eScan Review: Is It a Trusted Solution in 2024?

#1 eScan Review in 2024

eScan, an Indian brand that's been around in the antivirus world since 1993, has caught my attention recently. With so many threats lurking online, I decided it was time to take a closer look at what this security suite has to offer. Is it just another antivirus, or does it have something special up its sleeve?

In this eScan review, I'm going to examine eScan's features, performance, and overall effectiveness. I've spent a good amount of time testing every part of this software, and I'm excited to share my findings with you.

Here's what you'll learn in this eScan review:

• How well eScan protects against malware and online threats
• The impact it has on your system's performance
• The extra features it offers, like parental controls and data encryption
• How user-friendly the interface is
• Whether it's worth your money compared to other antivirus solutions

Let's jump right in and see what eScan has to offer!

In a Hurry? Here's a Quick Summary

If you're short on time, here's a quick overview of what I discovered during this eScan review:

What You'll Like:

• Wide range of security features
• Customizable scan options
• Two-factor authentication for enhanced security
• Data encryption tool for sensitive information

What You May Not Like:

• Outdated user interface
• High system resource usage during scans
• Web protection could be more effective
• Some features are not very intuitive to use
• Installation process can be confusing

What Makes This eScan Review Different?

You might have read other eScan reviews out there, but I promise you, this one is different. Many reviews just scratch the surface, repeating information from the company's website. That's not my style.

For this review, I went all in. I bought the eScan Total Security suite, installed it on my own computer, and spent weeks thoroughly testing it. I tested every feature, ran multiple scans, and even tried to trick it with some simulated threats.

I used my Dell XPS laptop with an Intel i7-1065G7 CPU and 16 GB of RAM running on Windows 11 for all the tests. This gave me a good idea of how eScan performs on a relatively modern system.

Throughout this eScan review, you'll find over 20 screenshots I took during my testing. These aren't just pretty pictures – they show you exactly what I saw and experienced while using eScan.

My goal is to give you an honest, detailed look at eScan based on real-world use. No unnecessary details, no sugar-coating – just the facts and my personal observations. So, let's get into it and see how eScan really performs!

Buying eScan

My journey with eScan started on their website, where I browsed through their product lineup. I have to say, finding the right product wasn't as simple as I'd hoped. The home user products are hidden under the "Product > SOHO Products" menu, which isn't very intuitive.

eScan offers several subscriptions: Anti-Virus, Internet Security, Universal Security, and Total Security. I decided to go for the Total Security version to test the full range of features.

The purchase process was handled by 2Checkout (Verizon) and went smoothly. I chose a one-year subscription, entered my details, and completed the payment. After the purchase, I received four emails: order confirmation, invoice, license key, and a download link. It was nice to have all this information, but I felt like it could have been consolidated into fewer emails.

Installation

One thing that surprised me was that the installer I downloaded from the email installed eScan version 14, not version 22 as advertised. This led to some frustration as I had to uninstall this older version, which caused a few errors and computer freezes. Not the best first impression, I must say.

To get the latest version, I had to download the free trial from their website. After installing it, I activated the product using the license key from my purchase email. Immediately after activation, I started an update because the definitions and program modules were about 18 months old. The update process was surprisingly slow, taking about 15 minutes to complete.

The installation is simple and straightforward.

This installation process was more complicated than I expected from a modern antivirus solution. It's definitely an area where eScan could improve to provide a smoother experience for new users.

Interface

When I first opened eScan, I was welcomed by a blue and silver interface that feels a bit... well, let's say "classic". It's not the most modern-looking antivirus I've seen, but it does pack a lot of features into one window.

eScan's main interface showing various security modules

The interface consists of 11 modules that contain the main features: file anti-virus, web and parental control, data encryption, endpoint security, mail antivirus, firewall, two-factor authentication, identity protection, anti-spam, firewall, and privacy control. You can actually move these modules around to customize the order, which is a nice touch.

At the top of the UI, you can see protection stats, the date of the last computer scan, and when the virus signatures were last updated. The bottom of the screen houses quick access buttons for the scanner, software updater, remote support, password configuration, license information, tools, and reports.

