AV-Comparatives Whole Product Dynamic Test – August through November 2010

AV-Comparatives released their latest Whole Product Dynamic Test results on December 17. Nineteen products are in the report. Four vendors’ consumer internet security solutions received the Advanced, 3 stars rating in the Whole Product Dynamic Test. These were F-Secure, Symantec, Avira, and Kaspersky (Symantec and Kaspersky were the only products to receive 3 stars in the December 2009 report). F-Secure and Symantec showed the least variability of monthly results. These four vendors, and solutions from G DATA and Avast, were the only ones to score above 95% during all test months. A variety of malware was used in the test. Out of the box settings for the products were used.

The only one of these four companies failing to receive 3 stars in AV-Comparative’s Proactive/Retrospective Test (last revised on December 6) was Kaspersky. Twelve products received 3 stars in this test. Consistency can be a good thing. The most notable vendor missing from both of these tests was McAfee.

Eight products received a two star rating in Whole Product Dynamic Test. Their average results were all above 95%.

For the complete report and to look at interactive charts, go to the AV-Comparatives web site.

AV-Comparatives is an Austrian Non-Profit-Organization, which provides independent Anti-Virus software tests free to the public. www.av-test.org

Note that there are other testing organizations as well. Individuals and companies evaluating AV and Internet Security SW should also look at the others, at reviews, round-ups, and group tests performed by reputable testing organizations, and technology publications. For information on testing best practices, people can go to the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization website, www.amtso.org