How to mount encrypted VeraCrypt or other volumes on an Android device - H2S Media

How to mount encrypted VeraCrypt or other volumes on an Android device - H2S Media
Best apps to get your phone’s screen on PC - The Android Soul
What’s the Best Way to Use the Cloud to Store Personal Data? - Wall Street Journal
McAfee 2020 Antivirus solutions review - Techradar

Posted: 18 Feb 2020 12:50 AM PST

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If you want to encrypt everything on your computer there are a number of encrypting solutions are available out there. One of the most popular and strong encryption solutions among those that are available is VeraCrypt which is an open-source encryption solution that runs on most systems.

However, as VeraCrypt is an open-source solution to encrypt all your sensitive files, a question might come in your mind, how to mount VeraCrypt volumes on your Android device. From time to time, you need to carry certain files from one place to the other, and if you need to work with the encrypted files on the go, mounting them on your Android device is the only solution. Even after being an open-source solution, VeraCrypt doesn't officially support Android devices, but there is a workaround that can enable the option to mount VeraCrypt volumes on your Android device. Today, I will discuss, how to do that here.

You can also see, how you can set up a VeraCrypt volume on your computer and store all your sensitive files there. I have mainly discussed, how you can create a virtual VeraCrypt volume to store all your sensitive files within it, and that seems to be a versatile solution rather than encrypting a complete physical volume.

So, without any further delay, let's get started with how you can Mount VeraCrypt volumes on your Android device and limitations that you might face.

Mounting VeraCrypt on Android

On your Android device open the Google Play Store and download EDS Lite, or you can even purchase the EDS app for your Android device, which will cost you around INR 480 or around $6-$7. Here, I am using the EDS Lite app, as that will be useful for almost all the tasks.

The question might come to your mind about the limitations of the lite edition. Well, EDS Lite is the free and open-source addition of EDS, and it comes with significant limitations, however, if you just want to Mount VeraCrypt volumes read and write to those volumes on your Android device, you will not face any issues. Another point is that both the apps are developed by the same developer, i.e. sovworks. You can also download the source code of EDS Lite from Github, and can modify it as per your requirements, obviously if you know what you are doing and you have coding skills.

After you have downloaded and installed the EDS Lite on your Android device, open the app and tap on the hamburger icon on the top left corner of the app. Now, tap on 'Manage containers'.

Now, tap on the '+' button.

Mounting an existing volume

Now, you will get two options. You can either create a new container or can even mount an existing container. Here container refers to a volume. First, I will talk about, how you can mount an existing container, aka. Volume. To do that, tap on the 'Add existing container' button.

Now, in the menu that appears, change the 'Container format' to 'VeraCrypt', by tapping on the 'Change' button.

Now, you will have to select the path, where the VeraCrypt volume is located. I am sure, you have copied the VeraCrypt volume to your Android in some way or the other. Just tap on the 'Select path' button, and locate select the VeraCrypt volume. Finally, tap on the small tick button. Now, just tap on the tick button once again to exit the process of adding a new volume.

Now, the VeraCrypt volume will be displayed to you. Just keep tapping the back button, unless you come back to the home screen of the app.

VeraCrypt volume will be displayed on Android EDS Lite

Now, tap on the hamburger icon again, and you will find the VeraCrypt volume added by you. Here FAT is the name of the volume.

In the next step, enter the password for the volume, and tap on 'OK'.

The contents of the VeraCrypt volume will be displayed to you now.

contents of the VeraCrypt volume on Android

The volume will be there mounted unless you manually dismount the volume, or at least make EDS Lite ask the password next time you try opening the same. Just tap on the hamburger icon, and then tap on the small shield icon corresponding to the volume.

EDS Lite ask the password to open volume content

Now, you will have to enter the password for the volume, the next time you try to see the contents or modify anything within the volume.

Creating a new volume

Among the two options that you get, tap on 'Create new container' to get started creating a new container or volume.

Now, change the 'Container format' to 'VeraCrypt', set a path of the container, by tapping on the 'Select path' button, 'Container password', by tapping on the 'Change' button, 'Container size', Encryption and Hashing algorithm, and so on. You should also enter the name of the file or the virtual volume that you are creating. Finally, tap on the tick mark. Here, vera is the name of the volume.

Now, tap on the hamburger icon again, and tap on the name of the new container created by you.

As usual, enter the password, like you did, at the time of mounting the drive, and you can add new files to the volume. Afterwards, you can mount the volume on VeraCrypt running on your computer in the usual way.

