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The Internet can be a bad place. There are those who would use email or chat to take advantage of otherwise unsuspecting people, and those who would inflict chaos on our computers for no other reason than because they can. Although Macs are fairly well insulated from viruses it seems inevitable that someone out there is going to write malicious code designed to cause trouble on as many Macs as it can find. Because of this, programs like Intego's suite of Internet security programs should become increasingly popular.
Intego's approach is to provide several individual programs that focus on one particular area of Internet security, and then bundle them in various combinations. The result is a little like a Chinese restaurant menu: the choices can be daunting. We test drove the Platinum Edition of their Internet Security Barrier, which includes six applications for OS X and four for OS 8 or 9: versions of ContentBarrier, NetBarrier, Personal Backup and VirusBarrier are included for OS 8, 9 and X, while ChatBarrier and Personal AntiSpam were available only for OS X. We tested all the OS X versions using OS 10.3.8.
ChatBarrier works with iChat to provide secure chat sessions. In order for this to work, the person with whom you are chatting must also have ChatBarrier installed. This would be useful if you hold discussions of a sensitive nature using iChat. ContentBarrier blocks sensitive content from making it to your browser or iChat window. This is a great tool for parents who want to make sure the kids aren't visiting inappropriate sites, or being sought out in chat rooms by predators.
Like OS X's built-in firewall protection on steroids, NetBarrier monitors all incoming and outgoing activity, and blocks any attempt to connect to your computer from unauthorized visitors. It works well with Apple's Remote Desktop software, and is highly configurable, allowing you to determine how sensitive it is to outside attacks. We were surprised when NetBarrier caught two attempts to infiltrate our server shortly after installing it. Most likely, these attempts would have not resulted in any damage, because of the way our server is configured--but it was nice to see that it caught the attempts.
Although similar to the junk mail filters built into OS X's Mail or Microsoft Entourage, Personal AntiSpam keeps track of statistics on how much of your email is spam, and also has a special database of URLs from which most spam comes. It combines a variety of methods to block most spam, and like Mail and Entourage, will learn from those things you tag as junk.
With the excellent backup program Personal Backup, you can clone or synchronize folders or entire volumes. It will even make bootable copies of your startup drive. We like this program better than most programs on the market--including Apple's Backup--for its intuitive interface that is still rich in features.
Personal AntiVirus checks all files you receive, whether through email, downloaded through a browser or copied from removable media such as CD-ROMs or Zip drives. It can also catch viruses that are attached as macros in Microsoft Word or Excel files.
Perhaps the most impressive item in this collection is the extensive documentation provided on the CD. Not only do you get thorough instructions for using all of the programs, but you get a bit of a history or explanation as to why they are necessary as well. We found this especially enlightening, as it seemed to give us a better reason to spend the time installing and configuring the software.
While there are other security programs from a variety of vendors, none offers as complete of a package as Intego's Internet Security Barrier.
-CHUCK ROGERS
Internet Security Barrier, Platinum Edition: 
Intego | www.intego.com | 512-637-0700 | $150
Pros: Excellent documentation, utilities work well and offer many configuration options, easy to pick and choose which applications to install.
Cons: The NetUpdate feature, which is supposed to provide automatic updates for the components, was unnecessarily confusing.
Requires: OS 8, OS 9 or OS 10.1.1 or higher, PowerPC, 64MB RAM, Internet connection
macHOME recommends: OS 10.2.8 or higher, 512MB RAM (if installing all components)
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