On Monday, Trend Micro announced their plans to acquire Mobile Armor, a provider of data encryption software for hardware and operating systems. http://www.mobilearmor.com/ . Mobil Armor’s product portfolio includes products that provide full-disk, file/folder, and removable media encryption for endpoints. This acquisition helps augment Trend Micro’s portfolio of endpoint security products for their business customers.
According to IDC, Trend Micro is the world's third-largest content and threat management vendor. They controlled 9.3% of the market in 2009. That puts them behind Symantec (25.8%) and McAfee (12.2%) but ahead of Check Point Software Technologies (6.9%), Microsoft (4.6%), Kaspersky Lab (3.6%), Websense (2.9%), and Sophos (2.4%). http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/management/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228400197&subSection=News
Mobile Armor appears in Gartner’s 2010 Magic Quadrant for Mobile Data Protection. They are regarded by Gartner as one of the Niche players and scored low for their ability to execute. Symantec, McAfee, Sophos, and Check Point Technologies appear in the Leaders portion of the quadrant.
Symantec, as part of their acquisition strategy to broaden their security portfolio, purchased PGP and Guardian Edge in April, 2010. McAfee had owned PGP but divested them in 2002. McAfee has been on an acquisition mission since David Dewalt became president several years ago.
This acquisition may present a challenge to some of the other internet security providers to develop, license, or purchase an encryption vendor. AVG Technologies, does not seem to currently have an endpoint encryption solution in their product portfolio. However, their business security solutions are more focused on the SMB market, where endpoint encryption may not be as critical a need. Kaspersky doesn’t appear to have an endpoint encryption solution with the exception of within their Kaspersky Mobile Security product.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Who Won the Internet Security Cyber Monday Price Battle?
The winners in the internet security Cyber Monday price battle were……………………… Trend Micro and Kaspersky,free after mail-in rebates, with Norton in 3rd, when purchased at (some) retail stores in the US.
In an admittedly quick online audit, below were the discounts found on consumer internet security vendors’ web sites on Cyber Monday.
• Avast - 33% off Internet Security on their website (2 years)
• Avira - - Nothing off their suite! Free copy of Tune-Up Utilities, however.
• AVG Technologies – 10% off the suite on website (50% if using the Facebook Fan Page special)
• Kaspersky – 50% off the suite on their web site
• McAfee – 50% off Identity Protection, $55, normally $109.95 (from their Fan Page). However, this 16 hour sale expired shortly after 5PM Pacific Time. 30% and up for consumer internet security suites.
• Panda Security – 30% (up to)
• Symantec - 50% off Norton 360
• Trend Micro – 50% off storewide
Undoubtedly there were other deals on the web.
Nonetheless, due to the wonders of discounting and rebates (within a set time limit) consumers in the United States could obtain Kaspersky’s and Trend Micro’s home internet security suites for free after rebates and Norton 360 for less than $10. Staples was one of the US retail outlets where this was available. AVG Technologies, Avast, and Avira often offer deals to home users during the download process of their free anti-virus product.
How this works in the retail outlet: it’s a combination of the store, the channel, rebates, and renewals. Stores want customers to come in. A number of customers miss the rebate deadline, fill out forms incorrect, etc. and end up paying full price.
Online: it’s to a large extent about auto-renewal. Vendors will often have the “yes” box checked off for auto-renewal when customers provide their credit card number. Slightly less than a year from purchase, they’ll then receive a notice that their credit card will be charged for auto renewal unless they opt out (there are variations of this).
In June, 2009, Symantec and McAfee settled with the New York State Attorney General’s office regarding not providing adequate disclosure over how customers were being auto-renewed. They were penalized and changed their procedures. http://www.ag.ny.gov/media_center/2009/june/june10a_09.html
In an admittedly quick online audit, below were the discounts found on consumer internet security vendors’ web sites on Cyber Monday.
• Avast - 33% off Internet Security on their website (2 years)
• Avira - - Nothing off their suite! Free copy of Tune-Up Utilities, however.
• AVG Technologies – 10% off the suite on website (50% if using the Facebook Fan Page special)
• Kaspersky – 50% off the suite on their web site
• McAfee – 50% off Identity Protection, $55, normally $109.95 (from their Fan Page). However, this 16 hour sale expired shortly after 5PM Pacific Time. 30% and up for consumer internet security suites.
• Panda Security – 30% (up to)
• Symantec - 50% off Norton 360
• Trend Micro – 50% off storewide
Undoubtedly there were other deals on the web.
Nonetheless, due to the wonders of discounting and rebates (within a set time limit) consumers in the United States could obtain Kaspersky’s and Trend Micro’s home internet security suites for free after rebates and Norton 360 for less than $10. Staples was one of the US retail outlets where this was available. AVG Technologies, Avast, and Avira often offer deals to home users during the download process of their free anti-virus product.
How this works in the retail outlet: it’s a combination of the store, the channel, rebates, and renewals. Stores want customers to come in. A number of customers miss the rebate deadline, fill out forms incorrect, etc. and end up paying full price.
Online: it’s to a large extent about auto-renewal. Vendors will often have the “yes” box checked off for auto-renewal when customers provide their credit card number. Slightly less than a year from purchase, they’ll then receive a notice that their credit card will be charged for auto renewal unless they opt out (there are variations of this).
In June, 2009, Symantec and McAfee settled with the New York State Attorney General’s office regarding not providing adequate disclosure over how customers were being auto-renewed. They were penalized and changed their procedures. http://www.ag.ny.gov/media_center/2009/june/june10a_09.html
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
AV-Comparatives Whole Product Dynamic Test – August through October 2010
AV-Comparatives (www.av-comparatives.org) released their Whole Product Dynamic Test report for August through October 2010 on November 22. 14 AV/Internet Security products are in the report, comprising three months of tests. The products were a mix of 2010 and 2011 releases (and for some of the products changed in September or October) For some products, this may have effected the results. For Kingsoft, the results improved slightly. For AVG, the results were worse. For AVG Technologies, the rate was above 95% for August and September before falling to below 90% for October. Kingsoft and Norman were the only products below 90% for October. A variety of malware was used in the test, with out of the box settings for the products being utilized.
The table below should only be looked at in conjunction with the whole report! Updates to this report will be released regularly. It will be great to see any trends that develop or changes in rankings. The report is available at www.av-comparatives.org.
Key to the below – U signifies the percentage was up (improved) between August and October, S signifies the percentage was the same; D signifies that the percentage was down.
Percent Compromised Ranking for October
----Below 100%----
1U - Symantec
2S - F-Secure
3U - GDATA
3U - Avast
5S - Kaspersky
6D - Panda
6D - Avira
8D - PC Tools
9D - ESET
----Below 95%----
10D - Trend Micro
11U - BitDefender
12D - AVG (above 95% in August)
-----Below 90%-----
13U - Norman
14U - Kingsoft
Six products went up between August and October, two were the same, and six went down.
The table below should only be looked at in conjunction with the whole report! Updates to this report will be released regularly. It will be great to see any trends that develop or changes in rankings. The report is available at www.av-comparatives.org.
Key to the below – U signifies the percentage was up (improved) between August and October, S signifies the percentage was the same; D signifies that the percentage was down.
Percent Compromised Ranking for October
----Below 100%----
1U - Symantec
2S - F-Secure
3U - GDATA
3U - Avast
5S - Kaspersky
6D - Panda
6D - Avira
8D - PC Tools
9D - ESET
----Below 95%----
10D - Trend Micro
11U - BitDefender
12D - AVG (above 95% in August)
-----Below 90%-----
13U - Norman
14U - Kingsoft
Six products went up between August and October, two were the same, and six went down.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
AVG Technologies Acquires DroidSecurity, Teams with Google on Internet Security, (LinkScanner, AVG Security Toolbar)
AVG Technologies has yet to go through with their Initial Public Offering ( IPO) (it’s still business as usual on both the London Stock Exchange and Warsaw Stock Exchange, despite this!) http://kensek.blogspot.com/2010/07/avg-technologies-prepares-to-go-public.html for more information), Nonetheless, while the AVG Technologies IPO has been on hold, they have been busy.
On November 10, AVG Technologies announced the acquisition of DroidSecurity, a provider of tools and services to protect Android devices. On November 19, AVG Technologies announced that they were they were going to partner with Google broaden the search functionality of AVG’s Security Toolbar and AVG LinkScanner. http://www.avg.com/us-en/press-releases-news.ndi-284377 http://www.avg.com/us-en/press-releases-news.ndi-197
A December 30 AVG Technologies blog discussed, in part, how companies like AVG are working to make sure that additional security is available to protect smart phone users. http://jrsmith.blog.avg.com/2009/12/how-will-smart-phones-and-social-networking-affect-cybercrime.html This acquisition jumpstarts AVG’s role in protecting users on the Android™ operating system.
Prior to the DroidSecurity acquisition, mobile protection was a gap in AVG Technologies' product portfolio. Competitors have been offering protection for awhile (not for Droid obviously). For example, as paid products - Trend Micro offers Trend Micro Mobile Security (Symbian), Symantec offers Norton Smartphone Security for Symbian and Windows Mobile, Avast Mobile Edition (Palm, Windows CE, and Windows Mobile 5), Kaspersky Mobile Security (Windows Mobile, Symbian (on Nokia).
Protecting Android devices presents a nice opportunity for monetization (cutting to the chase, revenue!. According to Digitimes Research - Smartphones, tablet PCs and notebooks will all become the mainstream terminal devices in the mobile Internet market in the future with smartphone shipments having a chance to reach 800 million units in 2013. This is more than double from 2010, with tablet PCs at 100 million units and notebooks at 300 million units. http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20101118VL201.html
DroidSecurity has both free (over 4.5 million downloads) and paid ($9.99 US) version of their product. The pitch to upgrade:
• Complete protection from SMS spam, scams and phishing attempts
• VIP support
• No disruptions or advertising
DroidSecurity is a provider of mobile security solutions, for all Android™ devices (smartphones, e-readers, tablets and appliances). For more information on DroidSecurity http://www.droidsecurity.com/
AVG Facebook Fans, Pleased With the Switch to Google, Not As Pleased With Toolbar
There were a number of people clicking “like” on AVG’s fan page regarding the announcement (the flip side of this is that there are people who will click like on anything. There is no dislike option). For those taking the time to comment, there were a number of people pleased that Yahoo will no longer be the search engine installed with the security toolbar. There was also a significant number of people (around 25%), who had less than positive comments regarding toolbars, in general.
One Facebook fan commented, "Having "search" functions in tool bars are redundant. All browsers have selectable search bars built in now. All most ‘toolbars’ do is eat up memory and take up space.” Toolbar users will be able to use Yahoo on the AVG Security toolbar for another six months. Based on fan comments, though, it looks as if people will switch sooner rather than later.
Note that when people install AVG products, the box to install the toolbar is pre-checked. So people must actively opt out in order to not have it installed on their laptop/PC. It is an optional install and there are support pages on the AVG site and the web explaining how to uninstall it, for those who don’t wish to use it.
Possible Reasons for the Switch from Yahoo to Google
• From a business perspective, the Google search engine is a superior engine.
• The Google search engine has 2/3 of market share in the US. Yahoo has only about 1/6 of the market. http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/11/comScore_Releases_October_2010_U.S._Search_Engine_Rankings
• This may increase AVG user’s installing/retaining/using the toolbar for searches and other purposes on the bar.
• AVG’s monetization opportunities, after product revenue, including OEM revenue, are on the toolbar, to a large extent.
It would be interesting to be able to compare the Yahoo contract to the Google contract to see whether AVG Technologies will accrue less revenue from Google on a “per something” basis, but will make up for it in volume. Customer satisfaction with the toolbar should increase. In negotiations, Google probably was the 800 pound gorilla.
For more information on the AVG Security Toolbar, go to http://www.avg.com/us-en/special-toolbar-first-run-tlbrc-v2-mcr7
On November 10, AVG Technologies announced the acquisition of DroidSecurity, a provider of tools and services to protect Android devices. On November 19, AVG Technologies announced that they were they were going to partner with Google broaden the search functionality of AVG’s Security Toolbar and AVG LinkScanner. http://www.avg.com/us-en/press-releases-news.ndi-284377 http://www.avg.com/us-en/press-releases-news.ndi-197
A December 30 AVG Technologies blog discussed, in part, how companies like AVG are working to make sure that additional security is available to protect smart phone users. http://jrsmith.blog.avg.com/2009/12/how-will-smart-phones-and-social-networking-affect-cybercrime.html This acquisition jumpstarts AVG’s role in protecting users on the Android™ operating system.
Prior to the DroidSecurity acquisition, mobile protection was a gap in AVG Technologies' product portfolio. Competitors have been offering protection for awhile (not for Droid obviously). For example, as paid products - Trend Micro offers Trend Micro Mobile Security (Symbian), Symantec offers Norton Smartphone Security for Symbian and Windows Mobile, Avast Mobile Edition (Palm, Windows CE, and Windows Mobile 5), Kaspersky Mobile Security (Windows Mobile, Symbian (on Nokia).
Protecting Android devices presents a nice opportunity for monetization (cutting to the chase, revenue!. According to Digitimes Research - Smartphones, tablet PCs and notebooks will all become the mainstream terminal devices in the mobile Internet market in the future with smartphone shipments having a chance to reach 800 million units in 2013. This is more than double from 2010, with tablet PCs at 100 million units and notebooks at 300 million units. http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20101118VL201.html
DroidSecurity has both free (over 4.5 million downloads) and paid ($9.99 US) version of their product. The pitch to upgrade:
• Complete protection from SMS spam, scams and phishing attempts
• VIP support
• No disruptions or advertising
DroidSecurity is a provider of mobile security solutions, for all Android™ devices (smartphones, e-readers, tablets and appliances). For more information on DroidSecurity http://www.droidsecurity.com/
AVG Facebook Fans, Pleased With the Switch to Google, Not As Pleased With Toolbar
There were a number of people clicking “like” on AVG’s fan page regarding the announcement (the flip side of this is that there are people who will click like on anything. There is no dislike option). For those taking the time to comment, there were a number of people pleased that Yahoo will no longer be the search engine installed with the security toolbar. There was also a significant number of people (around 25%), who had less than positive comments regarding toolbars, in general.
One Facebook fan commented, "Having "search" functions in tool bars are redundant. All browsers have selectable search bars built in now. All most ‘toolbars’ do is eat up memory and take up space.” Toolbar users will be able to use Yahoo on the AVG Security toolbar for another six months. Based on fan comments, though, it looks as if people will switch sooner rather than later.
Note that when people install AVG products, the box to install the toolbar is pre-checked. So people must actively opt out in order to not have it installed on their laptop/PC. It is an optional install and there are support pages on the AVG site and the web explaining how to uninstall it, for those who don’t wish to use it.
Possible Reasons for the Switch from Yahoo to Google
• From a business perspective, the Google search engine is a superior engine.
• The Google search engine has 2/3 of market share in the US. Yahoo has only about 1/6 of the market. http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/11/comScore_Releases_October_2010_U.S._Search_Engine_Rankings
• This may increase AVG user’s installing/retaining/using the toolbar for searches and other purposes on the bar.
• AVG’s monetization opportunities, after product revenue, including OEM revenue, are on the toolbar, to a large extent.
It would be interesting to be able to compare the Yahoo contract to the Google contract to see whether AVG Technologies will accrue less revenue from Google on a “per something” basis, but will make up for it in volume. Customer satisfaction with the toolbar should increase. In negotiations, Google probably was the 800 pound gorilla.