After you have completed all your work with the VeraCrypt volume on EDS Lite, it is a safe idea to unmount all the volume. To do that, just pull down the notification dashboard and tap on 'Close all EDS Connections'. This will immediately close all the connections, and the volumes will be unmounted.

EDS Lite makes it possible to mount your VeraCrypt or other encrypted volumes right on your smartphone running Android. This can be useful in several situations, to say the least. Even though, there are certain limitations on the ways you can read and write files from encrypted volumes using the app you should still keep the app installed on your Android device to get the best out of your encrypted volumes.

Among the major limitations that you can find in EDS Lite is, you cannot mount NTFS or volumes formatted in other formats using EDS Lite. So, you are pretty much limited to the fat file system when it comes to mounting encrypted volumes using EDS Lite. You can, however, mount exFAT volumes but that will require an additional plugin to be installed, which you can download here.

Another limitation is that you cannot open the content of the containers for the volumes in your favourite File Manager to get a better experience of reading and writing files to the containers. Even though there is an option in settings that should enable the feature to open the contents of the volumes in a different file manager but I can't get it working for me.

In spite of all the potential limitations of EDS Lite, this is still a great encryption tool that you can use on your Android which supports several encryption solutions. So, that was all about you can mount encrypted VeraCrypt volumes on your Android device using EDS Lite. Do you have any questions? Feel free to comment on the same below.

Best apps to get your phone’s screen on PC - The Android Soul

Posted: 24 Feb 2020 10:29 AM PST

Many times than not, you might find yourself in a situation that requires you to constantly reach for your phone while you're working on your computer or you are simply too lazy to move to where your phone is to check for notifications. What if we tell you that you no longer need to have your phone with you but instead use your PC to see your messages and notifications that are on your phone? Fantastic, right?

In this article, we'll share a handful of the best apps that you can use to get your Android phone's screen on your PC and control them with the mouse and keyboard on your computer. Here are our favorite solution for streaming your Android device screen on a PC.

AirDroid: Remote access & File

AirDroid has been existence for so long that you might have previously run into it for some of its other features. And that's pretty much right since the app is for those of you who won't make do for anything less than everything.

You can cast your phone's screen onto your PC, transfer files to and fro between devices, see and reply to text messages and access other notifications from your phone. More importantly, you don't need an additional app on your PC to access your phone's screen; a web browser will do.

Download: AirDroid

RELATED:

TeamViewer for Remote Control

Used majorly by enterprise users, TeamViewer is one of the superior choices for remotely accessing your devices, be it your phone or your PC. The service has apps across several platforms, meaning you can use TeamViewer to stream your Android phone on a Windows PC or on macOS.

The app uses 256 Bit AES Session Encoding and 2048 Bit RSA Key Exchange to encrypt the data between your PC and smartphone so that no one except you can gain access to your screen. In addition to screencasting, the app can also stream real-time sounds, transfer files, manage contacts, and even lets you chat between the two devices.

Download: TeamViewer

RELATED:

Your Phone Companion – Link to Windows

Having debuted the feature in March 2019, Microsoft has been quick to streamline the Your Phone Companion app for Android. The app lets you link your phone entirely with your PC but the catch is that it will only work if you own a Windows PC.

You can reply to your text messages, access your mobile apps, receive and manage your phone's notifications; all on your PC. The highlight of this app is that you can also make and receive calls from your PC and also access the photos on your phone from your PC.

Download: Your Phone Companion

Vysor – Android control on PC

Vysor allows you to stream your content to your PC, Mac, Linux, or ChromeOS. You can use apps, play games, and take screenshots from your phone to your PC and control your device with a mouse and keyboard setup.

The only downside to Vysor is that the free version only offers screencasting through a wired connection. If you wish to go wireless, you will need to buy Vysor Pro which also happens to offer file sharing and casting at a higher quality.

Download: Vysor

ApowerMirror – Mirror&Control

ApowerMirror is an app primarily made for screen mirroring from Android to PC or Mac. The app can take full control of the screen using a mouse and a keyboard so that you can display presentations, enjoy movies, and play phone games.

The app offers you the convenience of typing messages different apps using the PC's I/O. Besides that, you can view notifications, incoming calls, although you won't be able to respond to them. Unlike Vysor, this app allows you to connect your phone to PC using WiFi or USB cable.