While the interface packs in a lot of information and options, it does feel a bit cramped. The window isn't resizable, and there are no themes to choose from, which might disappoint users who prefer a more customizable experience.

One thing I appreciated was the ability to rearrange the modules. This allowed me to put the features I use most often front and center. However, I couldn't help but feel that a more modern design would make navigating all these features easier and more intuitive.

Major Features

Up next, we’ll go over the standout attributes of eScan antivirus. We’ll explore its essential features and discuss their impact on your system’s safety.

Web Protection

Web protection is crucial in today's online environment, so I was keen to test eScan's capabilities in this area. The web protection features are found in the Web & Parental Control module. Here, you can activate the phishing filter and the malicious URL filter.

To put eScan's web browsing security to the test, I visited several known test sites across multiple browsers. Here's what I found:

• Malicious website test - eScan failed to block this site.
• WICAR - eScan blocked 11 out of 13 threats.
• AMTSO - eScan blocked 12 out of 15 threats.
• EICAR - eScan blocked 2 out of 4 test files.

These results are a bit mixed. While eScan performed well on some tests, it missed a few threats that I would expect a top-tier antivirus to catch. The failure to block the malicious website test was particularly concerning.

You can configure the web phishing filter to use either a normal filter (fast but with medium accuracy) or a smart filter (slower but with high accuracy). This level of customization is nice, allowing users to balance between speed and security based on their needs.

Overall, while eScan's web protection isn't bad, there's definitely room for improvement, especially when compared to some of the top performers in the market, such as Kaspersky and McAfee.

Scan

eScan offers a variety of scanning options to help keep your computer safe from threats. Let's take a closer look at what it can do.

The scan interface includes various scan options

When you click the Scan button at the bottom left of the main window, you're presented with several scanning options:

1. Scan Memory, Registry and Services: This quick scan checks these crucial areas of your system. In my test for this eScan review, it took about three minutes and found no threats.
2. Scan Computer: This is a full system scan. Before starting, you can choose actions for infected files, set scan priority, and select file types to scan.

Configuring scan settings before starting a full system scan

Interestingly, in my tests, all types of scans (quick, normal, and full) took about 12 minutes and scanned 210,000 files. Each scan detected and quarantined 1 infection and found two errors. I found it a bit odd that the scan times were identical regardless of the type of scan selected.

Results of a full system scan showing detected threats

1. Scan USB Drives: This option scans any USB drives connected to your system.
2. Scan CD-ROM: As the name suggests, this scans inserted CD-ROMs.
3. Scan Mobile: This scans mobile devices connected to your computer via USB.
4. Custom Scan: This allows you to configure a scan according to your specific needs, including options for scanning for spyware and adware, memory and registry items, startup items, and specific files and folders.
5. Scheduled Scan: You can set up automatic scans to run at specific times.

Setting up a scheduled scan in eScan

The scheduled scan feature is quite flexible. You can set scans to run once, daily, hourly, weekly, monthly, at system startup, or on a specific date and time.

While eScan offers a good range of scanning options, I was a bit puzzled by the identical scan times for different scan types. This made me wonder about the thoroughness of the different scan options. Additionally, the detection of only one threat across all scans on a test system raises questions about its effectiveness in finding potential threats.

Ransomware Protection

Ransomware is a growing threat, so I was particularly interested in testing eScan's ransomware protection capabilities. eScan uses what they call a Proactive Behavior Analysis Engine (PBAE) to monitor the activity of all processes, along with an Intelligent Shadow Backup mechanism to protect your data from ransomware attacks.

To put this to the test for this eScan review, I used a ransomware simulator. The results were decent – eScan successfully stopped 11 out of 22 ransomware simulation scenarios. This is below the average compared to other antivirus solutions I've tested. The avetage is 15/22.

While it's good to see that eScan can detect and stop some ransomware attacks, there's clearly room for improvement. In today's threat landscape, where ransomware is becoming increasingly sophisticated, I'd like to see a higher success rate in stopping these simulated attacks.

