Kaspersky Internet Security 2013 beta released, rough edges cut deep
Every year the top security companies fight to see who can be the first to get their next generation suites out to the public. Last year Symantec did well, revealing Internet Security 2012 in April 2011. But this year Kaspersky Lab is the clear victor, as today they’ve released the first beta of Kaspersky Internet Security 2013.
This isn’t anything like as polished as some of the betas we’ve seen, though. The interface isn’t finished, for instance, and the build has Application Verifier and trace logging turned on, which means it will slow your PC down considerably. You won’t want to leave the suite installed for long.
And as a further complication, there’s no official announcement of what’s new yet. You’ll need to be familiar with Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 to spot any improvements.
At a first look, though, the suite seems to contain a new Secure Keyboard tool, which works with your regular keyboard to protect the data you enter at key websites (banks, social networks, password fields in general) from keyloggers. But if you were happy with the old Virtual Keyboard then don’t worry -- that’s available, too.
It looks like the Safe Banking feature has been extended, automatically running a protected browser to safely access your bank sites, payment providers such as Paypal, and others.
And elsewhere, it appears that Kaspersky Internet Security 2013 is streamlining its protection a little, dropping tools like Safe Run and Proactive Defence and relocating their functions to other modules.
There’s nothing too exciting for the uncommitted user, then -- not just yet, anyway. And the suite’s heavy performance impact means it’s not going to be for most people. If you’re a Kaspersky fan then you might be interested to see how many other new features you can spot in Kaspersky Internet Security 2013 beta, though. Just make sure you install it on a spare system: it’s really not ready for prime time at the moment.
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