For more information on the AVG Security Toolbar, go to http://www.avg.com/us-en/special-toolbar-first-run-tlbrc-v2-mcr7
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Oct 2011 Add. , Best Antivirus Software for 2011 - PC Magazine Antivirus Review (Round-up) - Avira softwareload.de Addendum at End
Oct. 2011 Addendum. - For Beat Antivirus Software for 2012 - go to http://kensek.blogspot.com/2011/08/best-antivirus-software-2012-pc.html
Original Post
PC Magazine's Neil Rubenking has been busy putting 20 consumer antivirus 2011 editions through his tests and summarized the results in his November 10 round-up, “The Best Antivirus Software for 2011”. These are a mix of free and paid antivirus products. Webroot’s product and Panda Cloud Antivirus were PC World Editor’s Choice recipients for paid and free antivirus in the "Best Antivirus Software for 2011" round-up. The complete antivirus review can be viewed at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2372364,00.asp
For his antivirus review, Rubenking defined an antivirus product as a “utility that protects against all kinds of malicious software, not just viruses…. Trojans, spyware, rootkits, keyloggers, adware, scareware”. In the security world, these each have a unique definition.
Also see, Best Internet Security Suites 2011 at http://kensek.blogspot.com/2011/04/best-internet-security-suites-2011-pc.html
Many of the products have their own unique twists, according to Rubenking. Panda’s product operates in the cloud. Others include a firewall; others include some intrusion prevention protection. Others help protect against phishing attacks. For this reason, it’s important to go to the antivirus review itself when taking a detailed look at the products.
Summary Scores - Best Antivirus Software for 2011
In the table below, products are listed numerically, highest to lowest, and reverse alphabetical order (important)!
Score/Product
4.5 - Webroot AV With Spysweeper
4.0 - PC Tools Antivirus
4.0 - Panda Cloud Antivirus*
4.0 - Double Anti-Spy Professional
4.0 - Ad-Aware
3.5 - Panda AV Pro
3.5 - Norton AV
3.5 - McAfee AV Plus
3.5 - Malware Bytes*
3.5 - Kaspersky AV
3.5 - Comodo*
3.5 - BitDefender AV
3.5 - AVG Anti-Virus *
3.0 - F-Secure AV
3.0 - eScan AV
2.5 - Outpost AV
2.5 - Immunet*
2.5 - Bullguard AV
2.0 - Trend Micro Titanium AV
2.0 - Digital Defender*
* = free
Avast! and Avira did not have their free antivirus 2011 edition products released as of the time this round-up was published.
Two great charts to look at in the round-up are the 2011 Antivirus Malware Removal Chart, and the 2011 Antivirus Malware Blocking Chart. These show the details for each of the products tested. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2372369,00.asp
Third party sites to go to for additional test results include Virus Bulletin (www.virusbtn.org ) AV-Comparatives (www.av-comparatives.org ) and AV-Test (www.av-test.org ). Note that some of these sites may still have 2010 version products tested. Others may have tested the business edition of a company’s antivirus solution. Rubenking’s tests are for 2011 products, consumer version.
What does the above show? There are a number of solutions to choose from for the home user. The “best” product isn’t necessarily the most expensive product, though in a couple of instances, you do seem to get what you pay for. Look at the products, also, on the basis of additional features you may want. For any of the above solutions, it’s possible to add an additional layer of safe surfing protection by downloading McAfee’s SiteAdvisor or AVG Technologies LinkScanner products. These work with most home security solutions. To look at the results for internet security 2011 solutions from October, go to http://kensek.blogspot.com/2010/10/avg-internet-security-2011-review-rush.html As always, to learn more about testing standards, go to Anti-malware Testing Standard Organization's (AMTSO) webs site, www.amtso.org
Table of PC World Top Internet Security Suites of 2011 Combined With PC Magazine Information
Go to http://kensek.blogspot.com/2010/12/pc-world-battle-of-security-superpowers.html to view a summary table combining information on PC World's and PC Magazine's takes on top internet security suites for 2011.
Avira Premium Security Suite Named "Software of the Year 2010" in softwareload.de Online Poll
From the Avira website - Tettnang, October 22, 2010 – Over 800,000 Internet users took part in the Softwareload.de online poll, which ran between September 1 - 30, 2010, to select the "Software of the Year 2010." Voters picked their favorites from 18 software categories. Avira Premium Security Suite won first place in the "Security" category leaving nine competitors in its wake.
Given where Avira is located, there may have been a little “hometown influence”. Avira is also currently doing a promotion where individuals who purchase the premium Premium Security Suite receive TuneUp Utilities free (usually €39.95).
http://www.avira.com/en/press-details/nid/477/news/software-of-the-year-2010
Original Post
PC Magazine's Neil Rubenking has been busy putting 20 consumer antivirus 2011 editions through his tests and summarized the results in his November 10 round-up, “The Best Antivirus Software for 2011”. These are a mix of free and paid antivirus products. Webroot’s product and Panda Cloud Antivirus were PC World Editor’s Choice recipients for paid and free antivirus in the "Best Antivirus Software for 2011" round-up. The complete antivirus review can be viewed at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2372364,00.asp
For his antivirus review, Rubenking defined an antivirus product as a “utility that protects against all kinds of malicious software, not just viruses…. Trojans, spyware, rootkits, keyloggers, adware, scareware”. In the security world, these each have a unique definition.
Also see, Best Internet Security Suites 2011 at http://kensek.blogspot.com/2011/04/best-internet-security-suites-2011-pc.html
Many of the products have their own unique twists, according to Rubenking. Panda’s product operates in the cloud. Others include a firewall; others include some intrusion prevention protection. Others help protect against phishing attacks. For this reason, it’s important to go to the antivirus review itself when taking a detailed look at the products.
Summary Scores - Best Antivirus Software for 2011
In the table below, products are listed numerically, highest to lowest, and reverse alphabetical order (important)!
Score/Product
4.5 - Webroot AV With Spysweeper
4.0 - PC Tools Antivirus
4.0 - Panda Cloud Antivirus*
4.0 - Double Anti-Spy Professional
4.0 - Ad-Aware
3.5 - Panda AV Pro
3.5 - Norton AV
3.5 - McAfee AV Plus
3.5 - Malware Bytes*
3.5 - Kaspersky AV
3.5 - Comodo*
3.5 - BitDefender AV
3.5 - AVG Anti-Virus *
3.0 - F-Secure AV
3.0 - eScan AV
2.5 - Outpost AV
2.5 - Immunet*
2.5 - Bullguard AV
2.0 - Trend Micro Titanium AV
2.0 - Digital Defender*
* = free
Avast! and Avira did not have their free antivirus 2011 edition products released as of the time this round-up was published.
Two great charts to look at in the round-up are the 2011 Antivirus Malware Removal Chart, and the 2011 Antivirus Malware Blocking Chart. These show the details for each of the products tested. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2372369,00.asp
Third party sites to go to for additional test results include Virus Bulletin (www.virusbtn.org ) AV-Comparatives (www.av-comparatives.org ) and AV-Test (www.av-test.org ). Note that some of these sites may still have 2010 version products tested. Others may have tested the business edition of a company’s antivirus solution. Rubenking’s tests are for 2011 products, consumer version.
What does the above show? There are a number of solutions to choose from for the home user. The “best” product isn’t necessarily the most expensive product, though in a couple of instances, you do seem to get what you pay for. Look at the products, also, on the basis of additional features you may want. For any of the above solutions, it’s possible to add an additional layer of safe surfing protection by downloading McAfee’s SiteAdvisor or AVG Technologies LinkScanner products. These work with most home security solutions. To look at the results for internet security 2011 solutions from October, go to http://kensek.blogspot.com/2010/10/avg-internet-security-2011-review-rush.html As always, to learn more about testing standards, go to Anti-malware Testing Standard Organization's (AMTSO) webs site, www.amtso.org
Table of PC World Top Internet Security Suites of 2011 Combined With PC Magazine Information
Go to http://kensek.blogspot.com/2010/12/pc-world-battle-of-security-superpowers.html to view a summary table combining information on PC World's and PC Magazine's takes on top internet security suites for 2011.
Avira Premium Security Suite Named "Software of the Year 2010" in softwareload.de Online Poll
From the Avira website - Tettnang, October 22, 2010 – Over 800,000 Internet users took part in the Softwareload.de online poll, which ran between September 1 - 30, 2010, to select the "Software of the Year 2010." Voters picked their favorites from 18 software categories. Avira Premium Security Suite won first place in the "Security" category leaving nine competitors in its wake.
Given where Avira is located, there may have been a little “hometown influence”. Avira is also currently doing a promotion where individuals who purchase the premium Premium Security Suite receive TuneUp Utilities free (usually €39.95).
http://www.avira.com/en/press-details/nid/477/news/software-of-the-year-2010
Saturday, November 06, 2010
SC Magazine Awards 2011 Finalists Announced
February addendum - go to the following url to view the winners http://kensek.blogspot.com/2011/02/sc-awards-2011-us-announced.html
SC Magazine has announced their SC Awards 2011 finalists (US). There are 20 categories for Reader Trust Awards, 5 for Excellence Awards and 5 for Professional Awards. Winners in the latter two categories are chosen by a panel selected by SC Magazine. The Reader Trust Awards are voted on by a panel of SC Magazine readers.
McAfee, Symantec, and Sophos all have multiple products up for Reader Trust awards. Some of the categories security products are finalists for are interesting. For example, in the below, companies up for awards in Best Anti-Malware Management and Best Endpoint Security could be interchangeable. Sophos’ Sophos Endpoint Security and Data Protection is in both categories.
Best Anti-Malware Management (client-based, typically software only)
• ESET for ESET NOD32 Anti-virus 4
• Kaspersky Lab Americas for Kaspersky Open Space Security
• McAfee for McAfee Endpoint Protection Suite
• Microsoft for Forefront Client Security
• Sophos for Sophos Endpoint Security and Data Protection
Best Endpoint/UTM Security
• Check Point Software Technologies for Check Point UTM-1
• McAfee for McAfee Total Protection for Endpoint, Enterprise Edition
• SonicWALL for SonicWALL E-Class Network Security Appliance (NSA) E8500
• Sophos for Sophos Endpoint Security and Data Protection
• Symantec for Symantec Endpoint Protection 11.0
McAfee was recognized for products in 12 areas within the “Readers Trust” competition, which honors best-in-class security products and services. McAfee was also selected as a finalist for three “Excellence Awards." http://www.mcafee.com/us/about/news/2010/q4/20101111-01.aspx
None of the three companies best known for their free internet security software, AVG Technologies, Avast, and Avira are represented this year. AVG Technologies business AVG Internet Security product was a finalist last year in the Anti-Malware category (US Edition).
SC Magazine SC Awards 2011 - Reader Trust Categories
• Best Anti-Malware Solution Gateway
• Best Anti-Malware Management (client-based, typically software only)
• Best Endpoint Security Solution
• Best Computer Forensics Solution
• Best Encryption Solution
• Best Enterprise Firewall
• Best Identity Management Solution
• Best Integrated Security Solution
• Best Intrusion Detection/Prevention Solution
• Best IPsec/SSL VPN
• Best Managed Security Service
• Best Messaging Security Solution
• Best Mobile Device Security Solution
• Best Multi- and Second-factor Solution
• Best Policy Management Solution
• Best Security Information/Event Management (SIM/SEM) Solution
• Best Security Software Development Solution
• Best Vulnerability Management Solution
• Best Web Application Security Solution
• Best Web Filtering Solution
Winners will be announced on February 15 in San Francisco. This will coincide with when the RSA Conference takes place. For a complete listing of finalists in all categories, go to http://www.scmagazineus.com/2011-sc-awards-us-finalists/section/1908/
SC Magazine has announced their SC Awards 2011 finalists (US). There are 20 categories for Reader Trust Awards, 5 for Excellence Awards and 5 for Professional Awards. Winners in the latter two categories are chosen by a panel selected by SC Magazine. The Reader Trust Awards are voted on by a panel of SC Magazine readers.
McAfee, Symantec, and Sophos all have multiple products up for Reader Trust awards. Some of the categories security products are finalists for are interesting. For example, in the below, companies up for awards in Best Anti-Malware Management and Best Endpoint Security could be interchangeable. Sophos’ Sophos Endpoint Security and Data Protection is in both categories.
Best Anti-Malware Management (client-based, typically software only)
• ESET for ESET NOD32 Anti-virus 4
• Kaspersky Lab Americas for Kaspersky Open Space Security
• McAfee for McAfee Endpoint Protection Suite
• Microsoft for Forefront Client Security
• Sophos for Sophos Endpoint Security and Data Protection
Best Endpoint/UTM Security
• Check Point Software Technologies for Check Point UTM-1
• McAfee for McAfee Total Protection for Endpoint, Enterprise Edition
• SonicWALL for SonicWALL E-Class Network Security Appliance (NSA) E8500
• Sophos for Sophos Endpoint Security and Data Protection
• Symantec for Symantec Endpoint Protection 11.0
McAfee was recognized for products in 12 areas within the “Readers Trust” competition, which honors best-in-class security products and services. McAfee was also selected as a finalist for three “Excellence Awards." http://www.mcafee.com/us/about/news/2010/q4/20101111-01.aspx
None of the three companies best known for their free internet security software, AVG Technologies, Avast, and Avira are represented this year. AVG Technologies business AVG Internet Security product was a finalist last year in the Anti-Malware category (US Edition).
SC Magazine SC Awards 2011 - Reader Trust Categories
• Best Anti-Malware Solution Gateway
• Best Anti-Malware Management (client-based, typically software only)
• Best Endpoint Security Solution
• Best Computer Forensics Solution
• Best Encryption Solution
• Best Enterprise Firewall
• Best Identity Management Solution
• Best Integrated Security Solution
• Best Intrusion Detection/Prevention Solution
• Best IPsec/SSL VPN
• Best Managed Security Service
• Best Messaging Security Solution
• Best Mobile Device Security Solution
• Best Multi- and Second-factor Solution
• Best Policy Management Solution
• Best Security Information/Event Management (SIM/SEM) Solution
• Best Security Software Development Solution
• Best Vulnerability Management Solution
• Best Web Application Security Solution
• Best Web Filtering Solution
Winners will be announced on February 15 in San Francisco. This will coincide with when the RSA Conference takes place. For a complete listing of finalists in all categories, go to http://www.scmagazineus.com/2011-sc-awards-us-finalists/section/1908/
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Antivirus and Internet Security 2011, Sophos Introduces Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition
Sophos entered the home Mac antivirus marketplace on November 1 with the introduction of Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition. It’s a free product targeted for the home user. Their positioning on the product is that it provides full protection from viruses, Trojans and worms and that it stops all threats, including those designed for Windows. http://www.sophos.com/products/free-tools/free-mac-anti-virus/
Among the three internet security vendors more well known for their free antivirus products, AVG Technologies (AVG LinkScanner for Mac), and Avast! (Avast! Mac Edition) offer Mac antivirus solutions. Avira doesn’t seem to have one. AVG Technologies LinkScanner for Mac has probably contributed to their 100k plus Facebook fans. However, AVG Technologies currently has no consumer paid antivirus Mac product to migrate to. PC Tools (owned by Symantec) has a frequently downloaded IAntiVirus product with 250k downloads from the CNET download site as of November 1.
As with the other vendors with a free antivirus product, support for Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac product is via a user forum, help documents, and videos. There is no phone or email support for Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac.
Other Vendors Providing Antivirus Protection for the Mac
There are a number of vendors providing antivirus protection for the Mac. Panda (Panda Antivirus for Mac) Symantec (Norton Antivirus for Mac, Norton Internet Security for Mac), ESET (ESET Cybersecurity for Mac) (Trend Micro (Smart Surfing for Mac), McAfee (McAfee Internet Security for Mac, McAfee Family Protection for Mac, and McAfee Family Protection for iPhone), and Kaspersky (Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Mac) offer paid internet security/antivirus solutions for the Macintosh. Offering multiple Macintosh solutions has probably contributed to their 300k Facebook fans.
There is “sort of” a migration path to a paid product. Home users can purchase Sophos Anti-Virus. However, the minimum purchase is 3 licenses, for a total cost of about $145 US. Migration and monetization will probably be limited. Sophos’ website implies that the functionality is the same.
