Firewall:  

WISE includes an interesting firewall feature that has the ability to “learn” normal or common traffic patterns, traffic meaning the passage of information between the computer and the internet and/or another network. It learns this by monitoring your internet activities for a week. After that point it alerts you only when it notices unique activity. This is a nice feature, since it stops the annoying alerts that come up constantly when you are doing something online that you do all of the time. In addition, to reduce too many unwanted alerts you can create lists of trusted and un-trusted Internet sites. It also has the ability to create a list of approved vendors, so if you shop on Amazon often for example, it will allow you full access to the site without irritating pop-up alerts.

Setting up the firewall, trusted and un-trusted site lists and approved vendor lists does take a while and is a bit tedious, but once it is set up it protects effectively.

Antivirus:  

The antivirus element of this security suite is extremely capable, has passed most third-party testing and can protect up to three PCs from viruses, rootkits, Trojans, keyloggers, worms and more. WISE has the ability to shield and secure your computer, personal information and internet activity. Since nearly 100% of computers that go online will acquire some kind of spyware, adware, virus or worse, full protection, like what is provided by WISE, is absolutely essential.

Virus Bulletin awarded Webroot’s Internet Security Essentials a VB100%, the VB100% logo is awarded to antivirus products that detect all current "in the wild" viruses through both on-demand and on-access scanning. It is also ICSA certified, this test certifies that the security program can detect viruses, prevents virus replication and does not generate false positives. However, we could not find test results for this product specifically on the West Coast Labs (WCL) site. But Webroot’s Antivirus software and Spy Sweeper did receive WCL certification and these two programs are major elements of WISE.

Antispyware:  

WISE includes the full version of the powerful anti-spyware program Spy Sweeper. This software is our number one rated anti-spyware program. It can successfully prevent spyware, malware, parasites, data miners, adware and many more threats from obtaining your information or changing your PCs configurations. Spy Sweeper has 15 smart shields that defend against bothersome problems like cookie trackers, browser hijackers, keyloggers and Trojans.

Other Security/Features:  

One of the extra features offered by Webroot is the best additional benefit we have seen included with a security program; it provides the opportunity for you to save files for backup both locally and remotely. What this means is that it can backup your files on a remote server, so should anything happen to your computer, you will not lose your files, images, video or music. This service also provides remote access to these files, so you can download or view your files from anywhere and from any computer. And if you don’t like or cannot send large files as an email attachment this service can provide you with a limited access link that can offer your recipient full privileges to the selected file.

This security software also has a complete cleanup function. This tool can remove all traces of internet browsing, recently active files and unnecessary files. This feature is customizable and you can even set it to make files permanently unrecoverable.

Another interesting feature is their Webroot Automated Research Network (WARN). When you sign up with this service it takes the results of your scanned files and analyzes them to acquire the information needed to improve the software and stay ahead of the newest threats.

Ease of Use:  

Considering this is a complex and capable security suite, it is surprising easy to use. It has a convenient and well-organized left navigation bar that allows access to all major functions of the program and in the main section it provides status information and alerts and quick access to frequently used tools such as sweeps, backup, clean up and firewall filtering mode.

We found the layout of the program extremely functional and streamlined, also the icons where well chosen and easy to interpret. We did not experience any problems configuring the program to run sweeps or finding information that we were looking for.

Ease of Installation/Setup:  

This program installs easily; however, we would recommend that it be installed on a computer that exceeds the minimum system requirements. The minimum requirements state only a 300 MHz processor with 256 MB of RAM, this is not that robust and likely if you run WISE along with other programs you will notice a significant decrease in performance. Nevertheless, most people nowadays own PCs that by far exceed the minimum system requirements. If you have 1GB of RAM and are not running Vista, this security software should run fine.

Once installed, setting up the program is easy. After installation it quickly runs a sweep to find potential threats already on the system. It then offers the opportunity to join the WARN or Webroot Automated Research Network, which collects and analyzes sweep data so Webroot has the information needed to continually improve the programs threat fighting abilities. The next step is simply scheduling scans and then it moves to creating local and remote files for backup. All of these processes move along swiftly and are easy to get through.

Help/Support:  

Webroot offers free US based support and comprehensive online help. For technical and customer support you can contact Webroot by email, phone or chat. Online they publish full user manuals, tutorials and a searchable knowledgebase. They also offer paid support services such as remote assistance and installation help.

Webroot Internet Security Essentials can keep your computer running smooth and your personal information private, it also has a free and convenient remote file backup system, so don’t take chances with your protection when you can get WISE.