PCmagazine takes Kaspersky's success in the security world as a result of the personal touch and implication that Eugene Kaspersky himself brings to the labs. Kaspersky Internet Security 7.0 comes fully armored and although its spam filter is modest, and the parental control is clearly a debutant, it proves to be quite effective at cleaning up malware-infested systems.

Similarly to most modern suites, Kaspersky Internet Security 7.0's main window reveals the overall system status and provides quick access to the individual protection modules. Whether you want to configure protection, start a scan, check for updates, have a look at reports, or get help, you can do all these from the main screen.

Kaspersky AntiVirus, already a major player in Europe and Russia and well rated with the independent labs, according to PCmagazine, seems to be getting more and more appreciation in the U.S as well.

Kaspersky's engine has been licensed by ZoneLabs in its latest ZoneAlarm suite for both the virus and spyware protection; it has been certified for virus detection and removal by ICSA Labs and West Coast Labs and it has also been given certification by West Coast Labs for detecting Trojan horses and spyware.

Until the recent test in June, KAV has managed to obtain the VB 100% award from Virus Bulletin for four years in a row. Kaspersky explained the recent failing with VB 100% test as due to a single threat whose signature was undergoing investigation exactly at the time of the test.

You can choose to scan files on access, on demand, or on schedule (from minutes to months). Apart from scanning the POP3 and SMTP e-mail streams, Kaspersky Internet Security 7.0 also inspects IMAP e-mail and NNTP (newsgroup) traffic. You have the possibility to change the configuration of the built-in scans or put in and schedule your own custom scan type.

The fact that full protection calls for numerous changes from default configuration along with firewall's program control being turned off by default can be seen as weak points.