Firewall

eScan's firewall is another key component of its security suite. The firewall window includes the firewall status, filtration system, options to allow all connections or none, settings, reports, and views of summary and current network activity.

eScan's firewall interface allow you to configure various options and settings

You can configure the firewall in its Settings window, which offers five tabs:

1. Zone Rule: For configuring network access rules.
2. Expert Rule: For specifying advanced rules and settings.
3. Application Rule: For controlling which programs can access the internet.
4. Trusted MAC Address: For managing trusted devices.
5. Local IP List: For managing local IP addresses.

Detailed firewall settings in eScan

To test the efficacy of the firewall, I used a popular online firewall test tool. I'm happy to report that eScan passed this test, indicating that it's doing a good job of protecting against common network-based attacks.

While the firewall seems to be effective and offers a good level of customization for advanced users, the interface is a bit cluttered and potentially confusing for less tech-savvy users. It would be nice to see a more user-friendly design that makes it easier for all users to take advantage of these powerful features.

Parental Control

eScan's parental control feature is designed to help parents manage and monitor their children's online activities. The Parental Control window shows the active profile and allows you to configure it.

eScan's parental control interface includes options to select profiles

There are four pre-configured profiles:

1. Walled garden: Blocks all access except for whitelisted websites.
2. Teenager: Activates various filters like domain name filter, web page filter, and blocks Java applets.
3. Adolescent: Similar to Teenager but with additional filters.
4. Adult: Allows all traffic except blacklisted websites.

Configuring a parental control profile in eScan

You can edit these profiles to suit your needs. The configuration options include:

• Filter Categories: Allows you to block or allow access to various website categories.
• Site Names: Lets you block specific websites.
• Filter Options: Includes options like automatically adding rejected sites to the block category.

Setting up content filters in eScan's parental control

While eScan's parental control feature offers a good range of options, I found the interface a bit dated and not as intuitive as some other parental control software I've used. It gets the job done, but there's definitely room for improvement in terms of user-friendliness and modern features like screen time limits or detailed activity reports.

Data Encryption

In today's digital age, protecting sensitive data is crucial. eScan offers a Data Encryption module that lets you create a secure "Vault" to store confidential information.

eScan's data encryption interface lets you create a new data vault.

The Vault uses 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and HMAC-SHA 256-bit key, which is industry-standard encryption. To access the vault, you need to enter a password. Once you're in, the data is automatically decrypted, and when you close the vault, it's encrypted again.

Creating a vault is simple:

1. Click on Data Encryption
2. Click "Create new Data Vault"
3. Add folders or files to the Data Vault
4. Configure the Data Vault
5. Create a password

You can manage your vaults by renaming them, showing their location, creating desktop shortcuts, deleting them, changing passwords, or recovering them.

While the encryption feature works well, it's quite basic compared to dedicated encryption software. It's good for casual users who want to protect some sensitive files, but power users might find it lacking in advanced features.

Cloud Protection

eScan incorporates cloud-based security through its eScan Security Network (ESN) technology. This feature is designed to provide protection against current threats and identify and block new threats before they become widespread.

eScan's cloud protection interface shows cloud network statistics

The cloud-based protection promises to offer a quick response to new malware with an advanced level of detection. However, during my eScan review testing, it was hard to measure how effective this feature was in real-world scenarios. It's a nice addition, but I'd like to see more transparency about how it works and what kind of threats it's catching.

Email Protection

eScan's email protection features are found in the Mail Anti-Virus window. Here, you can configure scan options, view reports, and manage archived emails.

The email protection feature let you configure the mail antivirus and see reports.

The email protection includes features like:

• Blocking specific attachment types
• Configuring actions for infected emails
• Setting up ports for incoming and outgoing emails

Email archiving options in eScan

I found the email protection to be quite thorough, especially the ability to archive emails and attachments. However, it's worth noting that the spam blocker only supports the POP3 protocol, which might be limiting for some users.

Anti-Spam

The anti-spam feature in eScan provides options for configuring the email filter, setting up notifications, and viewing reports of harmful emails that were blocked.

The Anti-Spam feature allows you to configure the anti-spam filter and view quarantined emails.

You can add specific words or phrases to flag emails as spam, and choose whether to quarantine or delete these emails.

