In terms of features, G Data delivers on a lot of what you’d expect from a complete suite. G Data’s easy-to-use interface doesn’t degrade user experience by hiding security status. As many other programs, this program uses a green tick or a caption to indicate the security status.
The program also does a fantastic job of detecting and blocking new malware. The ‘virus monitor’ which transmits your web traffic to G Data’s cloud service not only updates the virus definition file, it also blocks malware based on the behavior. G Data blocked all of the new malware that was not known to us we tested in our tests. There was only one false positive.
In AV Comparatives’ offline detection test, G Data scored even better than Bitdefender’s closest competitor did. This is probably due the program’s own DeepRay engine that can detect malware disguised as camouflaged by analyzing the actions that the malware is trying to carry out. Among other activities, it is looking for patterns that could be indicative of malicious intent, such as changing settings of other applications or monitoring keystrokes.
However it does fall short in a few areas that we consider crucial for an antivirus software suite. The program does NOT include a parental control, VPN or firewall. If you want those extras, you’ll need to purchase G Data’s more expensive Internet Security package. This is a significant disadvantage, particularly since top-of-the-line competitors such as Norton 360 and Bitdefender offer the same services for less or less.