Download: ApowerMirror

AnyDesk Remote Control

AnyDesk works across all major platforms – Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. You can access apps, files, and settings from your phone on your PC and enjoy screen streaming at low latency. The app offers streaming at 60 fps frame rate and a bandwidth of 100 kB/s.

All data getting transferred is secured with TLS 1.2 encryption and 4096-bit RSA Key Exchange so that your data is safe and private. AnyDesk can be used to collaborate on projects with ease and troubleshoot your colleagues' devices through one-click unattended access.

Download: AnyDesk

Screen Stream over HTTP

Screen Stream over HTTP, as the name implies, allows streaming your device's screen from a web browser. While you do need an app on your smartphone, for the casting to work you do not need to install an app on the device you will be streaming on. The app works with WiFi or mobile network and supports both IPv4 and IPv6 protocols.

Screen Stream uses MJPEG to encode screen images which is supported by a majority of web browsers including Chrome, Safari, EDGE, and Firefox. You can connect an unlimited number of devices, all of which can be protected using a PIN with the ability to generate new PINs for each stream and upon each startup.

Download: Screen Stream over HTTP

Do you often stream your Android phone screen to your laptop/PC? If yes, which app do you use to get it done swiftly? Let us know in the comments below.

Posted: 23 Feb 2020 07:02 PM PST

Cloud storage can be a worrisome proposition, particularly as our digital archives grow. Should you back up everything to the cloud, or just some things? Is there data you shouldn't store in the cloud? And which services should you trust? • No definitive blueprint exists for proper care of your archives, but there are a number of strategies to consider as digital security becomes more of a concern. The Wall Street Journal hosted an email conversation with three experts on cloud storage and the security and privacy issues around it: Alexis Hancock, a staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation; Ray Lucchesi,...

McAfee 2020 Antivirus solutions review - Techradar

Posted: 18 Feb 2020 06:18 AM PST

Please note

This is our all-in-one roundup reviewing every McAfee consumer security solution for 2020. On this page, after our brief intro, you'll find

(a) a full evaluation of the entry-level McAfee Total Protection, along with our reviews of the additional features incorporated with the rest of the range:

(b) McAfee Total Protection Multi-Device, and

You can jump to the reviews of those individual products by clicking on the links in the bar at the top of this page, but bear in mind that this article is really designed to be read all the way through, as the features of McAfee Total Protection are also present in the higher-level security suites, of course.

Most security vendors offer a wide range of products: a basic antivirus, a simple security suite, a more comprehensive security suite, and an 'ultimate premium' security suite with bundled extras and other bits and pieces thrown in to catch your attention.

McAfee's consumer range is much simpler, and in fact mostly built around one product. McAfee Total Protection is a one-stop security suite which includes antivirus, a firewall, spam filter, malicious URL blocking, file encryption, a password manager, secure file deletion, app and web performance boosters, plus even basic free Identity Theft Protection for US customers.

McAfee Total Protection is available in three flavors.

McAfee Total Protection Individual gets you Windows antivirus, a firewall, malicious URL filtering, a password manager, encryption for your most sensitive files, and secure file deletion for when you don't want those files around any longer. It's priced at $35 for a one-year, one device license, $80 on renewal.

McAfee Total Protection Multi-Device throws identity theft protection into the mix, with dark web monitoring to look out for your personal details. It covers any mix of up to five PCs, Mac, Android or iOS devices, but only costs a little more at $40 for year one, $100 on renewal.

McAfee Total Protection Family extends the feature set with parental controls, covering up to 10 devices for $45 in year one, $120 on renewal. The equivalent Bitdefender Total Security license is fractionally cheaper ($50 for year one, $100 on renewal), while Kaspersky Total Security is more expensive ($75, renewing at $150), but McAfee looks like fair value for the features you get.

McAfee Total Protection Individual

(Image credit: McAfee)

Installing McAfee Total Protection was a lengthy nightmare during our last review, but this time, fortunately, it was very different. There were no error messages, no delays, no hassles of any kind: the setup tool just downloaded the full Total Protection package, installed it on our hard drive and let us know when it was done. Simple.

The installation did have one unusual aspect. We installed Total Protection on a system already equipped with Kaspersky Security Cloud installed, just to see what it would do. Most antivirus package will ask you to remove competing software to avoid conflicts, but McAfee's installer said nothing at all.

Does this matter? It probably depends on the user. If McAfee might conflict with other security software, enabling newbies to run two antivirus apps side by side is likely to be a bad idea. But if you're an expert, confident you can reconfigure one antivirus to reduce the chance of problems, and sure you can cope with whatever issues arise, you might see this as an advantage.