“The main motivation is to create lasting fans of our brand,” says Sophos marketing vice president Chris Kraft. “If we [give away] tools that we’re not intending to commercialize, things that people will like and that will let them experience the quality of our security, more customers will emerge over time.”
http://blogs.forbes.com/andygreenberg/2010/11/02/antivirus-for-apple-hits-the-right-price-free/
Sophos may have also felt compelled to offer something for home users since many of the major security vendors offer a Macintosh solution. They may be planning on offering some kind of paid solution for the Macintosh that is more clearly positioned for home users, Kraft’s comments notwithstanding (or other Apple products, iPhone, iPad in the future?). Depending on how the product's functionality compares to other Mac solutions, Users wanting a more robust solution may need to migrate to one of the other vendors mentioned above. However, Sophos states that this is a business strength product. Reviews will probably begin appearing in the near future.
Among the three internet security vendors more well known for their free antivirus products, AVG Technologies (AVG LinkScanner for Mac), and Avast! (Avast! Mac Edition) offer Mac antivirus solutions. Avira doesn’t seem to have one. AVG Technologies LinkScanner for Mac has probably contributed to their 100k plus Facebook fans. However, AVG Technologies currently has no consumer paid antivirus Mac product to migrate to. PC Tools (owned by Symantec) has a frequently downloaded IAntiVirus product with 250k downloads from the CNET download site as of November 1.
As with the other vendors with a free antivirus product, support for Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac product is via a user forum, help documents, and videos. There is no phone or email support for Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac.
Other Vendors Providing Antivirus Protection for the Mac
There are a number of vendors providing antivirus protection for the Mac. Panda (Panda Antivirus for Mac) Symantec (Norton Antivirus for Mac, Norton Internet Security for Mac), ESET (ESET Cybersecurity for Mac) (Trend Micro (Smart Surfing for Mac), McAfee (McAfee Internet Security for Mac, McAfee Family Protection for Mac, and McAfee Family Protection for iPhone), and Kaspersky (Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Mac) offer paid internet security/antivirus solutions for the Macintosh. Offering multiple Macintosh solutions has probably contributed to their 300k Facebook fans.
There is “sort of” a migration path to a paid product. Home users can purchase Sophos Anti-Virus. However, the minimum purchase is 3 licenses, for a total cost of about $145 US. Migration and monetization will probably be limited. Sophos’ website implies that the functionality is the same.
“The main motivation is to create lasting fans of our brand,” says Sophos marketing vice president Chris Kraft. “If we [give away] tools that we’re not intending to commercialize, things that people will like and that will let them experience the quality of our security, more customers will emerge over time.”
http://blogs.forbes.com/andygreenberg/2010/11/02/antivirus-for-apple-hits-the-right-price-free/
Sophos may have also felt compelled to offer something for home users since many of the major security vendors offer a Macintosh solution. They may be planning on offering some kind of paid solution for the Macintosh that is more clearly positioned for home users, Kraft’s comments notwithstanding (or other Apple products, iPhone, iPad in the future?). Depending on how the product's functionality compares to other Mac solutions, Users wanting a more robust solution may need to migrate to one of the other vendors mentioned above. However, Sophos states that this is a business strength product. Reviews will probably begin appearing in the near future.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
NSS Labs Consumer Anti-Malware Product Group Test Report – September 2010
NSS Labs has released their “Consumer Anti-Malware Internet Security Product Group Test Report” Internet security products tested were tested and summary guidance for these products are:
Recommend - F-Secure Internet Security 2010, McAfee Internet Security, Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security.
Neutral - Kaspersky Internet Security 2011, Norman Security Suite, Panda Internet Security 2011, Norton Internet Security 2010.
Caution - AVG Internet Security 2010, ESET Smart Security 4.
NSS Labs Tests
NSS Labs performed 19 tests across three categories - Malware Protection, Exploit Protection, and Performance Impact. The whole report is worth looking at. There is a mix of 2010 and 2011 releases in the report. Results from this report should only be used in conjunction with looking at test and certifications results from other organizations such as Virus Bulletin, AV-Test.org, AV Comparatives, ICSA Labs, and West Coast Labs. PC Magazine uses a collection of malware they receive from internet security vendors in their testing.
NSS Labs was recently featured in an October Forbes Magazine article – “NSS Labs' Nasdaq for Hackers”. It’s interesting reading. In October, “the firm plans to launch an online platform that will allow researchers and penetration testers to buy and sell hacking exploits on an open marketplace known as Exploit Hub.” http://www.forbes.com/global/2010/1011/ideas-internet-hackers-nasdaq-nss-digital-arms-dealer.html
The NSS Labs report can be downloaded at:
http://nsslabs.com/assets/noreg-reports/NSS%20Labs%20Consumer%20Antimalware%20Group%20Test%20Q3%202010.pdf
NSS Labs was previously a member of the Anti-malware Testing Standards Organization www.amtso.org . For more information on NSS Labs, go to http://nsslabs.com
Recommend - F-Secure Internet Security 2010, McAfee Internet Security, Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security.
Neutral - Kaspersky Internet Security 2011, Norman Security Suite, Panda Internet Security 2011, Norton Internet Security 2010.
Caution - AVG Internet Security 2010, ESET Smart Security 4.
NSS Labs Tests
NSS Labs performed 19 tests across three categories - Malware Protection, Exploit Protection, and Performance Impact. The whole report is worth looking at. There is a mix of 2010 and 2011 releases in the report. Results from this report should only be used in conjunction with looking at test and certifications results from other organizations such as Virus Bulletin, AV-Test.org, AV Comparatives, ICSA Labs, and West Coast Labs. PC Magazine uses a collection of malware they receive from internet security vendors in their testing.
NSS Labs was recently featured in an October Forbes Magazine article – “NSS Labs' Nasdaq for Hackers”. It’s interesting reading. In October, “the firm plans to launch an online platform that will allow researchers and penetration testers to buy and sell hacking exploits on an open marketplace known as Exploit Hub.” http://www.forbes.com/global/2010/1011/ideas-internet-hackers-nasdaq-nss-digital-arms-dealer.html
The NSS Labs report can be downloaded at:
http://nsslabs.com/assets/noreg-reports/NSS%20Labs%20Consumer%20Antimalware%20Group%20Test%20Q3%202010.pdf
NSS Labs was previously a member of the Anti-malware Testing Standards Organization www.amtso.org . For more information on NSS Labs, go to http://nsslabs.com
Monday, October 18, 2010
October Virus Bulletin RAP Averages Quadrant (April through October)
Virus Bulletin has published their latest Reactive and Proactive (RAP) Averages Quadrant for April through October 2010.
Those achieving greater than 90% for Reactive Detection and greater than 70% for Proactive Detection on the RAP Averages Quadrant were Avira Pro, Ikarus, Emsisoft, Webroot, Coranti, Check Point, Kaspersky, ESET and Trustport (moving approximately left to right for Proactive Detection). The stellar performer was Trustport which had the highest Reactive Protection overall and the second highest score for Proactive Detection. Avast! and AVG Technologies were close to being in this group but fell below the 70% rate for Proactive Detection.
The anti-virus, internet security 800 pound gorillas will probably not be trumpeting their results on this particular test.
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.
This test set is used to gauge products' ability to detect new and unknown samples proactively, using heuristic and generic techniques. A detailed description can be viewed at. http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/vb200902-RAP-tests
The relative performance of vendors can best be viewed by looking at the RAP Averages Quadrant (April through October 2010) chart at http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/rap-index.xml . Subscribers to Virus Bulletin's publications have access to more details on the results.
UK based Virus Bulletin www.virusbtn.com started in 1989. They provide 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 . The site is a great source of information on malware and spam. They are a member of the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization, www.AMTSO.org.
Those achieving greater than 90% for Reactive Detection and greater than 70% for Proactive Detection on the RAP Averages Quadrant were Avira Pro, Ikarus, Emsisoft, Webroot, Coranti, Check Point, Kaspersky, ESET and Trustport (moving approximately left to right for Proactive Detection). The stellar performer was Trustport which had the highest Reactive Protection overall and the second highest score for Proactive Detection. Avast! and AVG Technologies were close to being in this group but fell below the 70% rate for Proactive Detection.
The anti-virus, internet security 800 pound gorillas will probably not be trumpeting their results on this particular test.
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.
This test set is used to gauge products' ability to detect new and unknown samples proactively, using heuristic and generic techniques. A detailed description can be viewed at. http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/vb200902-RAP-tests
The relative performance of vendors can best be viewed by looking at the RAP Averages Quadrant (April through October 2010) chart at http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/rap-index.xml . Subscribers to Virus Bulletin's publications have access to more details on the results.
UK based Virus Bulletin www.virusbtn.com started in 1989. They provide 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 . The site is a great source of information on malware and spam. They are a member of the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization, www.AMTSO.org.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
AVG Internet Security 2011 Review – Rush to Release Part VII
AVG Internet Security 2011 Review – Rush to Release Part VII
Fall 2012 Addendum For a listing of PC Magazine Internet Suite 2012 rankings go to
http://kensek.blogspot.com/2011/08/best-internet-security-suites-2012-pc.html
For a PC Magazine review of AVG Internet Security 2012, go to
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2392086,00.asp
Original Post
AVG Technologies announced the release of AVG Internet Security 2011 on September 28. This, AVG Anti-Virus 2011, AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 2011, AVG Anti-Virus Business Edition 2011, and AVG Internet Security Small Business Edition 2011 and the rest of AVG’s internet security solutions are released. A number of AVG Internet Security 2011 reviews.
AVG Introduces AVG 2011 Enhanced Internet Security Software Suite
Link to PC Magazine ratings of Internet Security 2012 suites http://kensek.blogspot.com/2011/08/best-internet-security-suites-2012-pc.html
Consumer and Business Free and Paid Offerings Feature Enhancements Based on Community Feedback and Rise in Popularity of Social Networking
AMSTERDAM, September 28, 2010– AVG Technologies, makers of the world’s most popular free anti-virus software, today announced the immediate availability of its newest Internet security suite, AVG 2011. The design of AVG 2011 incorporates feedback from AVG’s global community of more than 110 million users and includes enhanced Web- and social network-protection, among the best detection rates in the industry, ease-of-use and a faster, nimble and more powerful design. AVG 2011 is the company’s most advanced consumer and small business solution to-date.
ck - Much of the emphasis of the release seemed to be on under the hood improvements. For AVG 2011, speed was emphasized,ease of use, and the need to protect people while they perform social networking. Some of Smart Scanning was part of the 2010 (not scanning files on the laptop that had already been scanned, and remained unchanged was part of the 2010 version 9 release) The below is extracted from the press release. Some AVG blogs go into detail as to what is new versus what is enhanced in the product release.
Superior Web Protection – Including Social Network Protection for Facebook and MySpace
Enhanced User Experience - The Simplest and Easiest to Use (including 5 click installations)
Among the Best Detection Rates in the Industry
Social Networking Protection
Community Protection Network
Protective Cloud Technology
Smarter Scanning
Auto-Fix Button
Desktop Widget - Provides quick and simple access to AVG 2011’s main features, as well as relevant news and updates.
Faster, Lighter, and More Powerful
Desktop Widget - Provides access to AVG 2011’s main features, as well as relevant news and updates.
Game Mode - (ck – Actually available in 8.5 and 9.0)
AVG Online Shield™ - Download and share files without risk of infection. Protection while exchanging files through online chat.
Consumer and Business Free and Paid Offerings Feature Enhancements Based on Community Feedback and Rise in Popularity of Social Networking
Social Network Protection - LinkScanner allows users to surf, search, email, shop and use social networks online with the confidence that the pages they surf are not compromised and the places they choose to visit online are safe to enter personal and private information. LinkScanner automatically checks and protects, in real-time, links exchanged within social networks such as Facebook and MySpace.Hassle free, with no configuration required - protection is automatically activated so you’re safe.
Enhanced User Experience - The Simplest and Easiest to Use – single click “Fix It” button. 5 screen install. AVG 2011 includes a “game mode,” which scans and protects users’ computers behind the scenes without interrupting full screen, multi-media applications with pop-up notifications (ck – “game mode was available In 9.0).
Faster, Lighter, and More Powerful - Smart Scanning, a new functionality that learns which files are certified and safe and only scans new, uncertified files on a user’s computer. When AVG 2011 Smart Scanning does scan a user’s computer, it pays attention to the system resources in use and only scans those resources not in use at the time of the scan Smart Scanning (ck – some of this actually introduced in 9.0 and enhanced in 10.0)
For the actual press release, go to http://www.avg.com/us-en/press-releases-news.ndi-283905
Review Comments on AVG Internet Security PC 2011– PC Magazine
The stars were not shining on AVG Internet Security 2011 from PC Magazine, as it received 2.5 stars out of 5 from PC Magazine’s Neil Rubenking in an October 7th review. CNET’s Seth Rosenblatt was a bit more kind in his review, awarding the product 4 stars.
From PC Magazine (out of 5 stars. The list below is a subset that has been listed in Rush to Release)
• 4.5 – Norton Internet Security 2011 (Editor’s Choice)
• 4.0 – Kaspersky Internet Security 2011
• 4.0 – Webroot Internet Security Complete 2011
• 3.5 – McAfee Total Protection 2011
• 3.5 – Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security 2011
• 3.0 – PC Tools Internet Security 2011
• 3.0 – F-Secure Internet Security 2011
• 3.0 – Panda Internet Security 2011
• 2.5 – AVG Internet Security Suite 2011
For a more complete listing, go to http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,2806,1639159,00.asp
Overall - From a saving money perspective, Rubenking felt that consumers could do better to match the free antivirus with a free firewall and (Zone Alarm) and spam filter (Cloudmark Desktop One). For customers who wanted to purchase a full desktop suite (with 3 licenses), he suggested Norton or Kaspersky. Links to feature grids of these products (including the companies’ AV offerings are located in the 2011 Internet Security Solution Released section.
On the plus side - High marks from independent antivirus labs. Good malware detection in testing. LinkScanner blocks exploits, malicious sites. Free identity theft recovery service. Includes tune-up utility. Accurate spam filtering. Small effect on system performance. (ck – note that the tune-up utility is a onetime tune-up, AVG has introduced a separate tune up product with this release.)
On the negative side – the product was found less effective at removing malware, and the antiiphisihing and firewall companies were criticized.
Much of the commentary had to do with the fact that so much of the functionality seemed to be contained within the Anti-virus component, with that functionality virtually identical to AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition.
Malware Removal – Rubenking felt that the product provided good virus protection, but with incomplete removal. It scored tied for the top in rootkit detection, and about average for malware and keyloggers. It’s worthwhile to individuals to look at the pop-up table “AVG Internet Security 2011 malware removal chart” for details of all 2011 products tested to date.
Malware Blocking – A number of products outperformed Internet Security 2011 in this test. It’s worthwhile for individual to look at the “AVG Internet Security 2011 malware blocking chart”. AVG blocked 78% of the rootkits, for example, while 8 of the 10 products blocked 100%.
Antiphishing and Privacy – AVG scored near the bottom 69% worse than the top product, Norton. Individuals should look at the pop-up for details, “AVG Internet Security 2011 antiphishing chart”
Safe Social Networking - Rubenking complimented (new in this release), the products ability to provide Facebook event notification through the optional toolbar (also provided is 1 year of identity theft recover help through Identity Guard)
AVG PC Tune-Up 2011 - For 24 hours after purchase AVG Internet Security 2011 customers can perform a single tune-up for free. There's also a 24-hour trial period for many of the tune-up tool's additional features. Rubenking recommended taking advantage of the free trial period (ck – some competing products include unlimited PC tune-up capabilities with their internet security product. Readers will have to click on the features grids below for more details)
Firewall – Rubenking talked about the firewall in detail. He had mixed opinions about the firewall finding the Windows firewall fairly adequate. Its program control puts too much reliance on the user's security decisions. In a test he ran using the Core Impact penetration tool, Rubenking found that LinkScanner blocked 2/3 of the exploits while Norton and Kaspersky blocked all of them.
