SecureAnywhere takes a file, creates a unique identifying number for it called a hash and sends that to the cloud. Webroot claims it has the world's largest database of malware. Thanks to its Prevx core, though, Webroot has been able to make some interesting innovations. Again, this is not news in and of itself, as most security suites have already been moving to at least a partially cloud-based model. Threat detection comes courtesy of a cloud-based system.
The PC Security tab contains four horizontal tabs for Scans, Shields, Firewall and Quarantine, while the Identity and Privacy tab contains two tabs: one for the Identity Shield that looks for websites with phishing threats, blocks sites from creating high-risk tracking information and looks at DNS/IP information to protect you against man-in-the-middle attacks the other focuses on Password Management, powered by LastPass but baked into Webroot. You can also start a scan from the Overview tab.
If you're in the red zone, a button appears that will attempt to fix what ails you with one click. The Overview window presents your security status as a large icon, green when you're safe and red when you're not. At the bottom are simple text links to My Account, Settings and Help and Support. The interface contains a left nav divided into five button-size tabs: Overview, PC Security, Identity and Privacy, Backup and Sync and System Tools. Meanwhile, large buttons and sliders make changing settings simple. This makes it easy to differentiate all of the choices you have. SecureAnywhere does an admirable job of this arduous task, presenting the result in a colour scheme of brushed metal with green highlights.
The key struggle for any security suite is that it must cram a vast range of features, options and menus into a single window. This first scan doesn't hang around long, completing for us in two minutes, 14 seconds in SecureAnywhere Complete, and in less than a minute in SecureAnywhere AntiVirus. Also, when you install, the suite instantly begins a scan. If you click on "Change installation options" from the bottom of the installer window, for example, you can randomise the installation file names to circumvent certain types of infections that would look for names that are more obvious. The program's useful security features begin with the installer. Or, to put it another way, a high-resolution screenshot of the main interface is likely to be about 30 to 50 per cent larger than the program itself.
You can email it as an attachment when was the last time you read that about a security suite installer? Weighing in at a feather-light 560KB, this stub installer winds up downloading and installing the full suite in under a minute. It's so minuscule that you measure its size in kilobytes, not megabytes. It's hard to understate how impressive the new Webroot installer is. While it may seem as if it would be extremely difficult to get such disparate tech to work smoothly together, Webroot has pulled off an impressive feat here, not only merging technologies, but also getting them into a tiny installer, supported by a clean interface, and accessed through smart features, all of which makes this a must-see paid security suite. The core of SecureAnywhere, however, comes from the UK-based Prevx. San Diego-based BrightCloud brought domain and IP address classification, reputation and scoring into the mix.
A company called Usable Security, which specialised in identity management and passwords, contributed features now in SecureAnywhere Complete. These new programs are built on technology initially developed by other companies. Webroot has killed off its popular programs Spy Sweeper and Window Washer, and replaced Webroot AntiVirus with Spy Sweeper, Webroot Internet Security Essentials and Webroot Internet Security Complete with Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus, Webroot SecureAnywhere Essentials and Webroot SecureAnywhere Complete, respectively.