Facebook worm spreads with a lurid lure
Some Facebook users have been infected with a worm after clicking on an image of a scantily clad woman, which then redirects the victims to a pornography site, according to security researchers. Read more...

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Alwil Avast Professional Edition
Though Alwil Avast Professional Edition ($40 for a one-year, single-PC license, as of 11/23/09) has a speedy scan rate, that wasn't enough to offset its unimpressive protection from malware infections and its truly annoying interface. With a last-place showing in our stand-alone antivirus rankings, it's clearly a less than ideal choice for your paid protection. (A new version is coming early next year--see the end of this review.)

McAfee VirusScan Plus 2010
McAfee VirusScan Plus ($40 for a one-year, single-PC license, as of 11/19/09) does well with traditional, signature-based malware detection, but it delivered a large number of false positives and fumbled on essentials like proactive protection and scan speed. Overall, it ranked tenth out of the 11 products in our roundup of stand-alone antivirus programs.

ESET NOD32
ESET NOD32 has some nice, techie-focused extras and it effectively ferrets out rootkits, but it can't keep up with other antivirus apps when it comes to the essential task of blocking malware. It came in ninth place out of 11 in our current ranking of stand-alone antivirus software.

Trend Micro Antivirus + Antispyware
Trend Micro Antivirus + Antispyware ($40 for a one-year, single-PC license as of 11/17/2009) came in last in our roundup of stand-alone antivirus software, weighed down by comparatively poor malware detection, slow scan speed, and a seriously misguided habit of hiding what it does from the user.

Avira AntiVir Premium Edition
Avira's AntiVir Premium Edition lacks an advanced malware detection feature used by top programs, and it could use a smoother interface. The program earned a seventh-place ranking in our current stand-alone antivirus roundup.

F-Secure Anti-Virus 2010
While F-Secure Anti-Virus 2010 ($40 for a one-year, 3-PC license, as of 11/19/09) is simple to use and does a reasonable job of blocking malware, it has a few bugs, and it couldn't beat some of its competitors. It came in at number six in our current roundup of stand-alone antivirus apps.

Panda Antivirus Pro 2010: A Fair Performer
Panda Antivirus Pro 2010 ($50 for a one-year, three-PC license) ranks fifth in our current roundup of 11 stand-alone antivirus apps. It was buoyed by positives such as strong traditional malware detection, but dragged down by negatives like poor behavioral scans.

BitDefender Antivirus 2010
BitDefender Antivirus ($30 for a one-year, three-PC license) holds its own at dealing with malware, but its interface isn't especially user-friendly. Overall the program earned fourth place in our roundup of stand-alone antivirus programs.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010
Kaspersky's third-place ranking in our roundup of stand-alone antivirus programs reflects its ability both to impress and to disappoint. It pairs competent proactive protection with below-average signature detection, and a strong feature set with an at-times annoying user experience.

Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2010
Symantec's Norton AntiVirus ($40 for a one-year, single-PC license) offers some terrific extra features and a polished user interface. But subpar performance in one detection category prevented it from capturing the top spot in our chart of stand-alone antivirus programs.

Editors' Picks

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