After installation was complete, Total Protection prompted us to reboot. We did, and again there were no hassles or unexpected events – no sign of change other than a shiny new McAfee icon in our system tray.

(Image credit: McAfee)

Interface

The McAfee Total Protection interface grabs far more valuable screen real-estate than most, yet does almost nothing with it.

The expansive opening screen contains a big green tick to show your security status, for instance, but has barely any other useful content.

The rest of the console is largely wasted with a button to help you protect other devices, pointless system information ('we are protecting 309 apps/connections/tasks'; is that good, bad? how are you supposed to know?), a button to view a security report, and a large panel recommending that you set up the password manager, or optimize your apps.

These might have some value, but we would much rather have a button to launch a Quick Scan, a line that tells us when our definitions were last updated, or something with real practical value.

Clicking a small icon that comprises of three dots reveals a more detailed status report of Total Protection's various features, so for instance you can confirm that antivirus, the firewall and update system are all working correctly. That's the kind of information which should be visible at a glance, rather than hidden, but at least it's only a click away.

It's not obvious, but this status display also doubles as a menu, and for example clicking the Virus Scan status loads the Scan dialog.

You can also click various tabs at the top of the screen – PC Security, PC Performance, My Privacy – to view separate panels with their own groups of features. These also waste plenty of space, so for instance the PC Performance area includes only three useful elements: a couple of buttons and an on/off status indicator. We've seen more features on desktop widgets.

This approach could have some appeal to casual users who might be overwhelmed by lots of buttons or technical information, but more experienced types might become frustrated.

(Image credit: McAfee)

Antivirus

McAfee Total Protection keeps its antivirus scanning options to a minimum: just a Quick Scan, a Full System Scan and the ability to scan custom items directly from the Explorer right-click menu.

What you don't get is a specific removable drives scan, a custom scan you can define from the interface, or the ability to set up a new scan type or define how it works. For example, Avast's Windows products can be used to set up a scan which checks specific file types in the folders you need, using the scanning technologies and rules you define, and you can then run that scan whenever you like. There's nothing like that here.

Scan times were a little slower than average, although acceptable.

Scan reports are poor, and short on detail. Our first Quick Scan proudly displayed 'Issues: 0' at the top, while also stating 'All issues fixed', 'We wiped out all the threats on your PC' and listing cryptic names of three threats it had removed.

As Total Protection hadn't asked us if it could remove these 'threats', we clicked on the first, 'JTI/Suspect.19661214ca37a5b9d3b', in the hope of finding out exactly what the program had just deleted.

(Image credit: McAfee)

A browser window opened with a lengthy URL including multiple parameters, presumably intended to display a page with more details. But this immediately redirected to the front page of McAfee's Threat Center, with no more information at all.

A 'View Details' button was also less than helpful, telling us the engine had detected three dangerous files, but not what or where they were.

Eventually we found the details we needed in the Quarantine section, but it really shouldn't take so much effort to locate such fundamental information.

We noticed another oddity in the Details screen suggesting McAfee's Quick Scan checks files only, ignoring processes, critical system files or boot records. If true, that's disappointing; we think checking running processes should be one of the key elements of a Quick Scan.

(Image credit: AV-Comparatives)

Protection

AV-Comparatives' Real-World Protection Test is an intensive benchmark which pits 16 of the world's biggest antivirus engines against the very latest threats. The company runs 10 tests every year, making it a great way to monitor particular vendors over time.

McAfee's most recent test performance was average, with the July-October summary report placing the company in 8th place with a protection rate of 99.4%.

That's a long way behind the leaders – Avira and Symantec blocked 100% of threats – but it's ahead of some big-name competition, including Avast (99.3%), F-Secure (99.3%) and even Kaspersky (99.1%).

(Image credit: McAfee)

The AV-Test Home Windows report for October 2019 broadly matches this picture, with McAfee not at the top of the list, but performing well enough to earn it one of AV-Test's 'Top Product' awards.

We can't begin to compete with the time and resources the big testing labs put into their work, but what we can do is add to their findings with a small test of our own.

We have created a very, very simple ransomware simulator which spiders through a folder tree, reading and encrypting images, audio files, Office documents and more. By running this on a review system, we're aiming to see whether an antivirus can detect undiscovered ransomware by behavior alone, and discover how many files, if any, might be lost before an attack can be stopped.

