McAfee Total Protection 5.0 Beta –McAfee Beta

McAfee has McAfee Protection 5.0 still in beta. You can learn more about the product and register to download at http://beta.mcafee.com/betamcafee

What's New With McAfee Total Protection?

• Improved Threat Detection:
• CleanBoot Tool:
• McAfee Anti Theft
• Improved Performance:
• MTP installation time has been reduced
• Improved On Demand Scan (ODS) performance.
• Home Network offer a larger list of Devices to identify on its drop-down list. Devices such as; Network Switches, PDA's, Smart Phones are now available to choose from.
• Parental Controls accumulate statistics in a Security Report
• Parental Controls now offers Improved Time Restriction capabilities
• Online Demand Scans now prompt the user to scan external drives
• Quickclean/Shredder now includes additional options when cleaning up files
• Improved key-logger protection

With respect to last year's McAfee Total Protection

McAfee didn't participate in AV-Comparative.org's May Retrospective test.

They did receive a VB100 award in the Virus Bulletin August Test http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archive/summary

Their solution came in next to last in av-comparative.org's "Whole Product Real World Dynamic Test" May-June http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/dyn/wpdt2011_1_en.pdf

They failed certification on av-test.org's q2 test http://www.av-test.org/en/tests/test-reports/quarter-22011/

Not a McStellar performance.

Internet Security Suites 2012 and the Super Suites - Everything but the Kitchen Sync

First, there was Antivirus. Followed by Antivirus Plus. Followed by Internet Security Suites. Then the Super Suites, which are faster, protect you from things you never know you had to be protected from, improved your “online experience” and would get you great seats for the World Cup and World Series. Well, maybe not the latter.

For example, the Super suite for BitDefender - Total Security, adds File Shredder, File Encryption, Tune-Up, and a Safe Backup versus the internet security suite - http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/antivirus-comparison.html

For Kaspersky - Pure Total Security – adding management, password management, encrypted data vaults, password manager, and more versus the internet security suite! http://usa.kaspersky.com/products-services/home-computer-security/pure

For Panda -Panda Global Protection – adding tune-up, file shredding, file encryption versus the internet security suite - http://www.pandasecurity.com/usa/homeusers/solutions/

The links above lead to the respective product comparison grids and have 2012 products out.

Not to be outdone, Norton has two Super suites. Norton 360™ and Norton 360 Premier Edition.

Other Super Suites

Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security, McAfee Total Protection, Zone Alarm Extreme Security, G Data Total Security (2012 out) http://www.gdata-software.com/home-security/ , TrustPort Total Protection (2012 out) http://www.trustport.com/en/products/trustport-total-protection#comparison This list isn’t comprehensive.

So, visit the grids, choose from the smorgasbord of functionality you are looking for. The permutations are many! Parental Guidance is another feature frequently thrown in, as is Game Mode. Or a small handful of features that are a subset of another product the company sells.

As of August 24, companies that had their Internet Security 2012 Suites released (and most likely, their Super suites are BitDefender, Zone Alarm, Kaspersky, G Data, Panda, TrustPort, and Outpost.

http://kensek.blogspot.com/2011/08/best-internet-security-suites-2012-pc.html

Best Antivirus Software 2012 - PC Magazine - Best Antivirus For 2012

September 12, 2012 update - The link below leads to a blog about Antivirus 2013 solutions. The blog below is a relatively comprehensive listing of Antivirus 2012 solutions.

http://kensek.blogspot.com/2012/09/best-antivirus-2013.html

 

 The great thing about Neil Rubenking and PC Magazine Antivirus best antivirus software 2012 and best internet security suite reviews in general is that he is thorough. He does his homework. He discusses the changes from the previous year rather than just doing a “feature” list. And his style is both detailed and entertaining.

Antivirus solutions provide “basic” protection. For more comprehensive protection, you should take a look at security vendors’ internet security suites, or their power internet security suites. These contain even more features, or bloatware, depending on your own personal beliefs. When looking at pricing, note that some of the licenses are for one user, others are for three. Pairing up with a bud or two can save you some $ for a Starbucks card.

