The First Antivirus Built for Family IT Support Misses the Mark on Protection

Splashtop launched more than 20 years ago, and in its heyday, shipped on 300 million PCs. We've tested the company's remote access solution and rate it an excellent four stars. The company has now released an antivirus , Splashtop Shield , with unique features informed by its extensive experience with remote access. I took it for a spin and concluded it's not quite ready.

Fair Pricing, Average Value

Remote care for your family's antivirus is a key feature for Splashtop, so even the Individual license ($36 per year) covers two computers. For $60 per year, a Family Lite license covers up to five devices (PCs or Macs). The full Family subscription, which covers 10 devices, costs $99 per year.

Pricewise, Splashtop is roughly in the middle of its competition at the five-license tier. At the low end, you pay $34 per year for a five-license subscription to K7 AntiVirus Premium and $49.95 for G Data Antivirus . On the pricey end, TotalAV Antivirus Pro costs $99 per year, Webroot Essentials costs $89.99 per year, and Norton AntiVirus Plus costs $84.99 per year.

I'm not sure how many consumers need 10 antivirus licenses, but at that tier, Splashtop's price is in line with the norm. ZoneAlarm Pro Antivirus + Firewall and Panda Dome Essential cost about the same, with a few competitors going for less and a few for more.

Bulletproof Remote Security Meets Centralized Control

While Splashtop offers thoroughly secure remote access, not all remote access tools maintain sufficient security. A porous remote access system can provide an entry point for scammers and hackers. Splashtop's co-founder Mark Lee explained that "making that entire remote experience secure has also been a major undertaking for us." In addition to functioning as a full-blown antivirus, Splashtop Shield blocks all remote access tools that you haven't actively marked as trusted.

When you sign up for Splashtop Shield, it opens the essential online control console. You, as the Family Guardian, are the keeper of this console. For each family member, you send a message with instructions to install the local app. The first thing the local installer installs is Splashtop Streamer, the company's own remote-control app, followed by the antivirus app. Family members can perform tasks such as launching an antivirus scan, but all configuration settings are controlled by the Family Guardian.  

Hands-On Testing: A Mixed Bag of Protection

To get a feel for the program, I put it through my usual antivirus testing regimen . In my simple test using local malware samples, it scored 7.8 of 10 possible points, the lowest among recent products and close to an all-time low. When tested with the same set of malware samples, Sophos Home Premium scored 9.9 points, while Malwarebytes Premium Security scored 9.8 points. Avast One Free , AVG AntiVirus Free , and Norton all took 9.7 points.

This malware blocking test starts by noting any samples that the antivirus wipes out on sight. Splashtop caught three-quarters of the samples right away. To continue the test, I launched the remaining samples. Splashtop's remote access protection flagged one of those samples as an unapproved remote access app. It advised cutting off the connection immediately, especially if someone convinced you to install the remote control app.

I maintain a copy of my malware sample collection, each sample hand-modified to have a different filename and file size, and with some non-executable bytes changed. An antivirus that detects many or most of these clearly has a flexible malware recognition system, while one that misses a lot may be too rigid. Almost all recent products caught at least 50% of these one-off samples. Avast didn't miss a single one. Splashtop has the dubious distinction of failing to recognize even one of the modified samples, not even the virulent ransomware ones.

For a different view, I use hundreds of newly discovered malware-hosting URLs generously supplied by MRG-Effitas. I launch each and note whether the antivirus steered the browser away from danger, eliminated the malware download, or sat on its thumbs doing nothing. Out of 100 verified samples, Splashtop Shield blocked 86%, all by wiping out the download. That's a poor score—only a handful of competitors have scored lower. Avira Free Security and Panda Free Antivirus managed a perfect 100% in this test, and several others reached 99%.

Splashtop's protection against dangerous and fraudulent URLs operates below the browser level, so no browser extension is required. However, it didn't block access to any of the malware-hosting URLs I used for testing. I might have thought it was inactive, except that it sprang into action when challenged with phishing URLs.

For my phishing protection test, I scraped many hundreds of potential phishing frauds from websites that collect them. Splashtop did a great job, detecting 99% of verified fraud attempts and replacing them with a warning page. That 99% score is good, but a dozen competitors reached 100% in this test, including Bitdefender Antivirus Plus , McAfee AntiVirus , and Webroot Essentials .

Total Machine Control for the Family 'Guardian'

As noted, you, the Guardian, have full control over settings for your family members. They, in turn, can call on you if something goes wrong. The Family Support page in the main Splashtop app explains the process.

First, the Guardian triggers a remote help session. The family member in need must approve the remote session. They can see exactly what you're doing, and can end the session at any time. That's an important reassurance, because when you, the Guardian, take control, you can do absolutely anything at the family member's computer.

In testing, I had a terrible time getting this feature to work. I went back and forth with Splashtop support over nearly a week. In the end, we concluded that my virtual machine test environment might not be suitable. Indeed, when my support contact let me add his remote laptop to my "family," I had no trouble taking control.

I mentioned earlier that the Splashtop Streamer client gets installed alongside Splashtop Shield. This app handles the remote connection from the family member's computer. It turns out that the Guardian's computer needs a separate client called Splashtop Remote Help. The first time you try to use Remote Help, this app gets installed. With the remote help app in place, all I needed was permission to take control of the family computer.

From my remote-control session, I found I could use the remote computer just as if I were sitting in front of it. I could open Splashtop Shield, view logs, manage quarantined items, launch scans, anything! I could also read documents, launch apps other than the antivirus, and even reboot the remote system.

A small control panel centered at the top of the screen offers icons for tasks such as ending the session, switching to another monitor, sending Ctrl+Alt+Del to reboot the remote, and adjusting the size of the remote desktop. I found I could also invoke a menu of advanced features, such as blanking the remote screen, remapping the keyboard, and copying/pasting from my computer to the remote. I don't imagine these advanced features will get a lot of use.

The Verdict: Hold Off for Now

Splashtop isn't the only antivirus that lets you remotely control antivirus protection for family members. Sophos Home Premium is a top example, with full remote antivirus control for up to 10 members. But Splashtop goes beyond merely managing antivirus remotely, giving you full control over all aspects of the remote computer.

Unfortunately, the antivirus component isn't as advanced. None of the big labs that I follow has put it to the test, and it tanked most of my hands-on tests. To be fair, this is a relatively new app. Once it's had time to settle and evolve a bit, I'll consider giving it a full review.

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