The results were disappointing, as McAfee Total Protection left our simulator to run to completion and encrypt thousands of files. Other tools typically do much better, with, for instance, Kaspersky Security Cloud Free 2020 not only detecting and killing the simulator, but also recovering the very few files our program had managed to encrypt.

However, this result should be interpreted with care. McAfee may have missed our test program, unlike the best of the competition, but we can't be sure why or what that tells us about the security suite overall. What we do know from the lab tests is that McAfee can detect most real-world malware from behavior alone, and that's the most important result.

(Image credit: McAfee)

Firewall

Total Protection includes a firewall which automatically makes intelligent choices about which programs on your system can access the internet. This is mostly tucked away within the interface, and most users won't ever have to know of its existence.

Experts get access to a wide range of firewall settings, including the ability to open or close specific ports, or define custom rules for individual applications. These options are harder to find than we'd like, though, and it took us some time to begin to figure out what was possible.

Even then, we were often puzzled. The firewall has an Intrusion Detection system, for instance, but it's turned off by default, only has two settings (Basic or High) and even the web knowledgebase has no real information on what it does and the consequences of turning it on (or off).

(Image credit: McAfee)

More features

Total Protection's spam filter wasn't installed by default in our previous review, but this time it set itself up correctly, added an extension to our Outlook setup and began filtering mail.

Performance was excellent, with the filter detecting most spam and not falsely flagging any legitimate emails. But if this doesn't work for you, a wide range of settings enable customizing the protection to suit your needs.

(Image credit: McAfee)

The True Key Password Manager allows for creating and syncing passwords across up to five devices. It's strong on multifactor authentication methods – email, fingerprint, second device, Windows Hello, more – but not so good in other areas, with no general form-filling abilities and no secure password sharing.

A Vulnerability Scanner is supposed to check for and install missing application updates, but it did nothing for us. We tried two ways of launching it, and in each case nothing happened; there was no new dialog box, no error message, nothing at all.

Other apparent features of the program are entirely separate tools which you must download and install separately. Clicking 'Protect Me On The Web' opens the website for McAfee WebAdvisor, for instance, a browser extension which defends you against malware, malicious sites and more. It's handy, but it's also available for free, and you don't have to buy Total Protection to use it.

(Image credit: McAfee)

The feature list continues in the PC Performance area, where you'll find a couple of speedup options.

App Boost optimizes CPU and I/O priorities for foreground applications to improve performance. This won't make much difference – sometimes it'll have no noticeable effect at all – but the company suggests you could see an 11-14% speed increase in the targeted apps, which, if true, is worth having.

A Web Boost feature sounds promising, but it's just a separate module which stops videos automatically playing on your choice of many popular websites (YouTube, Netflix, Twitch.tv, Skype.com, ClickMeeting.com and many more). It's a reasonable idea, and may well make web browsing a little less annoying (a worthwhile goal all on its own), but it's probably not going to deliver much of a speed boost.

There are multiple minor tools to explore. A QuickClean option removes tracking cookies and temporary files, and can be scheduled to run automatically. A Shredder securely deletes confidential files so they can't be undeleted, and a Network Monitor looks for intruders connecting to your Wi-Fi. Experienced users will probably have more powerful freeware tools already, but these are easy to use and convenient to access, and add a little extra value to the suite.

(Image credit: McAfee)

Final verdict

McAfee Total Protection has lots of features, but none are outstanding, and they're not always well implemented (the interface isn't great, the vulnerability scanner simply didn't work). It's hard to see why you would choose this package when others are faster, cheaper, more accurate or easier to use.

McAfee Total Protection Multi-Device

(Image credit: McAfee)

As you might guess from the name, McAfee Total Protection Multi-Device isn't just another Windows-based security tool; it has apps for Android, iOS and Mac, too.

The standard license covers five devices, too, up from the miserly one you'll get with Total Security Individual.

Turn on auto-renewal for your subscription and US users also get access to McAfee's ID Theft Protection Essentials service, which monitors the web for signs of trouble and helps you recover from any problems it finds.

That's an unusual feature for a security suite, and it doesn't seem to have bumped up the price. Despite its premium functionality, McAfee Total Protection Multi-Device costs a very reasonable $40 for a five device, one-year license, $100 on renewal. Norton 360 with LifeLock Select, another major suite with identity theft protection, is priced at a relatively chunky $100 for year one, $150 after that.

Multi-platform

McAfee's Android app is a capable product with all the essential technology you'll find in the Windows version, along with a bunch of more mobile-oriented tools.