Summary Scores - Best Antivirus Software 2012 - Best Antivirus for 2012

In the table below, products are listed numerically, highest to lowest, and reverse alphabetical order for consistency.

Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus and Norton Antivirus 2012 received the Editors' choice designation from PC Magazine and Neil Rubenking. AVG Antivirus Free Edition received this designation for free antivirus.

4.5 - Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus2012 - Editors Choice
4.5 - Norton Antivirus 2012-Editors Choice
4.0 - AVG Antivirus Free 2012 - Editors Choice
4.0 - Avira Free 2012
4.0 – BitDefender Antivirus Plus 2012
3.5 – Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.5 Free Edition
3.5 – Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2012
3.5 – G Data Antivirus 2012
3.5 - McAfee Antivirus 2012
3.0 - F-Secure Antivirus 2012
3.0 – Zone Alarm Antivirus + Firewall 2012
3.0 - PC Antivirus Pro 2012
3.0 – Panda Antivirus Pro 2012
3.0 – Output Antivirus Pro 7.5
3.0 - Bullguard Antivirus 12http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
2.5 – TrustPort Antivirus 2012
2.5 – Trend Micro Titanium Antivirus+ 2012

It’s definitely worthwhile going to the detailed multi-page reviews and to examine Neil Rubenking’s anti-phishing, anti-malware, and anti-malware removal charts for the products he has reviewed so far for PC Magazine.



http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2372371,00.asp

To see a list of Best Internet Security Suites 2012, go to http://kensek.blogspot.com/2011/08/best-internet-security-suites-2012-pc.html .

From www.Kensek.blogspot.com , you can also see compilations of other reviews and tests, blogs merging the results of product reviews and performance tests from multiple publications, etc.

August 2011 – Virus Bulletin RAP Averages Quadrant, February 2011 through August 2011, Steve Jobs

November update - go to a more current write-up at http://kensek.blogspot.com/2011/11/october-2011-virus-bulletin-rap.html

Virus Bulletin released their latest RAP Averages Quadrant, representing February 2011 through August 2011 data. The bar gets set higher on this blog for a mention since almost 30 companies achieved greater than 90% on Reactive Detection and 80% on Proactive Detection. The standard this time, 90% Reactive and Proactive. Ten companies met this threshold; in approximate order - Bkis, Coranti, TrustPort, BullGuard, G Data, F-Secure IS, Avira Pro, Kaspersky Pure, Nifty (who the heck are they?) and Check Point.

Coranti, TrustPort and BullGuard were among the top four during the December 2010 through June 2011 test. Congratulations for consistency.

Double kudos to Avira and Kaspersky. These two companies had products that received the only 3 stars in AV-Comparatives.org’s Anti-Virus Comparative Retrospective test (static detection of new/unknown malicious software) earlier this year. http://kensek.blogspot.com/2011/05/av-comparatives-retrospective-test.html

What’s with Kingsoft solutions? They’ve consistently been in the lower left hand corner of the grid with around 15%/20% with respect to Reactive/Proactive Detection. In their case, consistency is bad.

The relative performance of vendors can best be viewed by looking at the RAP Averages Quadrant chart at http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/latest_comparative/index Subscribers to Virus Bulletin's publications have access to more details on the results.

This test measures products' detection rates across four distinct sets of malware samples. The first three test sets comprise malware first seen in each of the three weeks prior to product submission. These measure how quickly product developers and labs react to the steady flood of new malware emerging every day across the world. A fourth test set consists of malware samples first seen in the week after product submission.

Best Wishes to Steve Jobs

Applause and best wishes to Steve Jobs and his family. To the extent he wants/demands it; he should be given his privacy. Jobs has been an icon, introducing some “insanely great” products to the world. He’s been a fanatic on product design. The 1984 Super Bowl advertisement was a classic. He may also, on a humorous note; be remembered for his “don’t hold it that way” comment…. regarding the iPhone's earlier reception problems. He drove the growth of Pixar before selling it to Disney for a gazillion dollars.