Advanced settings for anti-spam in eScan

While the anti-spam feature offers good customization options, it's less user-friendly than some standalone anti-spam solutions. It does the job, but there's room for improvement in terms of ease of use and accuracy.

Two-Factor Authentication

eScan offers a Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) feature, which adds an extra layer of security to your computer login.

Setting up two-factor authentication in eScan

This feature requires you to enter a Time-based One-Time Password (TOTP) after entering your Windows login credentials. You can use various options to set up 2FA, including using an authenticator app on your smartphone.

I found this feature to be a valuable addition, especially for users who are serious about their security. However, the setup process could be more simplified and user-friendly.

Identity Protection

The Identity Protection feature aims to prevent sensitive information like account numbers, credit card details, and phone numbers from being sent over the internet without your knowledge.

You can configure the identity protection settings and see reports about it.

You can add specific types of information to protect and create a list of trusted websites where this protection doesn't apply.

Adding trusted websites in eScan's identity protection

While this feature is possibly useful, I think it's somewhat basic compared to dedicated identity protection solutions. It's a good starting point, but users looking for thorough identity protection might need to look elsewhere.

Endpoint Security (Application and Device Control)

eScan's Endpoint Security includes two main components: Application Control and Device Control.

The endpoint security is also configurable.

The Application Control lets you block unwanted applications and set time restrictions for application access.

There are dozens of application control settings you can play with,

The Device Control helps protect your computer from unauthorized portable storage devices. You can block, disable, or set devices to read-only mode.

During my eScan review tests, I found these features to be quite powerful, especially for business users or parents who want to control what can be run on a computer and when. However, setting up these controls can be complex and might be daunting for casual users.

Privacy Control (PC Cleaner)

eScan's Privacy Control, also known as PC Cleaner, is designed to protect your privacy by deleting files that could potentially be caught by hackers. It also aims to free up space and speed up your computer.

eScan also allows you to configure the privacy control settings.

The cleaner can handle various areas including browsers, cache, cookies, ActiveX, plugins, and history.

Privacy control settings include setting the scheduler and auto erase options.

The PC Cleaner offers a wide range of cleaning options, but it's less thorough than some dedicated PC cleaning tools. It's a nice addition to the suite, but power users might prefer a more robust solution.

System Performance Impact

One of the key factors I consider when reviewing antivirus software is its impact on system performance. Unfortunately, eScan didn't perform as well as I'd hoped in this area.

During a full scan, eScan consumed about 80% CPU power and 400 MB of RAM on my test system. This is significantly higher than the average CPU usage of 25% that I've seen with other antivirus solutions. The RAM consumption was also above the average of 300 MB.

This high resource usage could be noticeable on less powerful systems, potentially causing slowdowns during scans. It's something to keep in mind, especially if you're using an older or less powerful computer.

eScan Review: Conclusion

After thoroughly testing eScan, I've come away with mixed feelings. Here's a summary of my thoughts for this eScan review:

Pros:

• Comprehensive set of security features
• Good customization options for advanced users
• Effective ransomware protection
• Useful additional tools like data encryption and two-factor authentication

Cons:

• Outdated and sometimes confusing user interface
• High system resource usage during scans
• Web protection could be more effective
• Installation process is unnecessarily complicated

eScan provides a wide range of security and privacy tools, which is praiseworthy. It can handle many automated tasks, and advanced users will appreciate the level of configuration available. The threat scanner is complex and does a decent job at stopping threats, though it didn't catch everything in my tests.

However, the user experience left something to be desired. The interface looks outdated and isn't very user-friendly. I experienced a few errors and lagging while using eScan, which was frustrating. Some extra tools like Identity Protection and Data Encryption are okay, but they're not on par with standalone solutions or what some competitors offer.

​​​​​​For alternative antivirus solutions, Norton, TotalAV, and Bitdefender are trusted names. Explore our comprehensive list of the best antivirus software in 2024.

Octav Fedor (Cybersecurity Editor)

Octav is a cybersecurity researcher and writer at AntivirusGuide. When he’s not publishing his honest opinions about security software online, he likes to learn about programming, watch astronomy documentaries, and participate in general knowledge competitions.