Some time ago I looked at BullGuard Internet Security 9.0 and found it did a good job of protecting my system from a range of security risks. I recently heard that version 10 has been released so in this article we’ll take a look at what’s new.

First off, the interface remains generally the same, with a few cosmetic differences, which is a relief. Getting used to a security product is complex enough so it really helps when the interface is consistent between versions.

The user interface uses a panel style display with large icons for the various key functions available, including “Scan for viruses”, “Allow/block programs”, “Run Inspector”, “Backup your data”, “Contact Support” and a couple of others mostly relating to updates and your account.

One new option is the “Run Inspector” option which can scan your computer for unsafe programs.

It was a little disconcerting to see the Inspector identify 14 unsafe programs on my Windows 7 PC. However, it’s important to remember that unsafe doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be there – what Inspector is saying is that they need updating and this is where, for my system, BullGuard offers links to updates for Adobe Air, Sun Java JRE, WebEx Player, Firefox, and other programs which may have missed the “Keep it patched and updated” routine.

There are other new features including Automatic Shutdown Protection (stop those gremlin apps disabling BullGuard), password protection in BullGuard, Safe Browsing, and Behavioural Detection. This last option is quite interesting as BullGuard have built in technology to detect none standard actions applications might try and perform on the operating system – this could potentially trap new viruses before they can do any damage.

You get a 5GB online backup facility with BullGuard Internet Security 10 which can be upgraded all the way up to 100GB and the wizard is helpful in walking you through the various configuration settings for protecting files and emails. You can also synchronise your backup, compress it and encrypt it for added protection. One of the other advantages that I like about BullGuard is that it has an annually renewable three-PC option for a reasonable price (you can downgrade to a single PC) and also a five-PC option for a small additional charge.

I thought PC Pro was a bit mean to say the interface is ugly, functional might have been a better term, but overall they did say “fairly effective protection package that’s good value if you need the backup feature” and I have to agree with those findings.

You can learn more by visiting BullGuard Internet Security 10.