The computer mouse and GUI may have originally been developed by PARC (Palo Alto Research Center). However, it was Jobs and Apple that took these technology leaps, saw their value and introduced them into widespread use. Fortune Magazine recognized Steve Jobs as the CEO of the Decade in 2009.

Interesting books to read - “iCon: Steve Jobs, the Greatest Second Act in the History of Business”. “Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs - A Parody”. The Woz introduced the author at a book signing at Kepler’s books in Menlo Park, California in 2007, when the book came out. Wozniak was hilarious. Yes, I was there. Also, “The Journey Is the Reward” by Jeffrey S. Young, a biography about Jobs.

Virus Bulletin August VB100 Awards

Virus Bulletin has released their latest VB100 awards results. Thirty-eight antivirus internet security solutions received a VB100 award. Eleven antivirus internet security solutions failed to make the grade. The tests were done on Windows Vista SP2 x64 Business Ed. Of the eight 3 star performers in av.comparatives.org “Whole Product ‘Real World’ Dynamic Test” March through June, five of them, F-Secure, BitDefender, G Data, Eset, and Avast, received VB100 Awards.

Not in the Virus Bulletin August VB100 test were some major vendors - Symantec, and Trend Micro, as well as Panda. Trend Micro and Panda received 3 stars from av.comparatives.org in the above test. McAfee participated this time but not in the June test. To see the complete August VB100 test results - http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archive/test?order=result&id=165&tab=onDemand

G Data did not receive an award in the Virus Bulletin June VB100 Awards. The largest paid vendor that failed to receive a VB100 award in August was Kaspersky. One company had a streak of 20 consecutive VB100 awards that they had entered for, ended. Comodo, who had won a survey on CNET's download sight earlier this year, failed to receive a VB100. For the June results http://kensek.blogspot.com/2011/06/virus-bulletin-june-vb100-awards.html

To view av.comparatives.org “Whole Product ‘Real World’ Dynamic Test” March through June 2011, go to http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/dyn/wpdt2011_1_en.pdf

VB100 Test Methodology

The purpose of the VB100 comparative is to provide insight into the relative performance of the solutions taking part in the tests, covering as wide a range of areas as possible within the limitations of time and available resources. More details are available at http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/about/methodology.xml

UK based Virus Bulletin www.virusbtn.com started in 1989. The organization provides PC users with a regular source of intelligence about computer viruses, their prevention, detection and removal, and how to recover programs and data following an attack. VB’s website is at www.virusbtn.com.

Best Channel Products 2011 – Business Solutions Magazine

Business Solutions Magazine (BSM) has published the results of their “Best Channel Products 2011" survey. Fortinet, SonicWall, and AVG Technologies dominated the Network Security category. In the area of Network Security, below are the top products from the survey.

Email Security

• AVG Internet Security Business Edition -Top 2 Categories: Ease Of Integration, Ease Of Upgrade
• Fortinet FortiMail-3000C - Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Features/Functionality

Endpoint Security

• AVG Internet Security Business Edition - Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Reliability/Durability
• Fortinet FortiClient - Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Ease Of Integration

Unified Threat Management

• Fortinet FortiGate-80C - Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Reliability/Durability
• SonicWALL TZ Series - Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Features/Functionality

Web Content Filtering

• Fortinet FortiWeb-1000C -Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Ease Of Integration
• SonicWALL Content Filtering Service (CFS) - Top 2 Categories: Ease Of Integration, Ease Of Upgrade

Fortinet had a pair of products that were finalists for SC Magazine (US) Reader Trust Awards 2011. These were for Best Enterprise Firewall and for Best Integrated Security UTM.

Other categories in the survey were: Data Collection, ECM, General Computing, Managed Services & Networking, Networking, Physical Security (Access Control & Video Surveillance), Point of Sale & Payment Processing, Storage, and Unified Communications & VoIP.