The free edition of the app includes on-demand scanning, anti-theft (GPS blocking, remote cleaning, more), and useful reports highlighting which apps are using the most data. Of course, there are ads, too.

The paid version removes the ads and throws in browsing protection, device cleaning, an app locker and related Guest Mode (control the apps a guest can see on your device), a battery booster and extra protection from unsecured Wi-Fi networks. It's a quality set of tools, and the current 4.5-star rating on the Google Play store suggests most users are happy.

McAfee's iOS offering also has a free version with basic functions, including wireless scanning, anti-theft and a media vault to securely store private photos and videos. The paid edition also blocks malicious links via McAfee's Safe Web, and protects you from phishing sites and ARP Spoofing (that's low-level network trickery).

McAfee's Mac edition doesn't have as many extras, but still more than covers the essentials, with antivirus, firewall and browsing protection.

(Image credit: McAfee)

Identity Theft Protection

Total Protection has a more interesting and unusual extra in a separate Identity Theft protection service for its US customers.

Cyber Monitoring is one of the service highlights, regularly checking the dark web for personal details including your social security number, email addresses, phone numbers, banking and credit card details, driver's license, passport and more. If any of your information shows up online in a data breach, you'll be alerted.

Other features include Social Media Monitoring which alerts you to risks with the content you're sharing, and an optional Social Security Number trace and Address Change Monitoring service which could warn you of scammers trying to steal and use your personal details.

This is still a relatively basic product. You won't get to see your credit report, for instance, or be warned when your score changes, and there's no monitoring of loan or credit card applications, court or criminal records.

If you've no plans to buy separate identity theft protection, anyway, this won't matter much. Whatever the McAfee service gives you, it'll be better than what you'd have otherwise.

But if you've very specific ideas on what you need, or maybe you're looking for the best possible protection, it's probably wise to go shopping for it separately. Check out McAfee's standalone Identity Theft Protection plans to get an idea of what's available, and what it might cost.

(Image credit: McAfee)

Overall value

Thinking of buying McAfee Total Protection Individual? Then stop! Unless you're completely sure you'll only ever want to protect a single PC, signing up for McAfee Total Protection Multi-Device makes a lot more sense. It's only fractionally more expensive than Total Protection Individual ($40 in year one, $100 on renewal, as opposed to $35 and $80 respectively), yet covers up to five devices rather than one, and supports Android, iOS and Mac, as well as Windows.

Whether Total Protection Multi-Device is good enough to make you choose McAfee in the first place – well, that's more open to question. Probably not, although McAfee's identity protection service might just win you over.

McAfee Total Protection Family

(Image credit: McAfee)

McAfee Total Protection Family doubles your device allowance to a generous 10, but the price stays much the same. You'll pay $45 in year one, and $120 on renewal.

The upgrade gets you another major benefit in McAfee's Safe Family, a parental controls package for Windows, Android and iOS (beware, it doesn't work on Mac). That's a big deal, because this isn't the usual feeble security suite addition; McAfee sells it as a standalone app for $50 a year.

Safe Family's core features are much as you'd expect. You're able to block websites by content type, restrict access to specific apps, or limit device access to particular times of the day.

(Image credit: McAfee)

The package is easy to configure, too. Safe Family uses default settings based on the age of your child, getting you off to a quick start, then you can tweak them further to suit your needs.

Furthermore, it's flexible. You can add multiple schedules to decide exactly when your kids can and can't use their devices. If the content filter doesn't quite suit your needs, you're able to allow or block your chosen websites. And, unusually, Safe Family recognizes that absolute rules don't always work. If your kids need more screen time, or want to access a specific site, a Requests messaging system allows them to ask you, and – if you approve – they can benefit right away.

Safe Family does a good job of keeping you up to date on what your kids are doing. As soon as it's set up, you're able to view the apps and websites they're accessing, along with any attempts to break the rules. You can even check the location of your kids' device on a map.

(Image credit: McAfee)

It's far from perfect – we'd like more content filtering categories, for instance, and there's no built-in protection to prevent anyone uninstalling the Windows edition – but Safe Family tramples all over the parental controls tools in most security suites.

If you need a decent parental controls system, and you have lots of devices to protect, McAfee Total Protection Family might be a sensible choice. Its $45 cost in year one is only $10 more than you'll pay for the basic Total Protection Individual, so there's minimal risk. Check out the trial, see how it works for you.

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