Performance – Rubenking defined performance as including boot time, filing moving/copying among others. He found the product to be about average with the exception of its tie for performance in the boot time test. Readers should go to the article and “AVG Internet Security 2011 performance chart” and comparative details.
For the full review, much more detail and access to all tables (worth looking at!) go to http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2370326,00.asp
Review Comments on AVG Internet Security 2011 – CNET
CNET gave AVG Internet Security 2011 4 stars. Seth Rosenblatt complimented the product on faster scan times, shorter install (now 5 clicks), improved usability, and faster scans.
However, he also wrote that “while the premium product does its best to make it worth your while to upgrade, but unless you're regularly in need of support and PC tuning it's hard to justify paying when the efficacy ratings are less than stellar.” He also cited the increased competition between other free and paid security suites.
Installation – Rosenblatt complimented AVG on the fact the reduced number of screens it takes to install the product has been reduced from 13 to 5screens. He also culled out the fact that user installing the
Interface - Found the changes minor but that usability was improved.
One click Fix button for automatically fixing security breaches was complimented in the review as was the One click Scan now button.
Other Features (not comprehensive)
Smart Scanning - Rosenblatt complimented the “smart scanning” feature. This makes use of AVG’s behavioral detection network to scan-known-safe files one and then scan them again if it detects changes. (ck – some of AVG’s competitors utilize a similar technology)
Resource Management – Users can accept a default setting (use resources only when system is idle) or they can adjust it themselves (ck – users always have the option of having scans run at night or when they know they will be away from their system)
Social Networking Protection - Rosenblatt liked this new feature where AVG LinkScanner will scan links posted on Facebook and MySpace.
Telephone Support - Telephone support is offered 24 hours a day, seven days a week. (ck – available for users of paid products. Probably a result of a combination of competitive pressures and the Walling Data purchase.
New Desktop Widget - for Windows Vista and Windows 7 users. Lets them initiate scans and updates with one click, without having to open the full interface. Contains links to AVG's Twitter and Facebook pages.
Download Scan - Looks at all ports, not just port 80, when checking files sent via instant message.
Performance In CNET's tests, AVG Internet Security 2011 was a bit slower than the median. MS Office performance and Cinebench results were slightly below average, whereas iTunes decoding and media multitasking were slightly faster than average.
For the complete review including a detailed performance table, go to - http://download.cnet.com/AVG-Internet-Security/3000-2239_4-10710160.html
Mixed Review from PC Advisor
PC Advisor gave a mixed review AVG Internet Security 2011, awarding the product 3.5 stars out of 5.0.
The summary verdict from PC Advisor was, “AVG Internet Security 2011 offers all the modules you would expect in a comprehensive protection suite, but its annoying habit of trying to sell you additional services, and its tendency to slow your system down during anti-virus scans, make this software less useful than it otherwise would be.” However, they also said,” those who like to configure their own security settings will find a wealth of options to tweak.” They found that AVG Internet Security 2011 provided a full complement of tools and liked the simple to use interface.
PC Advisor’s system took 3 hours to perform an initial scan, which they stated was slow. They may not have understood that scans after the initial scan would be much faster. They found fault with the PC Analyzer module. They were concerned with the number of register errors it found during its system test. It appears that 3 others products they ran against the system found significantly fewer errors. PC Analyzer performs fixes for free the first time. After that there is an annual fee to install and run the product.
For the complete review, go to http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/index.cfm?reviewid=3244107
The Differences Between AVG Anti-virus Free Edition, AVG Anti-virus and AVG Internet Security 2011
AVG Anti-virus Free Edition 2011 – Anti-Virus, Ant-Spyware, Enhanced Anti-rootkit, New Social Networking Protection, Enhanced LinkScanner
AVG Anti- virus 2011- Adds Online Shield for Safe Download, Online Shield for Safe Chatting
AVG Internet Security Suite 2011 - Adds Identity Protection, Enhanced Firewall, Anti-Spam
For a grid showing the above http://tinyurl.com/33ltpez
Of course, one person’s “great new feature” is another person’s “bloat ware” if they can’t make use of that functionality.
AVG Certifications and Testing (not comprehensive, not 2011 product for AVG, a combination of 2010 and 2011 for the others)
Certifications are typically given for a particular product, version number, and on a specific platform. Organizations will frequently require that the certification logos be linked back to the organization’s web site. Certification logos may be placed in close proximity of products that that weren’t awarded (halo effect). For example, a certification for a consumer version of a product doesn’t automatically mean that the business version is certified. To validate certifications, customers should find an area on the company’s site that does link back to the certification organizations'
Note - On October 12, AVG formally announced AVG Anti-Virus Business Edition and AVG Internet Security Business Edition. Certifications for the consumer versions of these products cannot be attributed to these automatically and vice versa.
Virus Bulletin - Customer’s should only be concerned with the last 2 or 3 years of a vendor’s performance when looking at this. With respect to receiving VB100 Awards for entries since 2008 to current time. For AVG Technologies’ test history for the VB100 award, go to http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archive/results?vendor=VE10 .
Note the product tested, and the platform tested on . AVG did receive an October VB 100 reward. This was using Internet Security 2010 running on Windows Server 2003.
AVG performed okay, but did not crack the top nine in the Virus Bulletin’s RAP (Reactive and Proactive detection test for the the August through October time frame. It Performed above 90% in Reactive Protection but scored just below 70% in Proactive Detection. This test measures products' reactive and proactive detection abilities against the most recent malware that has emerged around the world. For a thorough description of the test, go to . http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/vb200902-RAP-tests . To see the quadrant go to http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/rap-index.xml . http://www.virusbtn.com
ICSA Labs –To generate a list of current certifications AVG has received, go to https://www.icsalabs.com/products . 2010 Product tests and certified as of September 2010 are AVG Internet Security 2010 and AVG File Server (desktop/server anti-virus detection)
AV-Test – AVG Internet Security 2010 received 5.5 for Protection, 4.0 for Repair and 5.5 for Usability, out of 6.0, in the “AV-Test Product Review and Certification Report” - 2010/Q2. The product did receive certification. www.av-test.org
AV-Comparatives – AVG Anti-virus 2010 was one of 7 companies to receive an Advanced 2 star rating in AV-Comparatives’ August “On Demand Detection of Malicious Software Test”. Nine companies received an Advanced 3 star rating. http://www.av-comparatives.org/comparativesreviews/main-tests
West Coast Labs Checkmark – For a list of AVG product with Checkmark Platinum Certification and Checkmark Certification, go to http://www.westcoastlabs.com/checkmark/productList/?vendorID=32 As of September 2010, these are the 9.0 versions. AVG was one of the first companies to receive a Checkmark Platinum certification.
http://www.westcoastlabs.com/checkmark/productList/?vendorID=32 www.westcoastlabs.com
All the above organization are members of the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (www.amtso.org) The Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO) was founded in May 2008 as an international non-profit association that focuses on the addressing the global need for improvement in the objectivity, quality and relevance of anti-malware testing methodologies.
Other Vendor’s Internet Security 2011 and Other Suites – Sampling of New Features
Some interesting features not available in AVG Internet Security in these company’s internet security and/or security solutions include (not comprehensive) for a sample of the companies below:
BitDefender – Chat Encryption, Online Back-up, File Encryption
Panda Security - Secure Browser, Remote PC-Access, File Encryption, File Shredding
Norton – Online back-up, Remote File-Access, PC-Tune-up
Kaspersky - Safe Desktop, Block Websites by Country Code, Special Online Banking Mode
Internet Security 2011 Solutions Released
Clicking on the links below will take you to the complete comparison tables. These are for the company’s anti-virus, internet security, and other security suite solutions in checklist form.
• BitDefender Total Security 2011 was released around August 16. For product details - http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/total-security.
• Kaspersky - Kaspersky announced Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 on August 16 For product details -http://usa.kaspersky.com/products_services/compare/
• Panda Security – Panda Internet Security Suite 2011 was announced on July 27. For product details - http://www.pandasecurity.com/usa/homeusers/solutions/
• Webroot - Webroot Internet Security Complete 2011 was announced on July 26. For product details http://www.webroot.com/En_US/consumer-compare.html
• Symantec – Symantec introduced their Norton consumer security solutions in early September. For product details: http://www.symantec.com/norton/products/charts/comparison.jsp?pcid=mp
• Trend Micro - Trend Micro introduced their Titanium product line in early September. For product details: http://us.trendmicro.com/us/products/personal/titanium-maximum-security/ and click on “product comparison”
• F-Secure - F-Secure announced their internet security product line on September 15. For product details: http://www.f-secure.com/en_US/products/home-office/internet-security/ and then click on compare products.
• McAfee – McAfee announced their 2011 retail product line on September 30. For product details: http://home.mcafee.com/root/landingpage.aspx?LPName=/3products&culture=en-us&cid=83103
• AVG Technologies – AVG Technologies announced their AVG 2011 product line on September 29. For product details: http://tinyurl.com/33ltpez
2011 Internet Security Solutions That Haven’t Been Released
• Avast – No official release date has been announced.
• Avira – No official release data has been announced.
Revenue from AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition?
Approximately 75 million downloads of AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition took place from www.download.com last year. AVG’s publicly talked about installed base is 110 million. This suggests a lot of churn, or perhaps people using the product just once to do a clean-up. A portion migrate to a paid product as well. Switching costs from a free product? $0.
The preferred migration path to revenue for AVG from the free users purchase AVG Internet Security 2011. However, these two reviewers are more or less suggesting that the free customers keep what they have. Rubenking even goes so far to suggest that they can create a suite using AVG’s Free Anti-virus, a free firewall, and a free spam filter from Cloudmark (Desktop One, 5 stars). Product revenue to AVG $0. Toolbar revenue and other revenue is unknown. Another free alternative would be to replace AVG Anti-virus Free Edition (3.5 out of 5) Panda Cloud Security (Editor’s Choice, and 4.0 out of 5). These users could then download AVG LinkScanner for Free. In the Wall Street Journals’ 2010 Technology Innovation Awards on September 22, Panda came in second in the Network Security Category. This results in lost toolbar revenue for AVG.
Should these customers decide to upgrade to a full internet security suite, Rubenking is suggesting Norton or Kaspersky as alternatives. Norton was Rubenking’s Editor’s Choice in the Internet Security category). The product Panda came in second to in the Wall Street Journal? Norton. This may not have quite the same cachet as receiving Walter Mossberg’s seal of approval, but it’s quite impressive.
What does CNET’s Rosenblatt have to suggest about AVG Free Edition users upgrading to AVG Internet Security? “But unless you're regularly in need of support and PC tuning it's hard to justify paying when the efficacy ratings are less than stellar.”
Non AVG customers looking for a new free or internet security solution? - As mentioned above Panda Security received top billing from Rubenking and for a suite, he’s suggesting Kaspersky or Norton. These people can then download the standalone version of AVG LinkScanner. Of course, this is where partners come in to provide the suite for free in exchange for purchasing some other good or service.
AVG Technologies Initial Public Offering (IPO) – As of October 1
Several publications in Europe wrote (unnamed sources) that AVG Technologies intended to go public on November 10 on the Warsaw exchange.
According to AVG CEO J.R. Smith in the September 29 edition of the Prague Post, there has been no decision to list shares of AVG Technologies on either the Warsaw or any other bourse.
For more details, go to “September 30 Addendum: AVG Technologies IPO to Appear on Warsaw Stock Exchange” November 10? http://tinyurl.com/2f3obhp and “September Addendum - AVG Technologies Prepares to Go Public” http://tinyurl.com/2875ne3
This blog is subject to updates.
Friday, October 01, 2010
McAfee Internet Security 2011 – Rush to Release Part VI
McAfee Consumer 2011 Retail Versions Begins Rolling out in Stores
Link to AVG Internet Security 2011 PC Magazine Review AVG IS 2011 PC Magazine Review http://tinyurl.com/366n5mg
McAfee introduced its 2011 security product line (retail editions) on September 30. These include McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2011, McAfee Internet Security 2011, and McAfee Total Protection 2011. A product review of one or more of these solutions will be appearing by numerous publications quickly. McAfee is promoting that with their 2011 product line they provide the fastest, lightest and most effective consumer PC protection in the company’s history. McAfee Labs researchers proactively search for new cyberthreats by using the millions of computers running McAfee software as the discovery beacon.
Some of the Features McAfee is Promoting
• Enhanced performance and fast installation.
• 325% faster scans.
• Updates are only initiated when the computer is idle.
• Easy to use interface. The new products simplify the experience for both novices and experts.
• Scheduled activity throttling which pauses McAfee updates until the computer is idle.
To see the press release go to - http://newsroom.mcafee.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=3680
Some Differentiators
McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2011 - No scan interruptions with Scheduler and Idle Timer. Includes McAfee Quick Clean Tool.
McAfee Internet Security 2011 – Adds the above plus Anti-Spam and email protection, McAfee Online Back-up, Child Protection with enhanced Parental Controls.
McAfee Total Protection 2011 – Adds the above plus McAfee Anti-theft, some home network protection, McAfee SiteAdvisor Plus.
Of course one person’s “great new benefit” is another person’s “bloatware” if they can’t make use of that functionality.
http://home.mcafee.com/root/landingpage.aspx?LPName=/3products&culture=en-us&cid=83103
McAfee touts their SiteAdvisor technology as providing safe web surfing. SiteAdvisor adds small site rating colored icons to search results as well as a browser button and optional search box. These advise web surfers as to the safety of a site.
These site ratings are based on tests conducted by McAfee using a large number of computers that look for all kinds of threats. For details, go to http://www.siteadvisor.com/howitworks/index.html . This product competes against AVG Technologies AVG LinkScanner® offering.
McAfee Certifications and Testing (not comprehensive, not 2011 product)
Certifications are typically given for a particular product, version number, and on a specific platform. Organizations will frequently require that the certification logos be linked back to the organization’s web site. Certification logos may be placed in close proximity of products that that weren’t awarded (halo effect). Where are the logo license enforcers when you need them? For example, a certification for a consumer version of a product doesn’t automatically mean that the business version is certified. To validate certifications, customers should find an area on the company’s site that does link back to the certification organizations' sites.
Virus Bulletin - Customer’s should only be concerned with the last 2 or 3 years of a vendor’s performance when looking at this. McAfee is 11-3 with respect to receiving VB100 Awards for entries since 2008 (through August) 2010.
McAfee Total Protection was not one of the top performers in the RAP Averages Quadrant. It performed under 90% in Reactive Protection and just over 60% in Proactive Detection. This test measures products' reactive and proactive detection abilities against the most recent malware that has emerged around the world. http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/rap-index.xml
www.virusbtn.com
ICSA Labs – Go to https://www.icsalabs.com/products to generate a list of current certifications McAfee has received.
AV-Test – McAfee Internet Security 2010 received 5.0 for Protection, 2.0 for Repair and 3.5 for Usability, out of 6.0, in the AV-Test Product Review and Certification Report - 2010/Q2. The product did not receive certification. www.av-test.org
AV-Comparatives – McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2010 was one of 7 companies to receive an Advanced 2 star rating in AV-Comparatives August “On Demand Detection of Malicious Software Test”. Nine companies received an Advanced 3 star rating. http://www.av-comparatives.org/comparativesreviews/main-tests
West Coast Labs Checkmark – McAfee has a number of Checkmark certified products. Go to http://www.westcoastlabs.com/checkmark/productList/?vendorID=16 They don’t have any Checkmark Platinum certified products as of August 2010. www.westcoastlabs.com
All the above organization are members of the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (www.amtso.org) The Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO) was founded in May 2008 as an international non-profit association that focuses on the addressing the global need for improvement in the objectivity, quality and relevance of anti-malware testing methodologies.
2011 Internet Security Solutions Released
The lines below contain feature checklists for a number of each of the company's products.
• BitDefender Total Security 2011 was released around August 16. For product details - http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/total-security.
