The McAfee Internet Security Suite 2007 is much more than web filtering software. It's a collection of security tools that can help protect both your family and your computer.

McAfee may be a bit of an overachiever, but we're not about to argue against getting more for our money. In addition to the typical antivirus, anti-spam, anti-spyware, anti-phishing, firewall, and parental control features, McAfee includes identity protection features and automatic file backup/restore tools. The built-in help files are well organized and well written, which is a good thing, because the interface isn't especially easy to navigate and the sheer number of features can feel more than a little overwhelming. On the plus side, the McAfee Security Center has been redesigned and integrated into the main window, rather than popping up as a separate window as it did in the previous version.

Standard web filtering tools let you filter web sites by category or by keyword, as well as add specific sites to a blacklist, to block all access.

A new feature called McAfee ImageAnalysis analyzes images for possibly inappropriate content. This feature is far from perfect, it misses some things it shouldn't and blocks some things it shouldn't, but it was more effective than we expected, and is a good complement to text-filtering tools. All in all, it's not bad for a first effort, and it certainly helps McAfee stand out from the crowd.

The new SiteAdvisor feature aims to help keep you ahead of the game by tagging web sites and search engine results with safety ratings, to warn you ahead of time about sites you might want to avoid.

The identity protection feature can help prevent personal information from being sent over a web site, by email, or via chat or instant messages.

McAfee Internet Security Suite 2007 bundles the most popular types of Internet security tools, including web filtering tools, plus a few surprises.


Pros: Above average value, parental control features are reasonably effective
Cons: May not work well with other third-party security programs, the abundance of features can slow down performance on some systems, some tasks can be better accomplished by dedicated standalone programs, no time management features