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Reviews September 2007 • Vol.18 Issue 9 Page(s) 24 in print issue |
Blink Personal Edition | ||
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Free eEye Digital Security (866) 339-3732 www.eeye.com Scorecard Performance 3 Ease Of Use 3 Installation 5 Documentation 3 Price 5 Overall Score 3.8/5 Systems Supported: XP/2000  Think most security software is too expensive? How does free grab you? eEye Digital Security, a commercial security and vulnerability solution developer with a formidable client roster, has entered the consumer PC security market with a comprehensive offering. Best of all, it is free for the first year to consumers in Canada and the United States. We generally approach newcomers to this category with caution. However, in June Blink won a VB100 Award, indicating it detected, with zero false positives, 100% of viruses circulating in the wild at the time of the test. The company has previously proven other critical security features at the commercial level. As you might expect, Blink scans for and eradicates viruses, spyware, and other malware; erects a firewall; and protects you against phishing and other identity threats. It also identifies vulnerabilities, protects your registry, and prevents suspicious behaviors in your system at a very robust level.  Keep It Simple Blink takes a straightforward and highly automated approach to protection that many users will appreciate. Its interface looks like the Control Panel in Windows XP, so it’s easy to use. By default, Blink scans for and eradicates viruses, major spyware (it ignores tracking cookies and other minor annoyances), and other threats, and blocks invaders with little user intervention. However, in certain areas where Blink is overzealous, you must get involved. In the early days of operation, Blink will ask you for input regarding Internet access for programs and services. Blink does a good job of letting most common programs, such as Internet Explorer, have access. However, it will ask you frequently when less-common programs such as Yahoo! Messenger try to access the Internet. Furthermore, it really missed the boat on Microsoft Outlook, blocking it from sending or retrieving email when the system Firewall was on. Even after we created an Application Firewall rule to resolve the issue, Blink slowed some email sessions noticeably. Blink also halts programs that query your system heavily during startup (such as Photoshop) and offers little explanation for resolving the issues. Even worse, it blocks outgoing connections on ports it considers suspect (Port 21, commonly used by file transfer programs, is one example) with no warning or option to create an exception. eEye Digital Security states that Blink reduces system bloat compared to its competitors, improving memory and hard drive usage. We did not do a comparative evaluation, but we can report that Blink installs quickly and easily. On our test system, it had minimal effect on system performance. The Hard Way Users who want to circumvent Blink’s automated approach can do so, but it’s not easy. First, Blink combines the virus scan and spyware scan under the single umbrella of Anti-Malware. This streamlines things for the user but makes for a very long initial scan. It also keeps the user from scanning more frequently for viruses than spyware, or vice versa. Finally, Blink offers a number of settings and wizards relating to scanning and protection rules that users can tweak. However, the interfaces for these settings are very businesslike, with little or no assistance. Overall, Blink is a powerful contender at a price you cannot beat. We reduced its performance and ease of use ratings to 3 because of its aggressive behavior with some programs and its failure to show users how to modify their environment. If you are a “set it and forget it” user with few advanced programs, you may love Blink. However, if you use programs or connections Blink doesn’t trust, prepare for extra work and intermittent frustration.  by Jennifer Farwell
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