Virus Bulletin
Copyright © 2020 Virus Bulletin
Though in the ever-changing threat landscape anti-malware products have long ceased to be the only thing needed to keep devices secure, they remain as important as ever, as both a first and a last line of defence: to scan potentially malicious files before they make it onto a device, and to block them from running if all other defences have failed.
For more than two decades, the VB100 certification scheme has provided an easy to recognize (but not always easy to obtain) award that affirms that a product satisfies the minimum requirements one should expect of an anti-malware product.
This report details the VB100 certification results of 44 anti‑malware products from 38 different vendors during May and June 2020.
In the VB100 test, a copy of the product to be tested is installed on two platforms: Windows 10 and Windows 7. On each platform, and at three different times in the test, the product is asked to scan both the latest version of the WildList1 and a selection of clean files taken from Virus Bulletin’s own set of files belonging to widely used legitimate software.
A legitimate file that is blocked at least once is considered a false positive, while a WildList file that isn’t blocked is considered a miss.
A product achieves a VB100 certification if:
and
For full details, we refer to the VB100 methodology on the Virus Bulletin website: https://www.virusbulletin.com/testing/vb100/vb100-methodology/vb100-methodology-ver1-1/. This test used version 1.1 of the VB100 methodology.
The malware part of the VB100 certification uses the WildList, a regularly updated list of extremely well-vetted malware samples, guaranteed to have been spotted in the wild multiple times. This makes them very suitable for a certification test like VB100.
The ‘Diversity Test’ looks at products’ detection of another set of recent malware samples, to acknowledge the fact that products detect malware samples beyond a standard set of samples, and provides a measure of that detection.
Products were allowed to download updates during the course of the test. The version numbers listed in the results that follows refer to those at the start of the test.
Windows 7 version | 12.5.22410 | |
Windows 10 version | 12.5.22410 | |
WildList detection | 100.0% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 98.35% |
Windows 7 version | 12.7.1055.0 | |
Windows 10 version | 12.7.1055.0 | |
WildList detection | 99.7% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 98.66% |
Windows 7 version | 12.7.1055.0 | |
Windows 10 version | 12.7.1055.0 | |
WildList detection | 99.7% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 99.59% |
Windows 7 version | 2020.05.04 - 7.0.84460 | |
Windows 10 version | 2020.05.04 - 7.0.84460 | |
WildList detection | 99.7% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 99.59% |
Windows 7 version | 9.0.61.6 | |
Windows 10 version | 9.0.61.6 | |
WildList detection | 100.0% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 99.79% |
Windows 7 version | 2020.05.06 | |
Windows 10 version | 2020.05.05 | |
WildList detection | 100.0% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 100.00% |
Windows 7 version | 20.3.2405 | |
Windows 10 version | 20.3.2405 | |
WildList detection | 100.0% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 99.69% |
Windows 7 version | 20.3.3120 | |
Windows 10 version | 20.3.3120 | |
WildList detection | 100.0% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 99.69% |
Windows 7 version | 1.0.5.255 | |
Windows 10 version | 1.0.5.255 | |
WildList detection | 100.0% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 98.55% |
(See notes in Appendix 2)
Windows 7 version | 1.0.20.0 | |
Windows 10 version | 1.0.20.0 | |
WildList detection | 99.9% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 100.00% |
(See notes in Appendix 2)
Windows 7 version | 8.3.60.18 | |
Windows 10 version | 8.3.60.18 | |
WildList detection | N/A | |
False positive rate | N/A | |
Diversity Test rate | N/A |
(See notes in Appendix 2)
Windows 7 version | 1.6.1.3 | |
Windows 10 version | 1.6.1.3 | |
WildList detection | N/A | |
False positive rate | N/A | |
Diversity Test rate | N/A |
Windows 7 version | 2020.5.0.10149 | |
Windows 10 version | 2020.5.0.10149 | |
WildList detection | 99.9% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 100.00% |
Windows 7 version | 14.0.1400.2228 | |
Windows 10 version | 14.0.1400.2228 | |
WildList detection | 100.0% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 100.00% |
Windows 7 version | 7.1.2053.0 | |
Windows 10 version | 7.1.2053.0 | |
WildList detection | 100.0% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 100.00% |
Windows 7 version | 13.1.21.0 | |
Windows 10 version | 13.1.23.0 | |
WildList detection | 100.0% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 100.00% |
Windows 7 version | 13.1.21.0 | |
