McAfee Internet Security 5.0

by McAfee

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006IW4P
• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 14, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 1.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #28,881 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

McAfee Internet Security 5.0 protects your PC against a wide range of viruses and other external threats, such as hacker attempts. McAfee Internet Security 5.0 combines McAfee's VirusScan 7.0 and Firewall 4.0 in one product along with a new interface, allowing you to configure everything from one location.

On the virus front, McAfee Internet Security 5.0 operates on many levels. The new Hostile Activity Watch Kernel (HAWK) constantly monitors your PC for viruslike activity and integrates well with many e-mail clients. VShield runs constantly in the background, checking files as you open them. Even if you choose to disable VShield, the program still protects Microsoft Office files by scanning them before you open them. It also protects against invisible and malicious e-mail scripts by looking for suspicious behavior such as trying to open, write, or delete files. Any suspect activity is immediately stopped.

Of course, any antivirus product is only as good as its ability to stop viruses from infecting your system. Happily, McAfee Internet Security 5.0 has been given a 100% rating by Virus Bulletin, so long as you keep it up-to-date. Like the other products in McAfee's security lineup, McAfee Internet Security 5.0 uses Instant Updater, which constantly checks for product updates and automatically downloads them when you are online.

The firewall function in McAfee Internet Security 5.0 controls which of your applications can access the Internet, and stops them from divulging your personal information without your knowledge. It also stops hackers from accessing your PC remotely.

The firewall recognizes most common programs and automatically creates rules to allow them to communicate with the Internet. Users can create their own rules, but this can be tricky for the novice as some of the warning dialog boxes tend toward jargon-filled prose.

McAfee Internet Security 5.0 works with Windows Internet Connection Sharing, and has also been enhanced for broadband so home networks are fully supported. Also new in this release is an intrusion-detection system that blocks port scanners.

Of course, the most important aspect is how well it actually works, and the firewall passes all the usual tests with flying colors. It happily deals with all the usual intrusion techniques, and the auto update feature ensures the product is able to cope with any new threats as they appear.

We did have some difficulty getting an e-mail program called Ameol to work with McAfee Internet Security 5.0, but all other programs we tried worked fine.

Novice users may struggle to get the most from the firewall in McAfee Internet Security 5.0, but the more experienced will find a powerful firewall and antivirus program that can be used with confidence. --Iain Laskey, Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com Product Description

Protect your privacy and secure your computer and data with McAfee Internet Security. Incorporating McAfee's award-winning technologies, McAfee Internet Security provides one of the most comprehensive sets of privacy and security tools you can buy. McAfee Internet Security destroys viruses, outwits hackers, secures your personal information, and privatizes your Web browsing. Internet Security also blocks ads and pop-ups; manages your cookies and passwords; locks down your files, folders, and drives; filters objectionable content; and puts you in control of the communications into and out of your PC. McAfee Internet Security provides powerful protection for today's Internet users.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars You're buying trouble for yourself when you purchase this!, November 26, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: McAfee Internet Security 5.0 (CD-ROM)

Worst software product ever. Here are the problems McAfee Internet Security has created for me: Internet Explorer windows I close remain in task bar and won't disappear unless I hit control, alt, delete (not once but twice, pausing so I don't accidentally send my computer into a reboot). My computer also won't shut down properly anymore. I used to be able to walk away after hitting "shut down" and it would automatically shut down and turn off, but now I have to sit there and watch for a McAfee error screen to pop up so I can once again click on "shut down". Virus scan ties up the computer for hours because of constant pop-ups that require a "yes" or "no" response. So you must SIT THERE AND WATCH IT DO ITS VIRUS SCAN FOR HOURS. McAfee support...what support? Their live-chat help link doesn't work. And when I emailed them a list of my problems, then sent me to their website's FAQ list which didn't list my particular questions. Since I'm not about to spend $2.95 per minute to call them for help, I will simply uninstall this program and never buy another McAfee product. Don't be enticed by McAfee's big rebates like I was, check out Innoculate It and Zonelabs products instead.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Extremely difficult to configure, January 22, 2003

By 

"networker-at-large" (Stamford, CT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: McAfee Internet Security 5.0 (CD-ROM)

I've used Zone Alarm, Norton Internet Security and now [regretfully] McAfee Internet Security. McAfee Internet Security is cripled by its lack of information and capabilities. Norton's product is by far superior.

The alert boxes nor activity log tell you the full details of the remote IP address or ports not anything about the local communication. This becomes important, because, you might be perfectly comfortable having Internet Explorer access a web site on port 80, but freak out if Internet Explorer was allowed to share you files with "web folders" on a different TCP/UDP port.

In addition, data is displayed in hexadecimal format with no interpretation. Even as network professional, I don't have the binary format of IP packets memorized.

My advice is to skip this product and go directly for Norton Internet Security.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Caught Yaha virus, but apparently made PC instable, January 12, 2003

By 

Charles G. Raimondi (A.P.O., AE United States) - See all my reviews

I bought this off the web when the "Yaha" virus somehow got through my Norton Antivirus and Internet Security suite, because the McAfee site had a "stinger" program to root out the "Yaha" virus. However, since downloading it on my Dell Pentium IV desktop running Windows XP, it has become instable, freezing up. Now, whether this is a McAfee problem, a Microsoft Problem, or a Netscape Problem (I started getting errors indicating Netscape 7.01 problems soon after installing McAfee Internet Security and updating Netscape to 7.01. Who knows where the fault lies, but McAfee seems to be part of the problem. Admittedly, if Windows XP was doing its job right as the operating system, it wouldn't allow this kind of thing, now matter how problematically applications might be coded. That said, the McAfee interface was more user friendly when installing, and made different degrees of access easier than Norton had. It also did appear to catch the Yaha virus when Norton apparently didn't, so it does appear to have some positive features, if only my PC wasn't unstable now.