Comodo Internet Security Suite Tops CNET Poll of Consumer Free Antivirus, Internet Security Suites

May update - While Comodo Internet Security Suite may have topped this poll, the product failed to receive certified in www.av-test.org Q1 2011 certification test running on Windows 7. This was one of five products to fail certification. Others were CA Internet Security Suite, McAfee Total Protection 2011, Norman Security Suite, and PC Tools Security Suite 2011. http://www.av-test.org/certifications.php

In a poll of nine consumer free antivirus and internet security suites by CNET, Comodo Internet Security Suite topped the competition, followed by, Avast Free Antivirus 6, and Ad Aware Free Internet Security. . The poll ran for several days in late February and Early March. http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-20036621-12.html

The percentages are from CNET’s poll. The next number is PC Magazine’s Neil Rubenking’s rating (out of 5.0)

1. 42%, 2.5 - Comodo Internet Security 5.0*
2. 18%, 3.5 - Avast Free Antivirus 6
3. 12%, 4.5 - Ad Aware Free Internet Security 9
4. 11%, 4.0 - Panda Cloud Antivirus Free 1.3*
5. 08%, 3.5 - AVG Free Antivirus 2011

The above has no correlation with the number of weekly downloads on CNET’s site. The usual weekly order has been (primarily North America) is AVG Free Antivirus, Avast Free Antivirus, and Avira Antivir in the top three spots.

About the Poll

About 137k votes were cast. It appears as if people could vote only once. The poll was a combination of antivirus products and internet security suites. Some companies were actively soliciting votes from users and their fan pages.

Product Reviews and Rankings

*Below are links to PC Magazine reviews of the products. Note that the version numbers do not always mesh with the versions in the survey (*). Also below is a link to a blog listing PC World’s top 5 free antivirus products of 2011.

• Ad-Aware Pro Internet Security 9.0 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2373984,00.asp
• AVG Antivirus Free Edition 2011 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2370108,00.asp
• Avast Free Antivirus 6 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2381362,00.asp
• *Comodo Internet Security 4 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2363256,00.asp
• Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.3 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2364844,00.asp and http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2371589,00.asp


Free vs. Fee: Free and Paid Antivirus Programs Compared – PC World Antivirus Review (note that these are antivirus products, not internet security suites)

http://kensek.blogspot.com/2010/12/free-vs-fee-free-and-paid-antivirus.html