Fortinet's FortiClient is a free (for personal OR commercial use) complete security suite along the lines of Norton 360 and similar commercial products. The suite boasts an impressive set of features, even beyond the reach of traditionally expensive security software, and is offered in both 32-bit and 64-bit flavors.
Fortinet is known primarily for their enterprise-grade security appliances (as well as their legal troubles), but they are certainly flexing their software muscles with the free FortiClient suite. Comodo Internet Security has a much wider audience for now, but users have started to become disillusionsed by the included spyware and program's bloat. FortiClient answers their cry for help with a lighter, fuller security suite.
Some of the FortiClient components require a FortiGate security appliance (VPN, WAN Optimization, App Detection), which Fortinet is quietly but obviously promoting with the suite. They also offer a Premium Edition of the FortiClient suite which varies only slightly from the free Standard Edition, adding enterprise features like anti-spam protection (which your personal e-mail provider undoubtedly already provides) and centralized management. But the core features of the suite, suitable for the average user, are as follows:
- AntiVirus - anti-virus and anti-spyware protection
- Firewall - personal rule-based firewall
- WebFilter - per-user internet access control
In my initial testing, the anti-virus scanning wasn't especially quick, but the individual components were impressively light on system resources, each using less than 6MB RAM and 1% CPU (spiking at 4%), even during a full system scan.
The aptitude of the FortiClient malware detection is still debatable - the detection rates are good (passing the VB100 test), however the newer RAP tests imply that Fortinet is slow to respond to the latest malware and update definitions accordingly. If you're only seeking an anti-virus/spyware solution, Avira's AntiVir Personal is still the better choice. But if you're looking for a simple, all-encompassing security suite, FortiClient Standard may fit the bill.
Download latest version:
FortiClient Standard v4.1.2.138
| Homepage: | http://www.forticlient.com/ |
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| 64-bit version: |  |
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| No strings attached **: | |
** No spyware, ads, nags, registration reminders, etc.
Other Security Suite freeware to keep an eye on:
