Trend Micro Review – Antivirus Review

Trend Micro Review – Full Report

Let’s have a look at the Trend Micro Internet Security system to see what features it has. We’ll step through them one by one, so you can think of whether it’s what you want out of an Internet security suite.

Main Console

With Trend Micro installed we right-click its icon in the system tray area (bottom right on the bar) to open the main console and see what options we have.

After closing any splash screen, you find options relating to devices, options for the security settings for real-time scanning and web filtering, an option for a PC health checkup to optimise the performance of the computer and, finally, an option with guidance regarding how you can protect your other devices.
A big, central button is the control for the scanning function of this antivirus.

PC Health Check-up

Let’s look at the health checkup. When we run the optimization, we note the optimization score is a composite measurement indicating a faster computer start, how much disk space is available, if it needs any significant updates and whether you might have any privacy concerns when using the computer as configured. Opening the details panel in my PC shows we can reduce computer start-up time by cutting out the Teamviewer app running at start-up. However, as we are currently using Teamviewer, I will leave that in the start-up run list. The program’s checking shows we can regain some disk space by emptying the recycle bin. It also checks if any private information is at risk and flags when the browser is protecting passwords. The Internet security suite has another system for password management that Trend Micro feels is superior to the browser-based systems.

Privacy Protection

Returning to the top level options, we next look at their privacy features. There is a privacy scanner that avoids providing too much personal information and social networking protection which shows which links in the social network are risky. There is data theft protection which stops hackers and spyware is from stealing sensitive data or sending out too much information from your computer. They provide a data area where we can set up a Folder Shield which will protect from ransomware. Ransomware is a malicious program that locks your files to prevent your access. This Trend Micro option doesn’t protect the whole computer but protects a designated folder, such as the main document folder. In this test, we configured it to protect our documents folder. There is an option for secure erase to enable us to remove files so no one can ever recover them. Password management lets you replace what your browser is doing regarding passwords. This feature also shares your password across multiple devices as a convenience.

Cloud Storage Scanning

You can scan your cloud storage to make sure there are no viruses that you place there previously. If you were to move files back onto your system, you could introduce viruses from the cloud back to your PC. There is also a Vault that has a password protected folder to prevent others from seeing your sensitive files.

Parental Controls

Finally, there is a family option where you can introduce parental controls that limit which software and websites your kids may use. It monitors their online activity and blocks inappropriate images in web searches.

Summary and Recommendation

The above are the different options that appear on the top level menu of the trend Micro control console. This range of features is on par with standard security suite offerings from other vendors. However, some of the support found as standard from other vendors is wrapped into a premium, more expensive purchase option. For this reason, I don’t recommend Trend Micro. Personally, I use and recommend McAfee security software for reasons reviewed elsewhere on this site. I trust you found this useful.

Recommendation

I don’t recommend Trend Micro Internet Security for the reasons above. Personally, I use and recommend McAfee security software for reasons reviewed elsewhere on this site.