OPSWAT GEARS is designed to highlight security issues on individual Windows 7+ PCs or Macs, or manage security across your whole network (maximum 25 devices in the free version).
Launch the program and it starts to scan your computer, evaluating the results and presenting them in a tabbed report.
"Security Score" rates your system security out of 100. Clicking the "Security Score" tab reveals how it's calculated: you're rated on whether you have antivirus, antiphishing, an active firewall, patch management is enabled (Windows Update is turned on, we suspect), hard drive encryption and so on.
The "AppRemover" tab lists "potentially unwanted applications", anything the program thinks might compromise your security (filesharing applications, say). If you agree then you can uninstall any of the highlighted programs in a couple of clicks.
OPSWAT GEARS also scans running processes and other key files with OPSWAT Metascan, a VirusTotal-like service which checks the files with 40+ antivirus engines.
The program's best feature is probably Session Shield, a secure isolated desktop. This can launch many applications on your system, access and edit existing data, or create new files, but when you exit the session all these changes will be lost.
In addition, Session Shield uses a proxy service to give you another IP address, and disables USB ports, network shares and printers to further reduce the chance of data leaks.
All this works just fine from a single computer, but OPSWAT GEARS also allows you to manage the security of many devices from the cloud. If you've several family or work PCs, for example, you can monitor their security score for any changes.
Please note, the Download link takes you to a registration page. You must provide your email address to download the program.
Verdict:
OPSWAT GEARS would benefit from a portable version, something you can take anywhere to check the state of an individual computer. But even as it stands, this is a handy tool. The Security Score might highlight problems for security novices, Session Shield's isolated desktop is a plus for experts, and the antivirus scan is a worthwhile extra.
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