• Kaspersky - Kaspersky announced Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 on August 16 For product details -http://usa.kaspersky.com/products_services/compare/
• Panda Security – Panda Internet Security Suite 2011 was announced on July 27. For product details - http://www.pandasecurity.com/usa/homeusers/solutions/
• Webroot - Webroot Internet Security Complete 2011 was announced on July 26. For product details http://www.webroot.com/En_US/consumer-compare.html
• Symantec – Symantec introduced their Norton consumer security solutions in early September. For product details: http://www.symantec.com/norton/products/charts/comparison.jsp?pcid=mp
• Trend Micro - Trend Micro introduced their Titanium product line in early September. For product details: http://us.trendmicro.com/us/products/personal/titanium-maximum-security/ and click on “product comparison”
• F-Secure - F-Secure announced their internet security product line on September 15. For product details: http://www.f-secure.com/en_US/products/home-office/internet-security/ and then click on compare products.
• AVG Technologies – AVG Technologies announced their AVG 2011 product line on September 29. For product details: http://www.avg.com/us-en/home-and-office-security-comparison
• McAfee – McAfee announced their 2011 retail product line on September 30. For product details: http://home.mcafee.com/root/landingpage.aspx?LPName=/3products&culture=en-us&cid=83103
2011 Internet Security Solutions That Haven’t Been Released
• Avast – No official release date has been announced.
• Avira – No official release data has been announced.
McAfee Acquired By Intel
The market for security companies was hot this summer. No longer will McAfee be an independent ship, sailing the internet to protect users from Malware. McAfee accepted an offer to be acquired by Intel for a premium of 60% over the previous day’s closing price on August 18. http://newsroom.mcafee.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=3678.
This blog is subject to updates.
Link to AVG Internet Security 2011 PC Magazine Review AVG IS 2011 PC Magazine Review http://tinyurl.com/366n5mg
McAfee introduced its 2011 security product line (retail editions) on September 30. These include McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2011, McAfee Internet Security 2011, and McAfee Total Protection 2011. A product review of one or more of these solutions will be appearing by numerous publications quickly. McAfee is promoting that with their 2011 product line they provide the fastest, lightest and most effective consumer PC protection in the company’s history. McAfee Labs researchers proactively search for new cyberthreats by using the millions of computers running McAfee software as the discovery beacon.
Some of the Features McAfee is Promoting
• Enhanced performance and fast installation.
• 325% faster scans.
• Updates are only initiated when the computer is idle.
• Easy to use interface. The new products simplify the experience for both novices and experts.
• Scheduled activity throttling which pauses McAfee updates until the computer is idle.
To see the press release go to - http://newsroom.mcafee.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=3680
Some Differentiators
McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2011 - No scan interruptions with Scheduler and Idle Timer. Includes McAfee Quick Clean Tool.
McAfee Internet Security 2011 – Adds the above plus Anti-Spam and email protection, McAfee Online Back-up, Child Protection with enhanced Parental Controls.
McAfee Total Protection 2011 – Adds the above plus McAfee Anti-theft, some home network protection, McAfee SiteAdvisor Plus.
Of course one person’s “great new benefit” is another person’s “bloatware” if they can’t make use of that functionality.
http://home.mcafee.com/root/landingpage.aspx?LPName=/3products&culture=en-us&cid=83103
McAfee touts their SiteAdvisor technology as providing safe web surfing. SiteAdvisor adds small site rating colored icons to search results as well as a browser button and optional search box. These advise web surfers as to the safety of a site.
These site ratings are based on tests conducted by McAfee using a large number of computers that look for all kinds of threats. For details, go to http://www.siteadvisor.com/howitworks/index.html . This product competes against AVG Technologies AVG LinkScanner® offering.
McAfee Certifications and Testing (not comprehensive, not 2011 product)
Certifications are typically given for a particular product, version number, and on a specific platform. Organizations will frequently require that the certification logos be linked back to the organization’s web site. Certification logos may be placed in close proximity of products that that weren’t awarded (halo effect). Where are the logo license enforcers when you need them? For example, a certification for a consumer version of a product doesn’t automatically mean that the business version is certified. To validate certifications, customers should find an area on the company’s site that does link back to the certification organizations' sites.
Virus Bulletin - Customer’s should only be concerned with the last 2 or 3 years of a vendor’s performance when looking at this. McAfee is 11-3 with respect to receiving VB100 Awards for entries since 2008 (through August) 2010.
McAfee Total Protection was not one of the top performers in the RAP Averages Quadrant. It performed under 90% in Reactive Protection and just over 60% in Proactive Detection. This test measures products' reactive and proactive detection abilities against the most recent malware that has emerged around the world. http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/rap-index.xml
www.virusbtn.com
ICSA Labs – Go to https://www.icsalabs.com/products to generate a list of current certifications McAfee has received.
AV-Test – McAfee Internet Security 2010 received 5.0 for Protection, 2.0 for Repair and 3.5 for Usability, out of 6.0, in the AV-Test Product Review and Certification Report - 2010/Q2. The product did not receive certification. www.av-test.org
AV-Comparatives – McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2010 was one of 7 companies to receive an Advanced 2 star rating in AV-Comparatives August “On Demand Detection of Malicious Software Test”. Nine companies received an Advanced 3 star rating. http://www.av-comparatives.org/comparativesreviews/main-tests
West Coast Labs Checkmark – McAfee has a number of Checkmark certified products. Go to http://www.westcoastlabs.com/checkmark/productList/?vendorID=16 They don’t have any Checkmark Platinum certified products as of August 2010. www.westcoastlabs.com
All the above organization are members of the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (www.amtso.org) The Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO) was founded in May 2008 as an international non-profit association that focuses on the addressing the global need for improvement in the objectivity, quality and relevance of anti-malware testing methodologies.
2011 Internet Security Solutions Released
The lines below contain feature checklists for a number of each of the company's products.
• BitDefender Total Security 2011 was released around August 16. For product details - http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/total-security.
• Kaspersky - Kaspersky announced Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 on August 16 For product details -http://usa.kaspersky.com/products_services/compare/
• Panda Security – Panda Internet Security Suite 2011 was announced on July 27. For product details - http://www.pandasecurity.com/usa/homeusers/solutions/
• Webroot - Webroot Internet Security Complete 2011 was announced on July 26. For product details http://www.webroot.com/En_US/consumer-compare.html
• Symantec – Symantec introduced their Norton consumer security solutions in early September. For product details: http://www.symantec.com/norton/products/charts/comparison.jsp?pcid=mp
• Trend Micro - Trend Micro introduced their Titanium product line in early September. For product details: http://us.trendmicro.com/us/products/personal/titanium-maximum-security/ and click on “product comparison”
• F-Secure - F-Secure announced their internet security product line on September 15. For product details: http://www.f-secure.com/en_US/products/home-office/internet-security/ and then click on compare products.
• AVG Technologies – AVG Technologies announced their AVG 2011 product line on September 29. For product details: http://www.avg.com/us-en/home-and-office-security-comparison
• McAfee – McAfee announced their 2011 retail product line on September 30. For product details: http://home.mcafee.com/root/landingpage.aspx?LPName=/3products&culture=en-us&cid=83103
2011 Internet Security Solutions That Haven’t Been Released
• Avast – No official release date has been announced.
• Avira – No official release data has been announced.
McAfee Acquired By Intel
The market for security companies was hot this summer. No longer will McAfee be an independent ship, sailing the internet to protect users from Malware. McAfee accepted an offer to be acquired by Intel for a premium of 60% over the previous day’s closing price on August 18. http://newsroom.mcafee.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=3678.
This blog is subject to updates.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
September 30 Addendum: AVG Technologies IPO to Appear on Warsaw Stock Exchange November 10?
--------
October 8 Addendum - PC Magazine Review of AVG Internet Security 2011 AVG IS 2011 PC Magazine Review http://tinyurl.com/366n5mg
-------------
Blog amended Sept. 30
It looks as if AVG Technologies Initial Public Offering (IPO) “may” take place November 10 with the stock appearing on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The range of the initial market capitalization is unchanged from earlier articles in the press, 400 million to 800 million EUR. The November 10 IPO date appeared in the press in Europe in several publications during the latter half of the week of September 19. Nothing new about the stock appearing on the London Stock Exchange.
In the US, market activity in the security world has been high, as previously written. McAfee is being acquired by Intel. Hewlett Packard won a bidding war for 3PAR over Dell Computer. Hewlett Packard signed an agreement to acquire ArcSight, acquire ArcSight security and compliance management company. http://ir.arcsight.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=506759 There were also rumors about Trend Micro being approached for a takeover. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-09/trend-micro-shares-surge-in-tokyo-after-digitimes-takeover-approach-report.html. This activity could conceivably lead to a pop in the initial price when the stock goes public.
The end of September target launch date of the AVG 2011 set of internet security solutions is (obviously) well ahead of the company's IPO date. There will probably be a number of reviews by publications evaluating one or more of the products shortly after release. Test results by organizations such as www.virusbtn.com, www.icsalabs.com and www.av-comparatives.org will reflect the previous release of the products for awhile.
The translations below are from using “Google translate”.
Finance.cz
AVG is about to enter the Warsaw Stock Exchange
September 23, 2010
http://www.finance.cz/zpravy/finance/281364-avg-technologies-se-chysta-vstoupit-na-varsavskou-burzu-/
According to financial newspaper about a Czech producer of antivirus software, AVG their entry (IPO - a primary offering of shares) IPO would take place November 10, 2010. The value of the IPO would be between 400 mill and 800 million (EUR 2.5 billion to CZK 5 billion. Total Offer (IPO plus addition emissions (sic)) can be up to one billion PLN, ie about 6.3 billion CZK
Interia.pl
Czechs Rush Swiftly To Warsaw
September 25
http://biznes.interia.pl/gieldy/news/czesi-chyzo-pedza-na-warszawe,1536481
The Czech company AVG Technologies is incorporated in The Netherlands. Grisoft is a former founded in 1991 by John Gritzbacha and Tomas Hofer, author of the AVG antivirus program. The largest investor is a venture capital fund Polish Enterprise Investors.
AVG is planning to debut on November 10. It wants to collect one billion of the IPO zł.
Kurzy.cz
AVG Should Appear on the Warsaw Stock Exchange November 10th
September 22
http://zpravy.kurzy.cz/244684-avg-by-se-mela-na-varsavske-burze-objevit-10-listopadu/
Shares of Czech software company AVG would be on the Warsaw stock exchange were to occur the 10th November, write the Polish stock market Wednesday Parkiet Daily.
Warsaw Stock Exchange
The Warsaw Stock Exchange is the largest stock exchange in Eastern Europe. There are 384 companies on the exchange. 361 of them are domestic and 23 foreign. Roughly 1/3 of the market value of the WSE is based on the foreign companies’ value. The Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) operates based on the Act on Trading in Financial Instruments of July 29, 2005 under the supervision of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority http://www.gpw.pl/index.asp
September 30 Addendum
According to AVG CEO J.R. Smith in the September 29 edition of the Prague Post, there has been no decision to list shares of AVG Technologies on either the Warsaw or any other bourse.
"It's news to me," he said in response to reports by Reuters and the daily Hospodářské noviny that quoted unnamed sources. "The shareholders are always looking at options to get some liquidity. They weigh those decisions every day, but there has been no decision made by the shareholders or anyone else to list in Poland or Prague or anywhere else."
http://www.praguepost.com/business/5854-avg-boosts-product-ipo-vague.html
Public offering and high finance can have a sense of intrigue. Meanwhile, "Money Never Sleeps", the sequel to Michael Douglas's "Wall Street", opened last week in the United States and topped the box office. Gordon Gekko is back.
October 8 Addendum - PC Magazine Review of AVG Internet Security 2011 AVG IS 2011 PC Magazine Review http://tinyurl.com/366n5mg
-------------
Blog amended Sept. 30
It looks as if AVG Technologies Initial Public Offering (IPO) “may” take place November 10 with the stock appearing on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The range of the initial market capitalization is unchanged from earlier articles in the press, 400 million to 800 million EUR. The November 10 IPO date appeared in the press in Europe in several publications during the latter half of the week of September 19. Nothing new about the stock appearing on the London Stock Exchange.
In the US, market activity in the security world has been high, as previously written. McAfee is being acquired by Intel. Hewlett Packard won a bidding war for 3PAR over Dell Computer. Hewlett Packard signed an agreement to acquire ArcSight, acquire ArcSight security and compliance management company. http://ir.arcsight.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=506759 There were also rumors about Trend Micro being approached for a takeover. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-09/trend-micro-shares-surge-in-tokyo-after-digitimes-takeover-approach-report.html. This activity could conceivably lead to a pop in the initial price when the stock goes public.
The end of September target launch date of the AVG 2011 set of internet security solutions is (obviously) well ahead of the company's IPO date. There will probably be a number of reviews by publications evaluating one or more of the products shortly after release. Test results by organizations such as www.virusbtn.com, www.icsalabs.com and www.av-comparatives.org will reflect the previous release of the products for awhile.
The translations below are from using “Google translate”.
Finance.cz
AVG is about to enter the Warsaw Stock Exchange
September 23, 2010
http://www.finance.cz/zpravy/finance/281364-avg-technologies-se-chysta-vstoupit-na-varsavskou-burzu-/
According to financial newspaper about a Czech producer of antivirus software, AVG their entry (IPO - a primary offering of shares) IPO would take place November 10, 2010. The value of the IPO would be between 400 mill and 800 million (EUR 2.5 billion to CZK 5 billion. Total Offer (IPO plus addition emissions (sic)) can be up to one billion PLN, ie about 6.3 billion CZK
Interia.pl
Czechs Rush Swiftly To Warsaw
September 25
http://biznes.interia.pl/gieldy/news/czesi-chyzo-pedza-na-warszawe,1536481
The Czech company AVG Technologies is incorporated in The Netherlands. Grisoft is a former founded in 1991 by John Gritzbacha and Tomas Hofer, author of the AVG antivirus program. The largest investor is a venture capital fund Polish Enterprise Investors.
AVG is planning to debut on November 10. It wants to collect one billion of the IPO zł.
Kurzy.cz
AVG Should Appear on the Warsaw Stock Exchange November 10th
September 22
http://zpravy.kurzy.cz/244684-avg-by-se-mela-na-varsavske-burze-objevit-10-listopadu/
Shares of Czech software company AVG would be on the Warsaw stock exchange were to occur the 10th November, write the Polish stock market Wednesday Parkiet Daily.
Warsaw Stock Exchange
The Warsaw Stock Exchange is the largest stock exchange in Eastern Europe. There are 384 companies on the exchange. 361 of them are domestic and 23 foreign. Roughly 1/3 of the market value of the WSE is based on the foreign companies’ value. The Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) operates based on the Act on Trading in Financial Instruments of July 29, 2005 under the supervision of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority http://www.gpw.pl/index.asp
September 30 Addendum
According to AVG CEO J.R. Smith in the September 29 edition of the Prague Post, there has been no decision to list shares of AVG Technologies on either the Warsaw or any other bourse.
"It's news to me," he said in response to reports by Reuters and the daily Hospodářské noviny that quoted unnamed sources. "The shareholders are always looking at options to get some liquidity. They weigh those decisions every day, but there has been no decision made by the shareholders or anyone else to list in Poland or Prague or anywhere else."
http://www.praguepost.com/business/5854-avg-boosts-product-ipo-vague.html
Public offering and high finance can have a sense of intrigue. Meanwhile, "Money Never Sleeps", the sequel to Michael Douglas's "Wall Street", opened last week in the United States and topped the box office. Gordon Gekko is back.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Internet Security 2011 – Rush To Release Part V
September 28 addendum - AVG 2011 should be available September 29.
October 8 Addendum - Link to PC Magazine AVG Internet Security 2011 Review AVG IS 2011 PC Magazine Review http://tinyurl.com/366n5mg
F-Secure has now joined the companies releasing their consumer Internet Security 2011 and Anti-virus 2011 solutions. The announcement for F-Secure Internet Security 2011 and F-Secure Anti-virus 2011 took place on September 15.
