Posted by Virus Bulletin on Mar 23, 2009
Large collection test shows major improvement from AV giants.
Independent testing organisation AV-Comparatives has released its latest bi-annual detection test figures, with 17 products included in the field and a test set containing a massive 1.3 million samples.
The first set of results of 2009 showed notable improvements for major players Symantec and McAfee. While both previously lagged behind an impressive field in AV-Comparatives' charts, some excellent detection rates earned both vendors a position in the top four in the latest set of results.
Also significant in this batch of figures is the inclusion of McAfee's Artemis in-the-cloud detection component, which added significantly to the solution's performance: while the standalone product would have scored 95.2% overall, the addition of Artemis detection resulted in a score of 99.1%. The in-the-cloud component was included in the test by running the scan on the same day as updates for other competitors were frozen.
Some other 'offline' products managed scores well over 99% even without the support of online resources, with those from G-Data and Avira achieving the dizzying heights of 99.8% and 99.7% respectively, while Symantec, also without the benefit of calling home, came in a highly creditable fourth in the detection stakes, with 98.7%.
Newcomer to the test Kingsoft brought up the rear with a not unimpressive 84.5%, and was not far behind Microsoft's product, which showed some improvement on its previously disastrous AV-Comparatives test results. This time the Microsoft achieved 87.1% for straight detection and made the grade for the 'Standard' award - the product also demonstrated the best false positive performance of all the products on test.
Several aspects of product performance beside detection rates were also taken into consideration when calculating awards, including false positive rates and scanning speeds, and with all these taken into account, only four products were adjudged worthy of the coveted 'Advanced+' three-star award: ESET, Kaspersky, McAfee and Symantec all taking top honours for their overall performance. Another seven products were granted the 'Advanced' award, mostly marked down thanks to higher levels of false positives.
The tests were run in general with 'best possible' settings as recommended by the vendors, with the exception of Sophos's product, at the vendor's own request. The test sets contained some 1.3 million samples gathered in the past nine months, with trojans (71.5%) and backdoors/bots (19.9%) making up the bulk of the samples. The same batch of products should be further tested in the upcoming retrospective comparative, with results due out in the summer. Below is a summary of the results, for full details and more complete information visit the redesigned AV-Comparatives website here and read the full test report.
| Product | Malware on demand | False positives | Scan speed | Malware on demand | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AntiVir (Avira) | A | C | B | 99.7% | Advanced |
| Avast! (Alwil) | A | C | A | 98.2% | Advanced |
| AVG | B | C | C | 93.0% | Standard |
| BitDefender | A | C | C | 98.0% | Advanced |
| Command (Authentium) | C | C | B | 88.9% | Tested |
| eScan (MicroWorld) | A | C | C | 98.0% | Advanced |
| ESET NOD32 | A | B | B | 97.6% | Advanced+ |
| F-Secure | B | B | C | 93.4% | Advanced |
| G DATA | A | C | B | 99.8% | Advanced |
| Kaspersky | A | B | B | 97.1% | Advanced+ |
| Kingsoft | D | C | A | 84.5% | Tested |
| McAfee | A | B | B | 99.1% | Advanced+ |
| Microsoft | C | A | B | 87.1% | Standard |
| Norman | C | C | C | 87.8% | Tested |
| Norton (Symantec) | A | B | A | 98.7% | Advanced+ |
| Sophos | C | B | B | 89.6% | Standard |
| TrustPort | A | C | C | 97.1% | Advanced |
| Index | Malware on demand | False positives | Scan speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | >97% | 0-3 FP | >14 MB/sec |
| B | >93% | 4-15 FP | >7 MB/sec |
| C | >87% | 16-100 FP | >3 MB/sec |
| D | <87% | >100 FP | <3 MB/sec |