Windows 10 version | 13.1.21.0 | |
WildList detection | 100.0% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 100.00% |
Windows 7 version | 4.0.2.23116 | |
Windows 10 version | 4.0.2.23116 | |
WildList detection | 99.7% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 99.59% |
(See notes in Appendix 1)
Windows 7 version | 8.3.60.18 | |
Windows 10 version | 8.3.60.18 | |
WildList detection | N/A | |
False positive rate | N/A | |
Diversity Test rate | N/A |
Windows 7 version | 4.21.3102.484 | |
Windows 10 version | 4.21.3102.484 | |
WildList detection | 100.0% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 100.00% |
Windows 7 version | 31.28.8 | |
Windows 10 version | 31.28.8 | |
WildList detection | 99.6% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 99.59% |
Windows 7 version | 6.2.3.0912 | |
Windows 10 version | 6.2.3.0912 | |
WildList detection | 100.0% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 98.97% |
Windows 7 version | 25.5.6.20 | |
Windows 10 version | 25.5.6.20 | |
WildList detection | 100.0% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 99.90% |
Windows 7 version | 3.1.16 | |
Windows 10 version | 3.1.16 | |
WildList detection | 100.0% | |
False positive rate | 0.001% | |
Diversity Test rate | 99.17% |
Windows 7 version | 0.3.1.1 | |
Windows 10 version | 0.3.1.1 | |
WildList detection | 99.9% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 99.90% |
(See notes in Appendix 2)
Windows 7 version | 1.0.0.15 | |
Windows 10 version | 1.0.0.15 | |
WildList detection | N/A | |
False positive rate | N/A | |
Diversity Test rate | N/A |
Windows 7 version | 16.0.0637 | |
Windows 10 version | 16.0.0636 | |
WildList detection | 100.0% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 99.07% |
(See notes in Appendix 2)
Windows 7 version | 5.5.83 | |
Windows 10 version | 5.5.83 | |
WildList detection | N/A | |
False positive rate | N/A | |
Diversity Test rate | N/A |
Windows 7 version | v10.0 build: 6.6.0.4084 | |
Windows 10 version | v10.0 build: 6.6.0.4084 | |
WildList detection | 99.8% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 99.69% |
Windows 7 version | 3.0.0.96 | |
Windows 10 version | 3.0.0.96 | |
WildList detection | 100.0% | |
False positive rate | 0.002% | |
Diversity Test rate | 78.70% |
(See notes in Appendix 2)
Windows 7 version | 5.5.83 | |
Windows 10 version | 5.5.83 | |
WildList detection | N/A | |
False positive rate | N/A | |
Diversity Test rate | N/A |
Windows 7 version | 6.2.0 | |
Windows 10 version | 6.2.0 | |
WildList detection | 99.7% | |
False positive rate | 0.001% | |
Diversity Test rate | 99.90% |
Windows 7 version | 3.7.2.45 | |
Windows 10 version | 3.7.2.45 | |
WildList detection | 99.9% | |
False positive rate | 0.001% | |
Diversity Test rate | 100.00% |
Windows 7 version | 1.0.1000.10204 | |
Windows 10 version | 1.0.1000.10204 | |
WildList detection | 99.7% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 100.00% |
(See notes in Appendix 2)
Windows 7 version | Not tested | |
Windows 10 version | 1.0 | |
WildList detection | 100.0% | |
False positive rate | 0.002% | |
Diversity Test rate | 99.17% |
Windows 7 version | 5.0.0.57 | |
Windows 10 version | 5.0.0.57 | |
WildList detection | 100.0% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 99.79% |
Windows 7 version | 1.5.238835 | |
Windows 10 version | 1.5.238835 | |
WildList detection | 99.7% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 99.48% |
Windows 7 version | 12.3.26609.901 | |
Windows 10 version | 12.3.26609.901 | |
WildList detection | 100.0% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 99.90% |
Windows 7 version | 12.0.0.251 SP1 | |
Windows 10 version | 12.0.0.251 SP1 | |
WildList detection | 99.7% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 98.97% |
Windows 7 version | 5.5.83 | |
Windows 10 version | 5.5.83 | |
WildList detection | 100.0% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 100.00% |
Windows 7 version | 1.0.1.41 | |
Windows 10 version | 1.0.1.41 | |
WildList detection | 99.9% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 100.00% |
Windows 7 version | 11.0.7633 | |
Windows 10 version | 11.0.7633 | |
WildList detection | 99.7% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 99.59% |
Windows 7 version | 9.1.78 | |
Windows 10 version | 9.1.77 | |
WildList detection | 100.0% | |
False positive rate | 0.000% | |
Diversity Test rate | 55.33% |
The following products did not receive VB100 certification in this test:
The Certification Set contained 2,029 malicious samples. The set of clean samples used for the false positive test contained 99,990 files, of which 29,107 were portable executable (PE) files. The set used for the Diversity Test contained 967 malicious samples.
1 The WildList is an extremely well-vetted set of malware recently observed in the wild by researchers: http://www.wildlist.org/.