About F-Secure Internet Security 2011 and Anti-virus 2011
F-Secure promotes multi-layered protection with their F-Secure Internet Security 2011 product. They state that their Browsing Protection feature will warn you which sites are safe to enter. F-Secure utilizes multiple scanning engines for the antivirus protection.
F-Secure’s DeepGuard in the cloud protection is designed to provide instant protection again new threats. F-Secure DeepGuard 2.0 incorporates a feature called Network Lookups to enable instant protection against emerging threats. It detects when a Windows application is launched and F-Secure’s Network Look-up feature asks about the application. If “the cloud” replies that the application is good, it’s allowed.
Their products also relies on some local decision logic, so there is still protection, even when there is no working network connection.
PC Magazine’s Neil Rubenking gave F-Secure Internet Security an overall score of 3.0 out of 5. He liked the interface and the small footprint of the product. Overall, he felt that the security components were “good” and that the product had potential. He favored Kaspersky or Norton over F-Secure. However. Rudimentary found fault with the product's parental control and found that the test systems were sluggish at times.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2369358,00.asp
F-Secure Anti-virus 2011 scored a slightly higher at 3.5 out of 5.0 with Rubenking complimenting the product for its cloud based and reputation based detection. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2369143,00.asp
F-Secure Product Testing and Certification (2010 Releases)
F-Secure has received VB100 status for the last 4 recent tests it has submitted for. http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archive/results?display=summary . Its Internet Security 2010 product has been certified by ICSA Labs for both cleaning and detection - https://www.icsalabs.com/products?tid_1[]=4264&x=35&y=12&=Apply . ICSA Labs' web site - www.iscalabs.com
2011 Internet Security Solutions Released
The lines below contain feature checklists for a number of each of the company's products.
• BitDefender Total Security 2011 was released around August 16. For product details - http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/total-security.
• Kaspersky - Kaspersky announced Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 on August 16 For product details -http://usa.kaspersky.com/products_services/compare/
• Panda Security – Panda Internet Security Suite 2011 was announced on July 27. For product details - http://www.pandasecurity.com/usa/homeusers/solutions/
• Webroot - Webroot Internet Security Complete 2011 was announced on July 26. For product details http://www.webroot.com/En_US/consumer-compare.html
• Symantec – Symantec introduced their Norton consumer security solutions in early September. For product details: http://www.symantec.com/norton/products/charts/comparison.jsp?pcid=mp
• Trend Micro - Trend Micro introduced their Titanium product line in early September. For product details: http:// Trend us.trendmicro.com/us/products/personal/titanium-maximum-security/ and click on “product comparison”
• F-Secure - F-Secure announced their internet security product line on September 15. For product details: http://www.f-secure.com/en_US/products/home-office/internet-security/ and then click on compare products.
2011 Internet Security Solutions That Haven’t Been Released
• AVG – Should be releasing the AVG 2011 product line around the end of September.
• McAfee – No official release date has been announced for the next release of McAfee Total Protection.
• Avast – No official release date has been announced.
• Avira – No official release data has been announced.
As an aside, AVAST Software gained its 130 millionth user at 7:52:52 (Central European Time) on September 7 according to a September 14 press release. http://www.avast.com/pr-avast-software-crosses-the-130-million-user-threshold
AVG Technologies’ Initial Public Offering (IPO)
No firm date from AVG Technologies as to when they will have their initial public offering. Originally slated for the London (UK) exchange, it may now take place on the Warsaw exchange and one other, in fact. This is according to a Reuters article dated September 15, “Czech AVG's IPO to be worth 400-800 mln EUR-sources” The Initial Public Offering may now take place in the first quarter of 2011. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSWSF00947520100915
A September 12 Financial Times article where “bankers have signaled they are aiming for an autumn listing.” “UK tech sector poised for deal flurry” http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/eed0f540-be9c-11df-a755-00144feab49a.html
The August 13 issue of the IFR European ECM Briefing had mentioned the IPO taking place in Q3/Q4. They had listed the estimated capitalization in the range of US $300m-400m. It appears as if Q3 will not happen. http://www.ifrbriefings.com/examples/euro_ecm.pdf
The flurry of acquisitions over the summer – Intel acquiring McAfee, and Hewlett Packard acquiring 3Par (at a substantial premium) and Arcsight, may have motivated AVG to slow down the offering.
See also: "AVG Technologies Prepares To Go Public" http://kensek.blogspot.com/2010/07/avg-technologies-prepares-to-go-public.html
October 8 Addendum - Link to PC Magazine AVG Internet Security 2011 Review AVG IS 2011 PC Magazine Review http://tinyurl.com/366n5mg
F-Secure has now joined the companies releasing their consumer Internet Security 2011 and Anti-virus 2011 solutions. The announcement for F-Secure Internet Security 2011 and F-Secure Anti-virus 2011 took place on September 15.
About F-Secure Internet Security 2011 and Anti-virus 2011
F-Secure promotes multi-layered protection with their F-Secure Internet Security 2011 product. They state that their Browsing Protection feature will warn you which sites are safe to enter. F-Secure utilizes multiple scanning engines for the antivirus protection.
F-Secure’s DeepGuard in the cloud protection is designed to provide instant protection again new threats. F-Secure DeepGuard 2.0 incorporates a feature called Network Lookups to enable instant protection against emerging threats. It detects when a Windows application is launched and F-Secure’s Network Look-up feature asks about the application. If “the cloud” replies that the application is good, it’s allowed.
Their products also relies on some local decision logic, so there is still protection, even when there is no working network connection.
PC Magazine’s Neil Rubenking gave F-Secure Internet Security an overall score of 3.0 out of 5. He liked the interface and the small footprint of the product. Overall, he felt that the security components were “good” and that the product had potential. He favored Kaspersky or Norton over F-Secure. However. Rudimentary found fault with the product's parental control and found that the test systems were sluggish at times.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2369358,00.asp
F-Secure Anti-virus 2011 scored a slightly higher at 3.5 out of 5.0 with Rubenking complimenting the product for its cloud based and reputation based detection. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2369143,00.asp
F-Secure Product Testing and Certification (2010 Releases)
F-Secure has received VB100 status for the last 4 recent tests it has submitted for. http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archive/results?display=summary . Its Internet Security 2010 product has been certified by ICSA Labs for both cleaning and detection - https://www.icsalabs.com/products?tid_1[]=4264&x=35&y=12&=Apply . ICSA Labs' web site - www.iscalabs.com
2011 Internet Security Solutions Released
The lines below contain feature checklists for a number of each of the company's products.
• BitDefender Total Security 2011 was released around August 16. For product details - http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/total-security.
• Kaspersky - Kaspersky announced Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 on August 16 For product details -http://usa.kaspersky.com/products_services/compare/
• Panda Security – Panda Internet Security Suite 2011 was announced on July 27. For product details - http://www.pandasecurity.com/usa/homeusers/solutions/
• Webroot - Webroot Internet Security Complete 2011 was announced on July 26. For product details http://www.webroot.com/En_US/consumer-compare.html
• Symantec – Symantec introduced their Norton consumer security solutions in early September. For product details: http://www.symantec.com/norton/products/charts/comparison.jsp?pcid=mp
• Trend Micro - Trend Micro introduced their Titanium product line in early September. For product details: http:// Trend us.trendmicro.com/us/products/personal/titanium-maximum-security/ and click on “product comparison”
• F-Secure - F-Secure announced their internet security product line on September 15. For product details: http://www.f-secure.com/en_US/products/home-office/internet-security/ and then click on compare products.
2011 Internet Security Solutions That Haven’t Been Released
• AVG – Should be releasing the AVG 2011 product line around the end of September.
• McAfee – No official release date has been announced for the next release of McAfee Total Protection.
• Avast – No official release date has been announced.
• Avira – No official release data has been announced.
As an aside, AVAST Software gained its 130 millionth user at 7:52:52 (Central European Time) on September 7 according to a September 14 press release. http://www.avast.com/pr-avast-software-crosses-the-130-million-user-threshold
AVG Technologies’ Initial Public Offering (IPO)
No firm date from AVG Technologies as to when they will have their initial public offering. Originally slated for the London (UK) exchange, it may now take place on the Warsaw exchange and one other, in fact. This is according to a Reuters article dated September 15, “Czech AVG's IPO to be worth 400-800 mln EUR-sources” The Initial Public Offering may now take place in the first quarter of 2011. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSWSF00947520100915
A September 12 Financial Times article where “bankers have signaled they are aiming for an autumn listing.” “UK tech sector poised for deal flurry” http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/eed0f540-be9c-11df-a755-00144feab49a.html
The August 13 issue of the IFR European ECM Briefing had mentioned the IPO taking place in Q3/Q4. They had listed the estimated capitalization in the range of US $300m-400m. It appears as if Q3 will not happen. http://www.ifrbriefings.com/examples/euro_ecm.pdf
The flurry of acquisitions over the summer – Intel acquiring McAfee, and Hewlett Packard acquiring 3Par (at a substantial premium) and Arcsight, may have motivated AVG to slow down the offering.
See also: "AVG Technologies Prepares To Go Public" http://kensek.blogspot.com/2010/07/avg-technologies-prepares-to-go-public.html
Friday, September 10, 2010
Addendum to: Internet Security 2011 – Rush To Release Part IV
Two more internet security vendors have introduced their 2011 internet security solutions. Trend Micro is rebranding their consumer products with the introduction of their 2011 product line. The products are now Trend Micro Titanium AntiVirus, Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security and Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security. Symantec has also introduced their Norton 2011 product line: Norton Antivirus 2011, Norton Internet Security 2011, and their two Norton 360 version 4.0 products. AVG Technologies AVG 2011 product line? Not until the end of September, most likely.
Trend Micro Titanium
In an interview with ZDnet in 2008, Trend Micro’s Eva Chen said, “In the antivirus business, we have been lying to customers for 20 years. People thought that virus protection protected them, but we can never block all viruses…” “Trend Micro: Antivirus industry lied for 20 years “ http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/it-strategy/2008/06/30/trend-micro-antivirus-industry-lied-for-20-years-39440184/
With this release, Trend Micro is following through on their commitment to move security to the cloud.
From their web site: “ Trend Micro Titanium is powered by the Trend Micro™ Smart Protection Network™ infrastructure, our cloud security infrastructure that stops threats in cyberspace or "the cloud." Smart Protection Network monitors the Internet 24/7, worldwide. It gathers and analyzes threat data, blocking viruses and other malware BEFORE they can reach your PC. And because processing is done in the cloud, Titanium uses less of your PC’s memory and disk space, so it won’t slow you down.”
PC Magazine’s Neil Rubenking gave Trend Micro Titanium Antivirus 2011 a score of 2 out of 5 finding it, “lightweight, attractive, and unobtrusive” but a little lacking on doing its job. http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,2806,4796,00.asp
Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security 2011 scored a more impressive 3.5 out of 5. Rubenking called the online backup system “stupendous”. Maximum Security offers a number of additional features over Internet Security including Automatic warning against suspicious links in email and IM, extending protection to smart phones, and backup and sync. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2368601,00.asp
Trend Micro In Play? Calling Gordon Gekko
As an aside, an undisclosed company has supposedly put an offer in for Trend Micro “Trend Micro Shares Jump” http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6880U620100909 No companies were mentioned by name. A CRN slide presentation included the recommendation that Oracle acquire Trend Micro. “Hurd's Top Five Oracle Acquisition Target Hit-List” http://www.crn.com/slide-shows/channel-programs/227300309/hurds-top-five-oracle-acquisition-target-hit-list.htm?pgno=4
Norton Internet Security 2011, Norton Antivirus 2011
Symantec’s messaging for their 2011 product line - Fast protection that does more to stop viruses and spyware. Powerful, fast protection to email, shop and bank online without worry. Ultimate protection, performance and peace of mind against digital dangers.
Norton Internet Security 2011 and Norton 360 both received 4.5 out of 5 from Rubenking. Internet Security received Editor’s Choice. Rubenking cited its new interactive security panel and found the product to be an improvement over last year’s “already excellent” protection. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2368876,00.asp
Norton Antivirus 2011 also received an Editors’ Choice designation. The reviewer called Norton Antivirus 2011 a “top-notch antivirus with impressive bonuses” http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2368768,00.asp
2011 Internet Security Solutions Released
The below lines contain feature checklists for a number of each of the company's products.
• BitDefender Total Security 2011 was released around August 16. For product details - http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/total-security.
• Kaspersky - Kaspersky announced Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 on August 16 For product details -http://usa.kaspersky.com/products_services/compare/
• Panda Security – Panda Internet Security Suite 2011 was announced on July 27. For product details - http://www.pandasecurity.com/usa/homeusers/solutions/
• Webroot - Webroot Internet Security Complete 2011 was announced on July 26. For product details http://www.webroot.com/En_US/consumer-compare.html
• Symantec – Symantec introduced their Norton consumer security solutions in early September. For product details: http://www.symantec.com/norton/products/charts/comparison.jsp?pcid=mp
• Trend Micro - Trend Micro introduced their Titanium product line in early September. For product details: http:// Trend us.trendmicro.com/us/products/personal/titanium-maximum-security/ and click on “product comparison”
2011 Internet Security Solutions That Haven’t Been Released
• AVG – Should be releasing the AVG 2011 product line around September 29. AVG Threat Labs should be coming out of beta at the same time.
• McAfee – No official release date has been announced for the next release of McAfee Total Protection.
• Avast – No official release date has been announced.
• Avira – No official release data has been announced.
According to a comment on an executive blog on the AVG Technologies web site, the next release of AVG’s product line should be out of beta and occur around the end of September. “We expect to launch the full consumer version of AVG’s Threat Labs in late September coinciding with our launch of AVG 2011.” This product line will be known as AVG 2011.
http://jrsmith.blog.avg.com/2010/09/avg-threat-labs-an-exciting-new-threat-informational-portal.html This release may occur before AVG Technologies completes their Initial Public Offering (IPO).
AVG Technologies’ Initial Public Offering (IPO)
AVG Technologies has not announced when they will have their initial public offering on the London (UK) exchange. It may now take place on the Warsaw exchange and one other, in fact. For more information on this, go to
"AVG Technologies Prepares To Go Public" http://kensek.blogspot.com/2010/07/avg-technologies-prepares-to-go-public.html
The August 13 issue of the IFR European ECM Briefing mentions the IPO taking place in Q3/Q4. They listed the estimated capitalization in the range of US $300m-400m. http://www.ifrbriefings.com/examples/euro_ecm.pdf
Look for a flurry of consumer internet security product announcements over the next several weeks.
AVAST at 130 Million Users?
AVAST Software gained its 130 millionth user at 7:52:52 (Central European Time) on September 7 according to a September 14 press release. http://www.avast.com/pr-avast-software-crosses-the-130-million-user-threshold
Avast is now claiming that they are the world’s most popular antivirus program in three categories: the size of its registered user base, its growth in the number of users during 2010, and in the high level of referrals from users.
AVG is claiming more 110 million active users on their website http://www.avg.com/us-en/avg-company-profile. They have mentioned 130 million on their site, as well, and in the press. The two companies may be defining “active” differently.
AVAST also seems to have “Pirate English” as an option for individuals licensing their software.
Trend Micro Titanium
In an interview with ZDnet in 2008, Trend Micro’s Eva Chen said, “In the antivirus business, we have been lying to customers for 20 years. People thought that virus protection protected them, but we can never block all viruses…” “Trend Micro: Antivirus industry lied for 20 years “ http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/it-strategy/2008/06/30/trend-micro-antivirus-industry-lied-for-20-years-39440184/
With this release, Trend Micro is following through on their commitment to move security to the cloud.
From their web site: “ Trend Micro Titanium is powered by the Trend Micro™ Smart Protection Network™ infrastructure, our cloud security infrastructure that stops threats in cyberspace or "the cloud." Smart Protection Network monitors the Internet 24/7, worldwide. It gathers and analyzes threat data, blocking viruses and other malware BEFORE they can reach your PC. And because processing is done in the cloud, Titanium uses less of your PC’s memory and disk space, so it won’t slow you down.”