Methodology for Business Solutions Magazine Best Channel Products 2011


Business Solutions Magazine partnered with Penn State University to conduct the survey. During the web survey, they collected 11,711 votes from 1,490 discrete reseller subscribers. Questions in the survey were:

• Richness of Features/Functionality: Does the product meet your customers' functionality needs? Is it easily configurable? Is it easily customizable (i.e. scalable and flexible)?
• Product Reliability/Durability: Does the product meet your quality needs? Do you frequently need to fix the product? Is it durable enough to withstand regular usage?
• Ease of Integration: Is it easily integrated with other products — new or existing?
• Ease of Upgrade: Is it easily upgradeable to meet your customers' needs and technology changes?
• VAR's Ability to Service: Is the product easy for you to service?

For more details on the methodology http://www.bsminfo.com/article.mvc/Best-Channel-Products-2011-Survey-Methodology-0001

For the complete article on Business Solutions Magazine Best Channel Products 2011 http://bsminfo.com/article.mvc/Best-Channel-Products-Page-2011-0001#Index

Best Internet Security Suites 2012 - Best 2012 Security Suites - PC Magazine

September 11 - This blog is comprehensive with respect to 2012 versions.  2013 versions have "started" to come out and be reveiwed. After reading this blog, you may want to click on the following link for to see the 2013 versions.

http://kensek.blogspot.com/2012/09/best-internet-security-suites-2013-best.html

Internet Security vendors are now starting to release their Internet Security Suite 2012 solutions. Most of the solutions out there are still Internet Security 2011. Below are the rankings of a number of internet security suites that have been reviewed by PC Magazine. The stars are out of 5. The number in ( ) is the score received in 2011.


Best Internet Security Suites 2012 - Best 2012 Security Suites

4.5 - Webroot SecureAnywhere Complete
4.5 - Norton Internet Security 2012
4.0 – BitDefender Internet Security Suite 2012 (3.5)
4.0 – Zone Alarm Extreme Security 2012
3.5 - Trend Micro Titanium Security 2012
3.5 – Kaspersky Internet Security Suite 2012 (4.0)
3.0 – G Data Internet Security 2012 (3.0)
3.0 - AVG Internet Security 2012 (2.5)
2.5 – Panda Global Protection 2012
2.5 – TrustPort Internet Security Suite 2012 (2.5)
2.5 - ESET Smart Security 5
2.5 - Bullgaurd Internet Secrity 12
2.0 – Outpost Security Suite Pro 7.5(2.5)

For the PC Magazine Reviews

To see the reviews by PC Magazine's Neil Rubenking go to http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2373529,00.asp

PC Magazine reviews each of the products in the table in detail. People looking for a solution should look at these individual reviews. They contain detailed (and extremely knowledgeable) qualitative data about the products as well as results of malware tests that were done by PC Magazine. Most internet security firms seem to have a basic antivirus package, an internet security suite, and then one or more ultra internet security suites. The range of additional features varies. It’s like, “But wait, there’s more.” Everything but a ginzu knife. The variety of features will be the subject of another blog.

PC Magazine and AV-Comparatives.org Combined

The table below combines several results from AV-comparatives.org as well as PC Magazine. The second column is the ranking for detection rate from the AV-Comparatives On Demand Detection of Malicious Software report – September 2011

http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/ondret/avc_od_aug2011.pdf. The third column is the same but for the April report. The fourth column is for AV-Comparatives Whole Product Real World Dynamic Test in August. The last column is the score for PC Magazine’s Internet Security 2012 reviews.

What Does the Table below Mean?

With respect to on Demand Detection, with the exception of McAfee; there was a consistency of performance among the top five vendors. There seems to be little relationship between the Whole Product Real World Dynamic test and the On Demand Detection tests. PC Magazine’s ratings don’t correlate with any of the three tests. However, PC Magazine’s scores are for much more than detection of malware. They are for a total product review.

