One of the latest challenges we’ve had with our clients is finding and implementing the right antivirus solution.  Over the years we’ve tried AVG, Trend Micro and most recently BitDefender.  While we continue to update and support these packages for our clients where the products are working effectively, for new installations we have been promoting VIPRE Enterprise Premium or VIPRE Antivirus Premium from Sunbelt Software as our Claritech standard.

NEWS FLASH: Microsoft has just announced that, starting in October, they are expanding their  previously home-only offer of a free version of Microsoft Security Essentials to businesses with less than 10 PCs.  The waters are muddy indeed…

The main reason that we’ve switched antivirus vendors so often in the last several years is that no one could seem to get it right.  Some of them are very light (AVG), some of them are quite comprehensive (Trend Micro) and some of them do a better job of catching viruses (BitDefender). None of them, until now, has done a great job at all three.

We’ve been following Sunbelt Software for several years through their informative newsletters and have always been interested in their products.  Counterspy was their first product that really got our attention, because it was one of the best at finding and eliminating spyware.   When VIPRE Antivirus emerged that combined the functionality of their antivirus, antispyware and a personal firewall (with the Premium version), it was decided that it was worth a try and we’ve been very impressed ever since.

One of the things we like about VIPRE is that it is relatively unknown, and is therefore not targeted by malware.  This also makes it somewhat difficult to find unbiased third-party reviews of the product.  One such review on PC Magazine rates VIPRE highly:

VIPRE is a very good standalone antivirus tool that outscores all but the very best of its competition in my tests. Those with more than three computers will love its $49.95 unlimited home license.

They do not include the Enterprise version in their review, but the Enterprise integration is definitely a key feature when installing in a corporate environment.

Another review can be found on the How To Geek website:

Vipre Anti-virus + Anti-Spyware is the best utility of its kind that I have used in a long time.  It is surprisingly light on system resources even while scanning, you won’t even know it’s running.  The liberal Home Site Licensing is very welcome for the user on a tight budget.  The cost of a one year unlimited license is $49.95 which covers all of the PC’s you have in the residence.  A cheaper license of $29.95 can be purchased for one machine.   If you are looking for a powerful security program that does not slow down your PC then Vipre is highly recommended.

Another great must-have antivirus product from Sunbelt Software is VIPRE PC Rescue.  This free version of VIPRE is updated daily as is intended to assist with the cleanup of infected PCs.  If it can’t be downloaded and run directly from the infected PC, it can be downloaded to a USB or CD drive and run from there.  (A trick to successfully running from a USB drive is to write-protect the drive before installing on the infected PC.)

In conclusion, for businesses with less than 10 PCs and no server you might want to take a look at Microsoft Security Essentials.  For those with a server or more than 10 PCs, a centralized AV solution such as VIPRE Enterprise is recommended.  Unless there is a compelling reason (such as performance, functionality or price) we do not recommend switching from your current AV product.