PC Magazine’s Neil Rubenking gave Trend Micro Titanium Antivirus 2011 a score of 2 out of 5 finding it, “lightweight, attractive, and unobtrusive” but a little lacking on doing its job. http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,2806,4796,00.asp
Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security 2011 scored a more impressive 3.5 out of 5. Rubenking called the online backup system “stupendous”. Maximum Security offers a number of additional features over Internet Security including Automatic warning against suspicious links in email and IM, extending protection to smart phones, and backup and sync. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2368601,00.asp
Trend Micro In Play? Calling Gordon Gekko
As an aside, an undisclosed company has supposedly put an offer in for Trend Micro “Trend Micro Shares Jump” http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6880U620100909 No companies were mentioned by name. A CRN slide presentation included the recommendation that Oracle acquire Trend Micro. “Hurd's Top Five Oracle Acquisition Target Hit-List” http://www.crn.com/slide-shows/channel-programs/227300309/hurds-top-five-oracle-acquisition-target-hit-list.htm?pgno=4
Norton Internet Security 2011, Norton Antivirus 2011
Symantec’s messaging for their 2011 product line - Fast protection that does more to stop viruses and spyware. Powerful, fast protection to email, shop and bank online without worry. Ultimate protection, performance and peace of mind against digital dangers.
Norton Internet Security 2011 and Norton 360 both received 4.5 out of 5 from Rubenking. Internet Security received Editor’s Choice. Rubenking cited its new interactive security panel and found the product to be an improvement over last year’s “already excellent” protection. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2368876,00.asp
Norton Antivirus 2011 also received an Editors’ Choice designation. The reviewer called Norton Antivirus 2011 a “top-notch antivirus with impressive bonuses” http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2368768,00.asp
2011 Internet Security Solutions Released
The below lines contain feature checklists for a number of each of the company's products.
• BitDefender Total Security 2011 was released around August 16. For product details - http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/total-security.
• Kaspersky - Kaspersky announced Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 on August 16 For product details -http://usa.kaspersky.com/products_services/compare/
• Panda Security – Panda Internet Security Suite 2011 was announced on July 27. For product details - http://www.pandasecurity.com/usa/homeusers/solutions/
• Webroot - Webroot Internet Security Complete 2011 was announced on July 26. For product details http://www.webroot.com/En_US/consumer-compare.html
• Symantec – Symantec introduced their Norton consumer security solutions in early September. For product details: http://www.symantec.com/norton/products/charts/comparison.jsp?pcid=mp
• Trend Micro - Trend Micro introduced their Titanium product line in early September. For product details: http:// Trend us.trendmicro.com/us/products/personal/titanium-maximum-security/ and click on “product comparison”
2011 Internet Security Solutions That Haven’t Been Released
• AVG – Should be releasing the AVG 2011 product line around September 29. AVG Threat Labs should be coming out of beta at the same time.
• McAfee – No official release date has been announced for the next release of McAfee Total Protection.
• Avast – No official release date has been announced.
• Avira – No official release data has been announced.
According to a comment on an executive blog on the AVG Technologies web site, the next release of AVG’s product line should be out of beta and occur around the end of September. “We expect to launch the full consumer version of AVG’s Threat Labs in late September coinciding with our launch of AVG 2011.” This product line will be known as AVG 2011.
http://jrsmith.blog.avg.com/2010/09/avg-threat-labs-an-exciting-new-threat-informational-portal.html This release may occur before AVG Technologies completes their Initial Public Offering (IPO).
AVG Technologies’ Initial Public Offering (IPO)
AVG Technologies has not announced when they will have their initial public offering on the London (UK) exchange. It may now take place on the Warsaw exchange and one other, in fact. For more information on this, go to
"AVG Technologies Prepares To Go Public" http://kensek.blogspot.com/2010/07/avg-technologies-prepares-to-go-public.html
The August 13 issue of the IFR European ECM Briefing mentions the IPO taking place in Q3/Q4. They listed the estimated capitalization in the range of US $300m-400m. http://www.ifrbriefings.com/examples/euro_ecm.pdf
Look for a flurry of consumer internet security product announcements over the next several weeks.
AVAST at 130 Million Users?
AVAST Software gained its 130 millionth user at 7:52:52 (Central European Time) on September 7 according to a September 14 press release. http://www.avast.com/pr-avast-software-crosses-the-130-million-user-threshold
Avast is now claiming that they are the world’s most popular antivirus program in three categories: the size of its registered user base, its growth in the number of users during 2010, and in the high level of referrals from users.
AVG is claiming more 110 million active users on their website http://www.avg.com/us-en/avg-company-profile. They have mentioned 130 million on their site, as well, and in the press. The two companies may be defining “active” differently.
AVAST also seems to have “Pirate English” as an option for individuals licensing their software.
Thursday, September 02, 2010
AVG 2011 – Available September 29 - Rush to Release – Part III
According to a comment on an executive blog on the AVG Technologies web site, the next release of AVG’s product line should occur be around the end of September. This would be version 10.0 (AVG 2011, AVG Internet Security 10.0?). AVG’s last major release was version 9.0. This release occurred over a period of several weeks beginning in late September 2009. This release may occur before AVG Technologies completes their Initial Public Offering (IPO).
September 28 addendum - AVG 2011 should be available September 29.
According to the blog, which focused on AVG Threat Labs (currently in beta) offering, “We expect to launch the full consumer version of AVG’s Threat Labs in late September coinciding with our launch of AVG 2011.”
http://jrsmith.blog.avg.com/2010/09/avg-threat-labs-an-exciting-new-threat-informational-portal.html
There are some YouTube video reviews of AVG 2011. For those interested, the following link contains a fairly long list of under the hood improvements to AVG 2011. http://www.mostiwant.com/blog/avg-internet-security-2011-beta/
2011 Internet Security Solutions Released
• BitDefender Total Security 2011 was released around August 16. For product details - http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/total-security.
• Kaspersky - Kaspersky announced Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 on August 16 For product details -http://usa.kaspersky.com/products_services/compare/
• Panda Security – Panda Internet Security Suite 2011 was announced on July 27. For product details - http://www.pandasecurity.com/usa/homeusers/solutions/
• Webroot - Webroot Internet Security Complete 2011 was announced on July 26. For product details http://www.webroot.com/En_US/consumer-compare.html
2011 Internet Security Solutions That Haven’t Been Released
• Trend Micro – should be releasing their next generation of Internet Security solutions before the middle of September.
• Symantec – No official release date has been announced for Norton Internet Security 2011.
• McAfee – No official release date has been announced for the next release of McAfee Total Protection.
• Avast – No official release date has been announced.
• Avira – No official release data has been announced.
AVG Threat Labs – Currently in Beta
According to the executive blog, “Threat Labs combines (this) data with consumer comments in a simple, easy-to-use website that explains clearly if a site that you wish to visit, or own, is safe or not and what people are saying about it."
AVG Threat Labs offers the same real time analysis as AVG’s LinkScanner®. It allows someone to enter a URL and find out whether or not that site is safe to visit. The individual can also view a brief 30 day site report on that particular website. http://www.avgthreatlabs.com/sitereports/. AVG Threat Labs should be out of beta near the end of September.
This ability to check a website without having LinkScanner installed is similar to what McAfee has been offering on their SiteAdvisor site for several years. Visitors enter a URL. They are then informed whether or not the site is safe to visit or contains some kind of dangerous malware. They can also view a report on the URL they have entered. http://www.siteadvisor.com/.
AVG Technologies’ Initial Public Offering (IPO)
There is no official date as to when AVG Technologies will have their initial public offering on the London (UK) exchange. For more information, go to "AVG Technologies Prepares To Go Public" http://kensek.blogspot.com/2010/07/avg-technologies-prepares-to-go-public.html
The August 13 issue of the IFR European ECM Briefing doesn't provide a lot additional detail about the upcoming IPO. AVG Technologies is mentioned as being in the Q3/Q4 pipeline with an estimated value of US $300m-400m. http://www.ifrbriefings.com/examples/euro_ecm.pdf This came out before Intel's offer to acquire McAfee.
The market for security companies appears to be hot. McAfee accepted an offer to be acquired by Intel for a premium of 60% over the previous day’s closing price on August 18. http://newsroom.mcafee.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=3678.
Arcsight put the company up for sale on August 26 and the stock price immediately increased around $7 per share. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67P4X720100826
In August, growth equity investor Summit Partners invested $100 million for a minority stake in Avast Software http://www.avast.com/pr-growth-equity-investor-summit-partners-invests-100-million-in-avast-software. Avast and AVG Technologies both have a total installed base of over 110 (130?) million seats. Avast typically comes in a relatively close second to AVG Technologies on the CNET download site for free antivirus software. Avir typically comes in third.
Look for Norton Internet Security 2011 to be released sometime during September.
September 28 addendum - AVG 2011 should be available September 29.
According to the blog, which focused on AVG Threat Labs (currently in beta) offering, “We expect to launch the full consumer version of AVG’s Threat Labs in late September coinciding with our launch of AVG 2011.”
http://jrsmith.blog.avg.com/2010/09/avg-threat-labs-an-exciting-new-threat-informational-portal.html
There are some YouTube video reviews of AVG 2011. For those interested, the following link contains a fairly long list of under the hood improvements to AVG 2011. http://www.mostiwant.com/blog/avg-internet-security-2011-beta/
2011 Internet Security Solutions Released
• BitDefender Total Security 2011 was released around August 16. For product details - http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/total-security.
• Kaspersky - Kaspersky announced Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 on August 16 For product details -http://usa.kaspersky.com/products_services/compare/
• Panda Security – Panda Internet Security Suite 2011 was announced on July 27. For product details - http://www.pandasecurity.com/usa/homeusers/solutions/
• Webroot - Webroot Internet Security Complete 2011 was announced on July 26. For product details http://www.webroot.com/En_US/consumer-compare.html
2011 Internet Security Solutions That Haven’t Been Released
• Trend Micro – should be releasing their next generation of Internet Security solutions before the middle of September.
• Symantec – No official release date has been announced for Norton Internet Security 2011.
• McAfee – No official release date has been announced for the next release of McAfee Total Protection.
• Avast – No official release date has been announced.
• Avira – No official release data has been announced.
AVG Threat Labs – Currently in Beta
According to the executive blog, “Threat Labs combines (this) data with consumer comments in a simple, easy-to-use website that explains clearly if a site that you wish to visit, or own, is safe or not and what people are saying about it."
AVG Threat Labs offers the same real time analysis as AVG’s LinkScanner®. It allows someone to enter a URL and find out whether or not that site is safe to visit. The individual can also view a brief 30 day site report on that particular website. http://www.avgthreatlabs.com/sitereports/. AVG Threat Labs should be out of beta near the end of September.
This ability to check a website without having LinkScanner installed is similar to what McAfee has been offering on their SiteAdvisor site for several years. Visitors enter a URL. They are then informed whether or not the site is safe to visit or contains some kind of dangerous malware. They can also view a report on the URL they have entered. http://www.siteadvisor.com/.
AVG Technologies’ Initial Public Offering (IPO)
There is no official date as to when AVG Technologies will have their initial public offering on the London (UK) exchange. For more information, go to "AVG Technologies Prepares To Go Public" http://kensek.blogspot.com/2010/07/avg-technologies-prepares-to-go-public.html
The August 13 issue of the IFR European ECM Briefing doesn't provide a lot additional detail about the upcoming IPO. AVG Technologies is mentioned as being in the Q3/Q4 pipeline with an estimated value of US $300m-400m. http://www.ifrbriefings.com/examples/euro_ecm.pdf This came out before Intel's offer to acquire McAfee.
The market for security companies appears to be hot. McAfee accepted an offer to be acquired by Intel for a premium of 60% over the previous day’s closing price on August 18. http://newsroom.mcafee.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=3678.
Arcsight put the company up for sale on August 26 and the stock price immediately increased around $7 per share. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67P4X720100826
In August, growth equity investor Summit Partners invested $100 million for a minority stake in Avast Software http://www.avast.com/pr-growth-equity-investor-summit-partners-invests-100-million-in-avast-software. Avast and AVG Technologies both have a total installed base of over 110 (130?) million seats. Avast typically comes in a relatively close second to AVG Technologies on the CNET download site for free antivirus software. Avir typically comes in third.
Look for Norton Internet Security 2011 to be released sometime during September.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
July 2010 Internet Security Performance Test by AV-Comparatives
Testing organization AV-Comparatives issued a 17 page report: “Performance Test (Suite Products). Impact of Security Suites on System Performance”. This was NOT a test on Internet Security Suite effectiveness. Panda Internet Security 2011 received the top score among the products tested. The complete report can be viewed and/or downloaded at http://www.av-comparatives.org/comparativesreviews/performance-tests
Internet Security Suites Tested
The products tested were: avast! Internet Security 5.0, AVG Internet Security 9.0, BitDefender Internet Security 2010, eScan Internet Security Suite 10, ESET Smart Security 4.2, F-Secure Internet Security 2011, G DATA Internet Security 2011, Kaspersky Internet Security 2011, Kingsoft Internet Security 2010, Norman Security Suite Pro 8, Panda Internet Security 2011, PC Tools Internet Security 2011, Symantec Norton Internet Security 2011
The tasks performed (multiple times) to measure performance were - File copying, Archiving / Unarchiving, Encoding / Transcoding, Installing / Uninstalling applications, Launching applications, Downloading files, Worldbench Testing Suite (XP).
Internet Security Solutions Receiving Advanced Certification
Nine companys’ internet security solutions received AV Comparative’s advanced certification level. Panda Internet Security 2011 received the top overall score. Note above which products were 2010 and which ones were 2011 releases. The product’s overall weighted scores were as follows:
1. Panda - 195
2. Kingsoft - 185
3. Norman - 181
4. Symantec - 179
5. eScan - 179
6. ESET - 177
7. Avast - 176
8. F-Secure - 173
9. AVG - 172
The above is a weighted average summary score. The 17 page report has multiple tables and additional details.
Boot Time Measurements Not Part of Testing
The report goes into great detail as to why boot times were not part of the test. In part, they said, “We did not test boot-times on purpose. Security products need to load on systems at an early stage to provide security from the very beginning – this load has some impact on the time needed for a system to start up. Measuring boot times accurately is challenging. The most significant issue is to define exactly when the system is fully started, as many operating environments may continue to perform start-up activities for some time after the system appears responsive to the user.” It’s worth reading the complete explanation on page 4 of the reports, as some vendors “game” their install, to make it look quicker, at the cost of protecting the customer.
Considerations in Selecting an Internet Security Solution
In the end, more critical factors in selecting an internet security solution include: are: which product provides the protection I need, which product provides any additional functionality I need, what is the price. Some of these performance criteria can be used as a tie breaker. They should not be the first cut in selecting an internet security solution. For information on some of the 2011 products that were included in this test, go to. “Internet Security 2011 – The Rush to Release” http://kensek.blogspot.com/2010/08/internet-security-2011-rush-to-release.htm and ‘Internet Security 2011 – The Rush to Release Part II” http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/central/
About AV-Comparatives
AV-Comparatives is an Austrian Non-Profit-Organization, which is providing independent Anti-Virus software tests free to the public http://www.av-comparatives.org/about-us
Internet Security Suites Tested
The products tested were: avast! Internet Security 5.0, AVG Internet Security 9.0, BitDefender Internet Security 2010, eScan Internet Security Suite 10, ESET Smart Security 4.2, F-Secure Internet Security 2011, G DATA Internet Security 2011, Kaspersky Internet Security 2011, Kingsoft Internet Security 2010, Norman Security Suite Pro 8, Panda Internet Security 2011, PC Tools Internet Security 2011, Symantec Norton Internet Security 2011
The tasks performed (multiple times) to measure performance were - File copying, Archiving / Unarchiving, Encoding / Transcoding, Installing / Uninstalling applications, Launching applications, Downloading files, Worldbench Testing Suite (XP).