.



























To see a ranking of the Best Internet Security Suites 2011, go to http://kensek.blogspot.com/2011/04/best-internet-security-suites-2011-pc.html

To see an evolving compilation of Best Antivirus 2012 reviews, go to http://kensek.blogspot.com/2011/08/best-antivirus-software-2012-pc.html


Other Sites to Look at For Product Tests

• www.av-test.org
• www.av-comparatives.org
• www.virusbtn.org

Pay attention to the exact product tested and the version number. This is a particularly dynamic document and will be updated as other internet security suites are released, as the test groups above perform more tests, and as other publications do reviews.

Get ready for the press releases.

AV-Comparatives is an Austrian Non-Profit-Organization, which provides independent Anti-Virus software tests free to the public. www.av-comparatives.org Go to their website for complete details about the organization and the many tests they perform.

Oct. Update - Bullguard Internet Security 12 – Beta

Bullguard has now been released. To see where it ranks among the other Internet Security suites in PC Magazine:

http://kensek.blogspot.com/2011/08/best-antivirus-software-2012-pc.html

To go to the PC Magazine review:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2394166,00.asp#

Bullguard currently has Bullguard Internet Security 12 in beta. Features being promoted within Bullguard Internet Security Suite 12 (they’re skipping 11) during beta testing include:

• Parental Control
• PC Tune up
• Improved Behavioral Detection
• Improved Firewall
• Improved Spamfilter
• Improved General Performance
• New and improved UI

You can obtain more information and register as a beta customer at http://www.bullguard.com/beta/Signup.aspx?c=IS12

How Has Bullguard Internet Security 10 Performed?

• Bullguard is 9 and 2 in the last 11 Virus Bulletin tests they’ve entered since 2007 http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archive/vendor?id=48
• Bullguard Internet Security Suite 10 received certification Q2 2011 certification on Windows XP from AV-test.org http://www.av-test.org/certifications
• Bullguard Internet Security Suite 10 received 2.5 stars (ouch) in an October review by PC Magazine’s Neil Rubenking http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2372100,00.asp Two other products received this score
• They were one of the top performers in the Virus Bulletin VB RAP tests, December 2010 through June 2011with the top score in proactive detection http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/rap-index.xml
• Bullguard was not part of av-comparative.org’s testing

Some Other Products Also in Beta

• Kaspersky currently has Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 in beta at http://support.kaspersky.com/kis2011/all?more=1&qid=208284251
• Webroot has Webroot Cloud Antivirus in beta at http://www.webroot.com/customerSupport/betaRegistration.php
• F-Secure currently has F-Secure Internet Security 2012 in beta at http://www.f-secure.com/en_EMEA-Labs/beta-programs/home-users-beta/IS2012beta/
• Trend Micro Maximum Security 2012 and others at https://www.trendbeta.com/pages/main
• Norton Internet Security 2012 and Anti-Virus 2012 beta http://us.norton.com/beta/index.jsp
• BitDefender Total Security 2012 http://beta2012.bitdefender.com

Panda Global Protection 2012

In brief, PC Magazine’s Neil Rubenking was disappointed with Panda Global Protection 2012. It received 2.5 stars out of 5. According to Rubenking: (a) in malware removal, malware blocking, antiphishing, and antispam tests it scored lower than the 2011 edition. Its backup and cleanup modules don't come close to the top competition. (b) a number of its nominal components are actually available for free without purchase of the suite. (c) the 2012 suite impacts system performance more than its predecessor. For the comprehensive review: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2386220,00.asp

AV-Test Product Review and Certification Report – Q2 2011

During the 2nd quarter of 2011, AV-Test (www.AV-Test.org ) tested 22 internet security products in the areas protection, repair and usability. The highest score possible in each category was 6.0. The test was on Windows XP. Six company’s products failed the test by failing to achieve a score of 11 or greater. The companies with the top 4 scores and the avg score of the three categories are below:

