this program would be more useful to me as a cleaning program than as an alert program. Having any application ask if you want to accept cookies on the fly can be an exercise in futility -- in my experience, each page on the Web can have up to ten cookies apiece.
The Web Trail Cleaner, which removes things such as cached Web files and URLs from your browser, is another useful tool. I also liked the program’s Identity Protector--part of Security Check—that alerts you whenever a piece of your financial information is disclosed, including credit card numbers. When you first launch this feature, it goes through your entire hard drive to check and see if any of the information you want blocked is sitting there unprotected. After that, you’re all set. Whenever the program sees any of the selected information heading out onto the Web, it alerts you and asks your permission first. Unless you approve, the information is stopped dead in its tracks. This is especially useful for parents who don’t want children giving out data such as names and addresses; only the administrator has the ability to overrule and let this information go. I also liked that the program can “see” deleted files that are still hanging around your PC and completely remove them for you.
I was most excited to use the Password Manager since I have more than ten free e-mail accounts and tons of password-protected sites that I visit. This feature is designed to keep track of all your login names and passwords in one location so you don’t have to remember them. I had a little problem with this feature. I have, for example, more than one Hotmail account and when I tried to enter all of the names and passwords into the Guard Dog function, I was told I had already entered a Hotmail account.
The 3.0 version of the program that I reviewed has a few new features. Most importantly, McAfee VirusScan is now included with the package; and the Pro version that I also looked at has McAfee’s Firewall bundled in. I was already using the VirusScan program via the company’s McAfee.com portal, and using the boxed version was no different. The program lets you scan one file or your entire hard drive and can be updated live via the Web, a nice touch. Once the program finds an infected file, it can clean or repair it with little fuss.
The Firewall program, which was version 2.1, is a little more difficult to use, simply because you need to make configuration decisions that aren’t obvious to the casual user. For example, after the program is installed, any time you try to launch an application that accesses the Internet, you’ll be prompted to decide if you want to allow access. You can avoid these prompts by allowing access for the programs you use often when you’re setting up the program. However, someone might not understand the repercussions of allowing all access for a particular kind of program, such as an FTP program.
Overall, the program’s $49 price tag is low enough so that most people will get plenty of use out of Internet Guard Dog Pro. No bones about it.