14 DAY TRIAL // Have you ever wondered how impenetrable the protection on your computer is? I guess installing an antivirus that includes anti-spyware protection and enabling a firewall of some sort (generally the one available in the operating system) combined with a few user account tricks will do just fine.
And yet, malware keeps assaulting your machine as if they were in target practice. 'Inexplicable matter', some users would think. But the explanation is quite simple: you are not using the latest definition updates for the antivirus, the firewall is either no good (and the one coming with Windows makes absolutely no exception).
There is at least one tool on the Internet that verifies your computer for security enforcing applications and gives you the verdict on how well protected your computer is on a scale from zero to 100. Active Security Monitor from AOL is surprisingly easy to use and it developed quite well. The measuring instrument is absolutely free of charge, but as it always happens with AOL products (even free ones), there is a nasty catch: you cannot access information services unless you are an AOL user.
The application will take a while to install as it has to scan the entire computer for all the protection software. But as soon as the operation is complete, you will be provided with the score for your computer. In my case, the score was 85; not the highest, but enough for me to be content.
Active Security Monitor is a diagnostic tool continuously verifying the state of your computer and home network, by looking for the applications that enhance your security. Thus, your computer will be checked for firewall, antivirus and antispyware instruments as well as for protection of your files. More than this, Active Security Monitor is trained to sniff if there is wireless connectivity and check on its security.
The three tabs of the main window display your safety score for each of the aforementioned categories and a history of the scores to see what has been improved, as well as an Alert Messages box designed to show you the activity logs for all the items in sight.
For each of the elements you will receive a certain score which contributes to the overall grade awarded to your system. More than this, the software provides details in the cases where the score is not Excellent so that you can remedy the problems.
Testing the application on Vista resulted in a bitter disappointment as it did not rise to the expected standards. It is clear as daylight that nothing has been done in making it Vista compatible and at the moment of the last update, Microsoft's WoW was not anticipated.
The low score in firewall section entailed from the fact that I did not install any sort of protection on my computer, save antivirus and anti-spyware. ASM made a very witty assumption by alerting me that there is a firewall application installed on my computer, but it is not active. As any Windows nowadays comes with a firewall (for better or worse), I proceeded to its activation. Surprisingly or not, ASM did not record my setting and the score set still.
Not until I resorted to a third party firewall was ASM able to increase the score. I turned to Vista Firewall Control Plus and the security grade received by the test computer was considerably improved (from 61 to 85). However, it seems that not just any firewall will do for AOL's product as when I tested the application with Vista Firewall Control (the more feeble in options version of Plus edition), ASM reconsidered the grade and downed it to the initial 61.
In spyware protection, the software was consistent and although I did the very thing requested (updating the database) it kept on displaying the same recommendation. It detected the antivirus software with the incorporated anti-spyware, but it failed to read the updates and act accordingly.
In Windows and Browser section, ASM claimed that I had the System Restore feature turned off. Now in this line of business keeping such a nifty recovery option out of use is just plain stupid. Nevertheless, I proceeded to check the status of the feature. It was up and running.
Regarding PC utilities, the software caught me totally off-guard as I wasn't even expecting this. But it did not matter as I installed a couple of them and the score was not improved at all.
It seems that P2P software is frowned upon by ASM and contributes to a low scoring. On Vista, there was already installed uTorrent but this was disregarded by the diagnosis tool and did not influence the grading at all.
The tests performed in XP environment had a different type of results, as upgrading the score was much easier. Activating Windows firewall instantly raised the level with 22 units. An improvement of the rating took place after installing the latest Windows updates and configuring the operating system to show the extensions for the known file types.
P2P instead was unaffected regardless of my efforts of installing uTorrent and oDC. But with E-mule on the system, the rating swiftly dropped from Excellent to poor, but still not affecting the overall score.
It seems that it is a tough job going from one extreme to another with ASM, as the lowest score I could reach was 29 and the highest stopped at 85.
To be sure that your computer complies with all ASM requirements, read the Known Issues and Limitations in the description of the application.
The Good
Super nifty interface with details window sliding from the right hand side. The score meter is displayed in a highly visible location and the scanning and updating of the rating is fast.
Improve Score setting enables a preview of the score once all the problems mentioned are fixed. You are not alone in the race for a better grade and hints to the steps of enabling or disabling this or that option are all over the place.
The Bad
Not all the applications are taken into consideration during the scan and not all the solutions presented lead to a higher score. The biggest trouble was in PC Utilities section as in all other modules it was quite easy to comply with the standards.
It is not Vista compatible, so I suggest you to use it in XP environment only. Installed P2P is bad and if there isn't any that ASM can detect, then you will benefit from the highest rating. Out of E-mule, oDC and uTorrent, only the first one affected the scoring.
ASM does not work properly with the following programs installed: Spyware Doctor 3.8, CA pest Patrol 8.0.7, Spyware Blaster 3.5.1, Webroot Anti-Spyware, Kasperskey 6.0.
The Truth
Overall, the application is quite a good one in XP, while in Vista it fails at almost every chapter. You have score history to monitor the improvements on the security of your computer and the Alert/Messages section shows all the missing products.
For more information on what can and what cannot be achieved with ASM, I suggest you to take a look at the limitations of the application. It is a perfect example of a very good project abandoned too soon.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