AV-Test Top Performers Q2 2011

• 5.7 - F-Secure
• 5.7 - BitDefender
• 5.3 - Kaspersky
• 5.2 - Panda
• 4.5 - Symantec
• 4.5 - Sophos
• 4.5 - G Data
• 4.5 - Avast

For more details on the test, scores for all 22 companies, names of the product tested and a detailed one-page report for each product tested, go to http://www.av-test.org/certifications

Comodo did not perform well in this test. They did not receive an AV-test certificate. They topped a CNET poll for top free antivirus solution in March. http://kensek.blogspot.com/2011/03/comodo-internet-security-suite-tops.html

For a table showing AV-Test.org’s results for Q1 on Windows Vista combined with AV-Comparatives.org Whole Product Dynamic Test, go to http://kensek.blogspot.com/2011/07/av-comparativesorg-whole-product.html

About AV-Test (www.av-test.org)

AV-Test GmbH is an independent supplier of services in the fields of IT Security and Anti-Virus Research, focusing on the detection and analysis of the latest malicious software and its use in comprehensive comparative testing of security products. To learn more about them, go to http://www.av-test.org/about

Internet Security Tag Line Quiz, For When You Can’t Sleep

For a brief respite from evaluating internet security suites, worrying about malware, reading antivirus reviews, reading best internet security round-ups, or generating security reports, test your corporate internet security tag line skills. Match the company name in the first column with the internet security product’s or corporate tagline in the second column. This puzzle qualifies as IPO. That, is, It’s Partially Original.

Internet security providers in the quiz – Avast, TrustPort, Avira, F-Secure, Avg Technologies, G Data, Panda, Ad-Aware, Trend Micro, Astaro, McAfee, Kaspersky, Symantec, and Webroot.






















No guarantees that success in this will make you the center of attention in any sort of gathering. The answers are below.

Dude, take the quiz first. Move your eyes back up the screen.

• Webroot Lets get you protected
• TrustPort Keep IT secure
• Trend Micro Securing your journey to the cloud
• Symantec Confidence in a connected world
• Panda Protection for your family
• McAfee Securing your digital world
• Kaspersky Premium protection against viruses, spyware, hackers and spam for home & small office
• G Data Award winning internet security solution
• F-Secure Keep viruses, identity thieves and hackers away
• BitDefender Enhanced Silent Security
• Avira Live free All around protection for you and your family
• AVG Technologies Ultimate protection for everything you do online
• Avast Maximum protection
• Astaro Connect with confidence
• Ad-Aware Total security-total piece of mind

Pwnie Awards Announced During Black Hat USA 2011

The Pwnie Awards is an annual awards ceremony celebrating the achievements and failures of security researchers and the security community. This year’s awards were given out August 3, concurrent with the Black Hat USA 2011 conference. Some of these are positive. Some of the incidents were a major “Maalox moment” for the winners. Kind of like the Razzies, that salute the worst of Hollywood each year.

The Pwnie Winners

• Pwnie for Best Server-Side Bug - ASP.NET Framework Padding Oracle (CVE-2010-3332) - : Juliano Rizzo, Thai Duong
• Pwnie for Best Client-Side Bug - FreeType vulnerability in iOS (CVE-2011-0226) - : Comex
• Pwnie for Best Privilege Escalation Bug - Windows kernel win32k user-mode callback vulnerabilities (MS11-034) -Tarjei Mandt
• Pwnie for Most Innovative Research - Piotr Bania
• Pwnie for Lifetime Achievement -pipacs/PaX Team
• Lamest Vendor Response - RSA SecurID token compromise
• Pwnie for Most Epic FAIL - Sony
• Pwnie for Epic 0wnage - Stuxnet

For more details on the awards, go to http://pwnies.com/winners/ Worth checking out.

