Posted by Virus Bulletin on Aug 16, 2010
Symantec and Microsoft outdo Trend and McAfee in live tests.
Independent testing organisation AV-Test.org has released its latest round of test results in a simplified format, providing at-a-glance details of performance in a series of tests aimed at mimicking real-world situations. Testing covered a wide range of criteria, all run in a fully connected and realistic environment to exercise all available protective features.
In the tests, 19 products were put through their paces on Windows 7 in the second quarter of the year, with 13 of them meeting the necessary standard to be marked as 'certified' by the testing body. The results were split into three categories, with 'Protection' covering the blocking of attacks from malicious websites and emails, dynamic detection of executing malware, detection rates over AV-Test's sizeable sample sets and WildList samples. 'Repair' comprises successful removal of common infections, removal of additional items and changes left behind by infections, and detection and removal of rootkits, while 'usability' covers both false alarms and impact on system performance.
High performers in the protection category included AVG, G DATA, Panda and Symantec, all scoring 5.5 out of a possible 6, while the bottom of the table was propped up by Trend Micro (2.5) and Norman (2.0). In the 'repair' category, Avira, Kaspersky and Panda did well with 5.5, while McAfee's Internet Security 2010 was last by some distance with a lowly 2.0. In 'usability', several products scored equally at the top 5.5 mark, including Microsoft's Security Essentials, Symantec's Norton and solutions from BitDefender, F-Secure, G DATA and Kaspersky. Bottom of the list were McAfee, Norman, PC Tools and BullGuard, all scoring less than 4 out of a possible 6.
Scores in each category are totalled up and a total of 12 or more is required to qualify for 'certified' status. 13 of the products included are marked as certified by AV-Test - those failing to make the grade include Bullguard and Norman as well as McAfee and Trend Micro. Results for two further products are still unpublished pending further investigation, but neither is considered likely to achieve certification.
Full details of the test results, including a PDF report on the showing of each product, can be found at the AV-Test.org website, here.
Posted on 16 August 2010 by Virus Bulletin
