Trustport usb antivirus 2013 review

Users can scan system applications, external storage volumes, or even the whole phone including the external volumes. An extensive settings screen provides a wide selection of choices for how to configure the scan.

In addition, users are able to turn on scanning of system applications. Users can also configure a check for virus database updates after a certain number of days or after a certain period following startup.

To control data costs, when the phone is in roaming mode, updates are disabled by default. Nevertheless, the tool correctly identified a test of a sample virus and user reports frequently cite the thorough nature of its scans. Mobile Security also syncs up with TrustPort Mobile Security Web Control , an online dashboard for sending remote commands to the device. Although this required registering an online account and selecting which remote commands to enable on the handset, it features a recent activity log and list of devices associated with the account.

By knowing their login password and phone number, users can also send remote commands to their device from other handsets running the program. Mobile Security features two additional tools besides the virus scanner: an application manager and an incoming and outgoing call filter. The application manager provides an in-depth overview of all currently installed apps and the individual permissions that each app has been granted. Users can also search through the list of apps according to granted permissions.

This is a great way to diagnose an app that is misbehaving. Each permission also contains a handy description to guide users in the identification process. Finally, under running services, users can see a complete list of all currently running background processes on the phone. This is the closest thing to the Windows Task Manager that I have come across in an Android antivirus, so far, and gives users control over what they allow to run on their phone.

This process checks a file for what it should look like but if it appears suspicious, will be targeted for disinfection, removal or quarantine.

USB and external drives are immediately detected and scanned. These products are available as free downloads and as stand alone solutions. AVG and Bit Defender are well known for virus protection as free downloads from other software developers.

Because this software supports server platforms, the Advanced Settings menu option configures the program to support and configure any proxy servers installed. Free technical support is offered to all customers: via the internet, E-mail hot-line, Help Desk system. Antivirus Sphere added five background processes to our test PC. That's more than usual, but they used a minimal MB RAM and few other system resources, and we didn't see any significant performance impact on our system during the review.

Some of the files weren't digitally signed, mostly from Bitdefender, and a few of them had surprisingly old copyright dates. This doesn't necessarily indicate any problems, but it does leave us a little concerned. If a antivirus includes a file which claims to be Bitdefender's Console Scanner, but it's unsigned and dated , is that really giving you the best protection you can get? There was better news when we checked TrustPort's self-defense capabilities. Security tools which use third-party engines sometimes fail to protect their files properly, leaving them open to malware attack, but that wasn't a problem here.

We spent some time trying to delete files, stop services, edit Registry keys and more, but TrustPort brushed off our hacking efforts and system protection wasn't affected at any time. TrustPort Antivirus Sphere's simplicity has one immediately obvious advantage: a very clear and straightforward interface. It's essentially a toolbar featuring just five large buttons, with only one of those — Scan Now — that you'll use on a regular basis.

That's reasonable, but there's no way to set up custom scan types or to tweak scan settings beyond choosing a location. You can also scan files or folders from File Explorer by right-clicking and selecting the Scan option. Unlike some of the competition, TrustPort handles simultaneous scans with ease: you can launch a full system scan, then scan multiple other files from Explorer, and have several Antivirus Sphere windows open simultaneously with their own individual progress reports.

It's reasonable to display a warning when the program starts, or maybe once a day, but this level of nagging isn't something we'd expect from a professional developer. Once they're running, the scans can be very thorough.

Scan an executable from Explorer, for instance, and Antivirus Sphere doesn't check that file alone. It also examines memory and running processes, helping the program spot companion threats or anything else that might be shielding the target. Two buttons serve to toggle the on-access scanner and behavior-based Application Inspector on or off. Another launches a check for updates. Clicking the remaining button brings up a menu of choices for an on-demand malware scan.

Setting-tweakers need not despair. Clicking "Open advanced configuration" brings up a dialog of advanced settings with almost exactly the same layout as that of the previous edition. Oh, the color scheme is different, but everything's in roughly the same place.

I solved both of these by creating a bootable TrustPort rescue CD on a clean system. After a full scan using the bootable antivirus, I had no trouble finalizing installation of the regular antivirus.

For testing, I absolutely wanted all three engines active. However, my virtual machine test systems necessarily have a limited amount of RAM and disk space.