Another interesting read - "Top 10 Security SNAFUs of 2010" at http://kensek.blogspot.com/2011/01/top-10-security-snafus-of-2010_25.html

AV-comparatives.org Whole Product Dynamic Test – June through July 2011

A bit of a switch in the top five products in the AV-Comparatives.org and their Whole Product Dynamic "Real World" Test, June through July, versus the January through June test. These results were out of the box capture rates.

1. 99.3 - F-Secure
2. 99.3 - Panda
3. 98.8 - Trend Micro
4. 98.3 - BitDefender
5. 98.1 - G Data

Symantec/Norton dropped to seventh, blocking 98.1%, out of the top five. The top six for the January through June time period were BitDefender, F-Secure, Symantec, G Data, Panda, and Kaspersky.

To see a table of the AV-Comparatives.org Whole Product Dynamic Test and AV-Test.org Certification Test Combined, go to http://kensek.blogspot.com/2011/07/av-comparativesorg-whole-product.html


Go to http://www.av-comparatives.org/en/comparativesreviews/dynamic-tests to play with the interactive table. You can also modify the time period and view results.

About AV-comparatives.org - www.av-comparatives.org

AV-Comparatives is an Austrian Non-Profit-Organization, which is providing independent Anti-Virus software tests free to the public.

Inside the Exhibitors Ballroom at Black Hat USA 2011

Day One at Black Hat USA 2011

80 plus vendors, waiting for seminars to end, so that the Black Hat attendees will come through Exhibitors Ballroom at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The first day ran almost 12 hours (including the drinks/appetizers for the last couple of hours on day one).

The doors open. The rush begins. For knowledge? Well, almost. For the prime tchotchkes, primarily tee shirts. McAfee was also doing a book signing on Day One. That, a motorcycle and tradeshow women in biker garb and phishnet stockings… Strike that, fishnet stockings, helped create traffic around their booth.

A zombie wandering the floor caught people’s attention. As did a booth having a drawing for a chain saw. A real chain Stihl® saw. Courtesy of Solera Networks. Interestingly enough, they weren’t the company sponsoring the zombie walking around. Explain the chainsaw to security at McCarran International! “Sir, you’ll have to check that.”

Breaks in the morning and afternoon. Security catching someone who put a piece of yellow paper into an official pass holder hoping that security wouldn’t notice that there was nothing on it. One of the top sellers at the Black Hat store – lock picking kits.

Lines for food and drinks at 5:30. Pasta, pizza, and more…. Later, Crystal Meth at one of the Wednesday evening functions. Absolut Vodka as a sponsor for one event. People moaning about having to get up at 5:30 in the morning to try and buy a Defcon pass being held at another casino immediately following the end of Black Hat.

The booths aren’t set up for sit down presentations, so vendors are able to have one on one discussions with individuals coming through, demoing SW, etc.

Day Two

Quite a few bleary eyes when the Exhibition Ballroom doors open. Quiet compared to the day before. In one corner of the Ballroom, people working with soldering irons to make their own robots. Some traffic around the Symantec booth for the energy boost/caffeine gum. Line for popcorn at one booth.

Many people walking around with their heads bent downward. Checking their mobiles? Nope, looking at the card they were carrying to see which booths they had to go to get stamped and be eligible for drawings.

One o’clock hits – another line forms. Qing Li autographing copies of “IPv6 Advanced Protocols Implementation” at the Blue Coat booth. 300 signatures later, they’re gone. More than a few handfuls of people wearing a black tee from a vendor. If they’re seen by that vendor walking around, they become eligible for drawings.

People seemed to be generally pleased with the talks, keynotes and the education tracks. There was a blend of highly technical to not so technical. The mix appears to change slightly from year to year. One person wasn’t pleased that one presentation began with the presenter explaining what a virtual appliance was.

As the end of the day approaches, and before the make your own sundae break (yes, more food), the exchanging of the tchotchkes begins, when competitors briefly become friends, long enough to trade for t shirts, in situations where there are extras.

4:45 hits, attendees are ushered out, and the sponsors begin teardown. Until next year….