One of the top brands in the antivirus market since its inception, Mcafee Antivirus quickly rose to heights in the late 90’s as the most proficient antivirus software available. Currently owned by Intel Security Group, Mcafee antivirus products are still a powerhouse in the market, banking on almost 30 years of experience offering PC protection products.
It cannot be denied that McAfee has a lot to offer in the cyber protection world, from protecting mobile phones to safeguarding large organization server bases, but what can they do for you, the person reading this article, when it comes to protecting computers, and should you give them a try?
Why Choose McAfee Internet Security?
Mcafee is filled with great features, from safely storing passwords to permanent deletion of sensitive files. In terms of the basic functionality, McAfee antivirus products continue to score well with comparative organizations. In a recent test from AVTEST, the latest McAfee product picked up 98.1% of new malware samples and 99.9% of the existing malware samples, (industry average of 97% and 99% respectively).
Mcafee’s most basic antivirus product, ‘McAfee Total Protection,’ has a $49.99 / year price tag and a slew of awards advocating their product, which is a great indicator of good value for money. This initial assumption is supported by a strong feature set, offering much more than just removal of different types of malware.
The base product seems to be a culmination of a number of other products in the McAfee range, pulling features from many different security solutions they offer in other packages. The icing on the cake is the ability to, ‘Protect every device you own with the same subscription at no extra cost.’ This looks past what other antivirus companies offer as ‘multiple licenses’ and we think it is a great addition to the service. Overall, McAfee proves itself to be well worth the $50 price tag.
If you need support, it is relatively easy to get, you can choose between chat support, email support and phone support, all available around the clock. During a period of high volume, we only had to wait 2 minutes to connect with a representative at McAfee via chat support, so we can vouch for their availability. Their support avenues aren’t just good for helping with the product, they are also a great way to brush up on your linguistics as they offer phone support in 10 different countries and 5 different languages, as well as chat support in over 20 languages.
Pros
Tune Up
Faster Scanning
Phone Support
Live Chat Support
Market Value
Cons
Short on Features
Covers only Web Protection
Key Features
Privacy Page
The new features all show up on McAfee Internet Security’s Privacy page. If you choose to manage passwords, you’ll find that it launches your default browser and offers to install the True Key browser extension.
Spam Levels System
McAfee Internet Security offers spam filtering. Most users should leave the spam protection level at the default Balanced setting.
Parental Content Filter
The Parental control filter creates default allowed and blocked lists based on the child’s age. You use the arrow buttons to move a category from one list to the other.
Parental Time Scheduling
McAfee Internet Security lets parents limit the child’s Internet access to specified times, but configuring this feature can be quite awkward. With other similar systems, you can just drag a rectangle to enable a block of time on every day of the week.
True Key Password Manager
Your subscription to McAfee Internet Security gets you one user profile for the True Key Password manager, and the ability to sync that profile across unlimited devices.
Authentication Factor
McAfee Internet Security’s True Key supports a wide variety of authentication factors including biometrics, master password, and the availability of a second trusted device.
Spyware Removal
Spyware secretly monitors what you do on your computer. Its aim is usually to capture passwords, banking credentials and credit card details. McAfee Internet Security removes these harmful spywares in your computer.
Web Protection
Detects which websites are safe and can be trusted. This feature blocks malware websites and downloads.
Real-Time Protection
Real Time protection runs in the background and monitors your system continuously, blocking malware before it gets on your hard-drive.
Removes Adware
McAfee removes adware that automatically displays or downloads advertising material such as banners or pop-ups.
Other Features
Anti-Malware
Anti-Adware
Anti-Fraud
Scheduled Scans
Firewall
Tuneup
Phone Support
Real Time Data Protection
Browser Manager
Blocks Phishing Websites
Web Security
Social Network Protection
Scheduled Scans
Operating System
| Microsoft Windows | Windows 10, 8.1, 8, and 7 SP1 (32- and 64-bit) | ||
| Mac | Mac OS X 10.12 or later | ||
| Android | Android smartphones and tablets 4.1 or higher | ||
| iOS | iOS 10 or later | ||
Other Requirements
| Supported Browsers | Internet Explorer 10.0 or later; Firefox; Google Chrome; Safari (Mac and iOS OS Only) | ||
| Internet Connection Required | High-speed connection recommended | ||
| Supported Email Programs for Anti-SPAM | POP3—Outlook, Thunderbird MAPI (Microsoft Exchange Server); — Outlook WebMail— Any webmail account with IMAP/POP3 access; Microsoft Outlook 2010, 2013, 2016; Thunderbird 38.0+ |
Hardware Requirement
| RAM | 2GB | ||
| Storage | 500MB Free Drive Space | ||
| Processor | 1GHz |
How To Use
Think McAfee Internet Security will be a good fit for your business needs?
Learn more about its features and current price here.
Detailed steps are shown below. After you redeem your activation code, you can download and install your McAfee software:
- Open a web browser and go to the link shown on your retail card (for example, mcafee.com/activate). Or:- Go to home.mcafee.com.
– Click Account in the upper-right corner.
– Click Redeem your Retail Card.
– Type the activation code from your retail card and click Submit.
– Type your email address.
– Click Next
- Select your country and language.
The registration page tries to select the correct region, but it might not find the correct region. Confirm that the region is correct before you continue. - Type:
– Your Email Address.
– The activation code from your retail card. - Click Submit.
- When prompted, confirm that your Email Address is correct. If your email address is incorrect:
– Return to the previous screen by clicking Edit.
– Correct your email address. - Click Verify. Your subscription is now activated.
- Follow the on-screen prompts to create a McAfee account and install your McAfee software.
About McAfee
McAfee, LLC formerly known as McAfee Associates, Inc. in 1987–2014, and Intel Security Group in 2014–2017, is an American global computer security software company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, McAfee claims to be the world’s largest dedicated technology security company.
The company was purchased by Intel in February 2011,and became part of the Intel Security division. McAfee primarily develops digital-security tools for personal computers and server devices, and more recently, for mobile devices.
Final Thoughts
McAfee Internet Security offers all expected suite features, antivirus, firewall, antispam, parental control, and more. But you get the best of these features in McAfee’s standalone antivirus, for quite a bit less.
McAfee’s generous installation policy makes its antivirus products attractive to individuals or families with many devices to protect. McAfee Internet Security 2020 protects all types of computers from online assault, shreds inconvenient files and defends against cryptojacking. But it lacks the hardened browser and webcam protection that Bitdefender has, and the basic antivirus protections aren’t as good as those from Kaspersky or Norton. Still, the flagship Total Protection + VPN includes a lot of protection and features for the money.
Overall, McAfee Internet Security 2020 can provide you with good web protection, privacy protection and parental control. For it’s price, McAfee Internet Security is really a bang on the buck.
Think this product can protect your present or future business ventures? Why don’t you share your thoughts with us via our contact us page.
After reading the article, did it convince you to give McAfee Internet Security a try? Or do you want to keep your options open? If you’d like to know about other types of internet security software available in the market, go and check out other reviews in other sections of Firewall Guide.
