Reviews

F-Secure Internet Security 2013 (about $73 for one year and one computer, as of 12/19/12) came in first in several of our malware detection, blocking, and removal tests. It successfully blocked attacks, detected and disabled infections, and proved adept at cleaning up all traces of malware, landing at the top of this year's security suite roundup.

Samba's open source alternative to Microsoft's domain controller is a good start, but not ready for prime time

At one time or another, we install too much stuff. And who can blame us? The Internet is one big playground with lots to install and play with, and we eventually forget that too many installations can slow down and eventually crash our system. One key to a smooth healthy running computer is to keep it as trim as possible, with as little bloatware as possible. Enter Toolbar Cleaner (free) to make that task really easy.

Kensington will formally unveil its new Proximo product this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but the company shared a $60 Proximo Starter Kit with Macworld early. I've spent a few days with the device, which is meant to help you monitor the whereabouts of your iPhone 4S or iPhone 5, along with your keys and potentially other valuables.

Identity theft is scary business, for sure. But it's a threat that seems a whole lot less likely once you sign up for ProtectMyID, an online identity theft protection service that comes from Experian, a trusted credit-reporting company. ProtectMyID is not cheap though, as it costs $16 per month for regular monitoring.

For a security mechanism that has existed since mankind traded places with apes to raise to the top of the food chain, passwords have shown a surprising longevity. Passwords act as gatekeepers to our email, banking, social media accounts, and just about anything else that we do, regardless of whether we are online or not.

When you name your program BestCrypt, it had better be the best, or something closely approximating it. Well, if BestCrypt isn't the most versatile or best encryption software out there, both the U.S. government and I are barking up the wrong tree. It's full-featured, super stable, fast...and expensive. Add the $60 container, $100 volume encryption, and $40 for the DiskWipe utility, and you're talking $200. That's $200 more than the free TrueCrypt or DiskCryptor--both effective encryption utilities.

With Thanksgiving upon us, it’s time for the annual avalanche of Black Friday sales—and Pre-Black Friday sales, and Cyber Monday sales, and Weekend-Before-Cyber Monday sales, and…you know the drill. But most of those sales, whether online or in physical stores, focus on hardware and gear. If you’re looking for some great Mac software, either for yourself or for your favorite gift recipient, there are currently two big Mac-software bundles, each offering a bevy of apps for one reasonable price. Even if you just wanted the Mac Gems each bundle contains, both are bargains, but each also includes a bunch of other good software that sweetens the pot considerably. (All apps included in these bundles are full versions.)

DiskCryptor (free) is a handy encryption program--simple, to the point, and lightweight.

USB flash drives are the modern floppy, albeit considerably larger and faster. They make our lives easy for taking data on the road, sharing with colleagues over sneakernet, and given their rapidly increasing size even acting as backup devices. They're also darn handy for installing software from ISO images.

Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) servers are common in enterprise networks to offer centralized authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) for access control. But RADIUS servers can also be useful in small and midsize networks to enable 802.1X authentication and WPA2 (802.11i) security for Wi-Fi nets.

Security suites from McAfee, Symantec, Trend Micro and Webroot offer protection for all your devices along with Web-based management.

Even after you replace all Flash objects with placeholders, it may not be easy to sit down and focus on a lengthy read. Perhaps the article loaded with distracting banners, maybe the font size is too small, or perhaps you'd rather curl up in an easy chair to read it. Readability is an elegant service that can solve all of these problems, and more.

Your privacy, safety, and anonymity on the Internet are increasingly under threat. Governments want more power to monitor people's Web usage, and businesses want to keep records of every website you visit and every item you purchase online. And let's not forget the shady-looking individual sitting in the corner of the coffee shop, monitoring your wireless signal in an attempt to steal your online banking details and passwords.

Keyboard shortcuts take some getting used to, but offer a rewarding productivity boost for those willing to stick through the initial learning curve. Vimium is a Google Chrome extension that takes this mindset and runs with it, bolting a rich set of keyboard shortcuts on top of Chrome. Shortcuts are inspired by the Vim text editor, but can be remapped as needed. You can use Vimium to switch tabs, click links, select text boxes, and more, all without reaching for the mouse.

Local Website Archive is a useful utility that allows you to download web pages to your local hard drive. While this can be accomplished via the "save page" option in most browsers, Local Website Archive Lite (free) offers enough additional features and functionality that it's well worth installing.

With serious data breaches occurring on almost a daily basis, concerns about data protection have skyrocketed. While some experts believe endpoint breaches may no longer comprise the majority of data leaks, the intentional or unintentional release of sensitive data from endpoints within an organization, whether by employees, contractors or guests, remains a serious problem that data loss prevention (DLP) products seek to address.

The Cisco Ironport is an appliance that is deployed into an existing mail infrastructure. All emails are sent to the IronPort and the IronPort is either the last point out (most common configuration) or it can process email and then send it back to the mail server where it is sent out.

We tested multiple common endpoint scenarios, by trying to upload, print, email or otherwise transfer data that should be blocked, quarantined, warned about or simply monitored under the rules and policies we set up. The following specific types of endpoint tests were conducted:

Editor's note: The following review is part of Macworld's GemFest 2012 series. Every weekday from mid June through mid August, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a favorite free or low-cost program. Visit the Mac Gems homepage for a list of past Mac Gems.