Will tweaks keep F-Secure competitive?

F-Secure Internet Security 2013's interface hasn't changed from last year's version, but there have been improvements under the hood.

(Credit: F-Secure)

A firewall that boosts outbound protection, browser protection that almost doesn't care which browser is your favorite, and compatibility with Microsoft's big October gamble are the highlights of F-Secure's 2013 suites, released today.

There's actually quite a few changes to F-Secure Anti-Virus 2013 (download) and F-Secure Internet Security 2013 (download) this year, but nearly all of them are focused on enhancing security already in last year's suites -- as opposed to providing entirely new features.

The most notable changes in F-Secure come to how it interacts with your Web browser, and how its firewall works to protect you. The firewall now uses the Windows Firewall for inbound network traffic protection, which is not unusual. The Microsoft-provided firewall in Windows 7 is quite effective for incoming traffic. F-Secure has supplemented the guards, though, so that exploits that are accidentally downloaded get blocked, and it scans all downloaded files automatically. If a file can't be determined to be safe, F-Secure's DeepGuard kicks in to keep an ey... [Read more]