Internet Security Solutions Receiving Advanced Certification
Nine companys’ internet security solutions received AV Comparative’s advanced certification level. Panda Internet Security 2011 received the top overall score. Note above which products were 2010 and which ones were 2011 releases. The product’s overall weighted scores were as follows:
1. Panda - 195
2. Kingsoft - 185
3. Norman - 181
4. Symantec - 179
5. eScan - 179
6. ESET - 177
7. Avast - 176
8. F-Secure - 173
9. AVG - 172
The above is a weighted average summary score. The 17 page report has multiple tables and additional details.
Boot Time Measurements Not Part of Testing
The report goes into great detail as to why boot times were not part of the test. In part, they said, “We did not test boot-times on purpose. Security products need to load on systems at an early stage to provide security from the very beginning – this load has some impact on the time needed for a system to start up. Measuring boot times accurately is challenging. The most significant issue is to define exactly when the system is fully started, as many operating environments may continue to perform start-up activities for some time after the system appears responsive to the user.” It’s worth reading the complete explanation on page 4 of the reports, as some vendors “game” their install, to make it look quicker, at the cost of protecting the customer.
Considerations in Selecting an Internet Security Solution
In the end, more critical factors in selecting an internet security solution include: are: which product provides the protection I need, which product provides any additional functionality I need, what is the price. Some of these performance criteria can be used as a tie breaker. They should not be the first cut in selecting an internet security solution. For information on some of the 2011 products that were included in this test, go to. “Internet Security 2011 – The Rush to Release” http://kensek.blogspot.com/2010/08/internet-security-2011-rush-to-release.htm and ‘Internet Security 2011 – The Rush to Release Part II” http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/central/
About AV-Comparatives
AV-Comparatives is an Austrian Non-Profit-Organization, which is providing independent Anti-Virus software tests free to the public http://www.av-comparatives.org/about-us
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Internet Security 2011 – Rush to Release Part II
Two additional Internet Security providers have joined Panda Security and Webroot with their Internet Security 2011 solutions. BitDefender and Kaspersky. Internet Security providers typically have their consumer products released by the end of the third quarter.
Leading the Internet Security 2011 Pack - Panda, Webroot, Kaspersky, and BitDefender
• BitDefender Total Security 2011 was released around August 16. BitDefender AntiVirus Pro 2011 and BitDefender Internet Security 2011 were also released. Enhancements in Total Security 2011 include: enhanced detection, QuickScan, Search Advisor, Smart Scan, Enhanced Game and Laptop Modes, an Adaptive design user interface, Dashboard Shortcuts, and Smart Tips. You can learn more about what’s new at http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/total-security.html . A review of the product by PC Magazine's Neil Rubenking is at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2367844,00.asp
• Kaspersky announced Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 on August 16, as well. They’ve strengthened their real-time protection story. New in the product is Kaspersky Desktop Gadget, System Watcher, Geo Filter, Safe Surf, Safe Desktop (similar to a sandbox), communication protection via IM or Social Networks, and Online Controls, There have also put in new proactive anti-phishing protection, advanced parental controls, and built in rescue disk. You can compare their Anti-Virus 2011 and Internet Security 2011 products at http://usa.kaspersky.com/products_services/compare/. A review of the product by PC Magazine’s Neil Rubenking is at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2367794,00.asp
• Panda Security – Panda Internet Security Suite 2011 has been out the door for several weeks. Some of the new features, depending on the product include: Secure Browser, PC Remote Access, File Encryption, and File Shredding. You can compare their home user products at http://www.pandasecurity.com/usa/homeusers/solutions/
• Webroot - Webroot Internet Security Complete 2011 has been out the door for several weeks. You can compare their home user products at http://www.webroot.com/En_US/consumer-compare.html
The 800 Pound Gorillas
Both McAfee and Symantec were trading near 52 week lows on their respective stock exchanges (as of August 17). Intel has since acquired McAfee.
• McAfee - Total Protection is available in public beta. http://beta.mcafee.com/betamcafee/Home.aspx?cookieCheck=true
• Symantec - Norton Internet Security 2011 is in public beta. Features/benefits they’re promoting – Norton Download Insight, Safe Web, Faster and Lighter, Proactive Performance Alerts, and New Rescue tools. http://www.symantec.com/norton/beta/
• Trend Micro – Their Syncsort product is in beta but not their security suite. https://www.trendbeta.com/pages/main
Others in Beta
AVG Technologies has made no announcement as to the exact date their Initial Public Offering (IPO) will occur on the London (UK) exchange. Going public first followed by a positively reviewed and received product could provide a positive uptick in the stock price. For more on this, go to http://kensek.blogspot.com/2010/07/avg-technologies-prepares-to-go-public.html
• AVG Technologies – AVG Internet Security 10.0 (assuming this is the name) is in public beta. From their beta site - the publishing of any information on AVG Beta testing is subjected (sic) to AVG approval. http://www.avg.com/us-en/29571
• ESET – Their Mac AV product and a mobile security product. http://beta.eset.com/
• F-Secure – A public beta of F-Secure Internet Security 2011 is available. Enhancements in 2011 will include (as described on their beta site):
- Easier and faster to use -- Based on multiple usability studies, the user interface of IS 2011 has been improved, giving easy access to the most important tasks and features.
- Reliable protection -- Automated malware removal logic has been taken to a new level by utilizing prevalence information from F-Secure cloud services
- Easier to take into use
http://www.f-secure.com/en_EMEA/downloads/beta-programs/home-office/is2011beta/registration.html.
Look for more releases and reviews in the coming weeks. Bragging rights and lines of online content are at stake.
Leading the Internet Security 2011 Pack - Panda, Webroot, Kaspersky, and BitDefender
• BitDefender Total Security 2011 was released around August 16. BitDefender AntiVirus Pro 2011 and BitDefender Internet Security 2011 were also released. Enhancements in Total Security 2011 include: enhanced detection, QuickScan, Search Advisor, Smart Scan, Enhanced Game and Laptop Modes, an Adaptive design user interface, Dashboard Shortcuts, and Smart Tips. You can learn more about what’s new at http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/total-security.html . A review of the product by PC Magazine's Neil Rubenking is at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2367844,00.asp
• Kaspersky announced Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 on August 16, as well. They’ve strengthened their real-time protection story. New in the product is Kaspersky Desktop Gadget, System Watcher, Geo Filter, Safe Surf, Safe Desktop (similar to a sandbox), communication protection via IM or Social Networks, and Online Controls, There have also put in new proactive anti-phishing protection, advanced parental controls, and built in rescue disk. You can compare their Anti-Virus 2011 and Internet Security 2011 products at http://usa.kaspersky.com/products_services/compare/. A review of the product by PC Magazine’s Neil Rubenking is at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2367794,00.asp
• Panda Security – Panda Internet Security Suite 2011 has been out the door for several weeks. Some of the new features, depending on the product include: Secure Browser, PC Remote Access, File Encryption, and File Shredding. You can compare their home user products at http://www.pandasecurity.com/usa/homeusers/solutions/
• Webroot - Webroot Internet Security Complete 2011 has been out the door for several weeks. You can compare their home user products at http://www.webroot.com/En_US/consumer-compare.html
The 800 Pound Gorillas
Both McAfee and Symantec were trading near 52 week lows on their respective stock exchanges (as of August 17). Intel has since acquired McAfee.
• McAfee - Total Protection is available in public beta. http://beta.mcafee.com/betamcafee/Home.aspx?cookieCheck=true
• Symantec - Norton Internet Security 2011 is in public beta. Features/benefits they’re promoting – Norton Download Insight, Safe Web, Faster and Lighter, Proactive Performance Alerts, and New Rescue tools. http://www.symantec.com/norton/beta/
• Trend Micro – Their Syncsort product is in beta but not their security suite. https://www.trendbeta.com/pages/main
Others in Beta
AVG Technologies has made no announcement as to the exact date their Initial Public Offering (IPO) will occur on the London (UK) exchange. Going public first followed by a positively reviewed and received product could provide a positive uptick in the stock price. For more on this, go to http://kensek.blogspot.com/2010/07/avg-technologies-prepares-to-go-public.html
• AVG Technologies – AVG Internet Security 10.0 (assuming this is the name) is in public beta. From their beta site - the publishing of any information on AVG Beta testing is subjected (sic) to AVG approval. http://www.avg.com/us-en/29571
• ESET – Their Mac AV product and a mobile security product. http://beta.eset.com/
• F-Secure – A public beta of F-Secure Internet Security 2011 is available. Enhancements in 2011 will include (as described on their beta site):
- Easier and faster to use -- Based on multiple usability studies, the user interface of IS 2011 has been improved, giving easy access to the most important tasks and features.
- Reliable protection -- Automated malware removal logic has been taken to a new level by utilizing prevalence information from F-Secure cloud services
- Easier to take into use
http://www.f-secure.com/en_EMEA/downloads/beta-programs/home-office/is2011beta/registration.html.
Look for more releases and reviews in the coming weeks. Bragging rights and lines of online content are at stake.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Virus Bulletin Reactive and Proactive (RAP) Test Results and August VB100 Awards
Virus Bulletin has published their latest Reactive and Proactive (RAP) test results (February through August 2010) and posted their latest VB100 results.
Virus Bulletin Reactive and Proactive (RAP) Test
Those vendors with Reactive Detection rates greater than 90% and Proactive Detection rates greater than 70% were: Avira Pro, Ikarus, G DATA, Emisoft, Kaspersky, ESET, Coranti, Check Point, and TrustPort. TrustPort topped everyone in both categories, and G DATA had the second best Reactive Detection rate. AVG Technologies just missed being in this group.
Neither McAfee nor Microsoft nor Symantec cleared the 90%/70% hurdle mentioned above with the products Virus Bulletin tested, however.
The RAP 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 new malware emerging every day across the world.
A fourth test set consists of malware samples first seen in the week after product submission. This test set gauges products' ability to detect new and unknown samples proactively, using heuristic and generic techniques. Proactive detection is becoming increasingly more important given the quantity and rate an which new viruses and malware are created.
The chart can best be viewed at http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/rap-index.xml . Detailed information about testing methodology is at http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/vb200902-RAP-tests . This information and the chart are available at no charge. Virus Bulletin subscribers have access to the detailed results.
Virus Bulletin VB 100 Awards
To display the VB100 logo, an anti-virus product must have demonstrated that:
• It detects all In the Wild viruses during both on-demand and on-access scanning.
• It generates no false positives when scanning a set of clean files.
54 products were tested on the Windows Vista SP2 Business Edition. http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archive/2010/08 . Some abbreviated results:
The free Amigo’s - Avast, AVG Technologies, and Avira all received VB100 awards. Only Avast appears to have had their “free” product tested.
The 800 Pound Gorillas - Trend Micro wasn’t tested (there’s a story here). Symantec and PC Tools (two products, they’re owned by Symantec) received VB100 awards. Microsoft received a VB100. McAfee failed with both products tested.
G DATA, which did so well in the RAP testing, did not receive a VB100.
Complete details about the VB100 testing is at http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/about/100procedure.xml
Some companies, more than others will proactively put a spin on how many consecutive VB100 awards they have received. The reality is that only the most recent few years and on platforms actively being used are important. Complete track records, by vendor is at http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archive/results?display=vendors . Let the spinning begin.
UK based Virus Bulletin started in 1989 (www.virusbtn.com). They provide 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 . The site is a great source of information on malware and spam. They are a member of the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization, www.AMTSO.org.
Virus Bulletin Reactive and Proactive (RAP) Test
Those vendors with Reactive Detection rates greater than 90% and Proactive Detection rates greater than 70% were: Avira Pro, Ikarus, G DATA, Emisoft, Kaspersky, ESET, Coranti, Check Point, and TrustPort. TrustPort topped everyone in both categories, and G DATA had the second best Reactive Detection rate. AVG Technologies just missed being in this group.
Neither McAfee nor Microsoft nor Symantec cleared the 90%/70% hurdle mentioned above with the products Virus Bulletin tested, however.
The RAP 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 new malware emerging every day across the world.
A fourth test set consists of malware samples first seen in the week after product submission. This test set gauges products' ability to detect new and unknown samples proactively, using heuristic and generic techniques. Proactive detection is becoming increasingly more important given the quantity and rate an which new viruses and malware are created.
The chart can best be viewed at http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/rap-index.xml . Detailed information about testing methodology is at http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/vb200902-RAP-tests . This information and the chart are available at no charge. Virus Bulletin subscribers have access to the detailed results.
Virus Bulletin VB 100 Awards
To display the VB100 logo, an anti-virus product must have demonstrated that:
• It detects all In the Wild viruses during both on-demand and on-access scanning.
• It generates no false positives when scanning a set of clean files.
54 products were tested on the Windows Vista SP2 Business Edition. http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archive/2010/08 . Some abbreviated results:
The free Amigo’s - Avast, AVG Technologies, and Avira all received VB100 awards. Only Avast appears to have had their “free” product tested.
The 800 Pound Gorillas - Trend Micro wasn’t tested (there’s a story here). Symantec and PC Tools (two products, they’re owned by Symantec) received VB100 awards. Microsoft received a VB100. McAfee failed with both products tested.
G DATA, which did so well in the RAP testing, did not receive a VB100.
Complete details about the VB100 testing is at http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/about/100procedure.xml
Some companies, more than others will proactively put a spin on how many consecutive VB100 awards they have received. The reality is that only the most recent few years and on platforms actively being used are important. Complete track records, by vendor is at http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archive/results?display=vendors . Let the spinning begin.
UK based Virus Bulletin started in 1989 (www.virusbtn.com). They provide 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 . The site is a great source of information on malware and spam. They are a member of the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization, www.AMTSO.org.
Saturday, August 07, 2010
Internet Security 2011 - The Rush to Release
August means a few things. Some nations east of the pond shut down for summer vacation. The NFL is in the midst of training camp. The Perseids meteror shower. Internet security suite providers rush to finish beta and release their Internet Security 2011 and Antivirus products before Q4. Laggards in the rush to release may not make it into the print edition of Internet Security round-ups that have early deadlines. They may find that buying decisions are being made using a 2010 review with people comparing 2010 product reviews to a competitor's 2011 release and current review.
Look for publications like PC Magazine (Rubenking), PC World (Mediati, others?), and PCPro (Graham-Smith) to get reviews of the 2011 Internet Security suites into their review queue once the products are released. Computerworld may take a little while longer since they reviewed 9 2010 suites in July “9 security suites: maximum protection, minimum fuss”. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9179499/9_security_suites_maximum_protection_minimum_fuss_ .
Below is the status of where some of the major security vendors are with respect to their consumer 2011 offerings (as of August 6). The list isn’t exhaustive. Sophos is business focused security play, so they’re not included below. Where a public beta is available, individuals should be able to register and download product.
Internet Security 2011 Shipping
• Panda Security – Panda Internet Security Suite 2011 is released! http://www.pandasecurity.com/usa/homeusers/ Germany based AV-Test has tested the product.
• Webroot - Webroot Internet Security Complete 2011 is released! http://www.webroot.com/En_US/consumer.html It has already been reviewed by PC Magazine.
The 800 Pound Gorillas - Beta
• McAfee - Total Protection is available in public beta. http://beta.mcafee.com/betamcafee/Home.aspx?cookieCheck=true
• Symantec - Norton Internet Security 2011 suite is in public beta. http://www.symantec.com/norton/beta/
• Trend Micro – Their Syncsort product is in beta but not their security suite. https://www.trendbeta.com/pages/main
Others in Beta
• AVG Technologies – Consumer security suite is in public beta. http://www.avg.com/us-en/29571
• BitDefender - BitDefender has a pair of consumer products available in public beta. http://beta.bitdefender.com/
• ESET – Their Mac AV product and a mobile security product. http://beta.eset.com/
• F-Secure – A public beta of F-Secure Internet Security 2011 is available. http://www.f-secure.com/en_EMEA/downloads/beta-programs/home-office/is2011beta/registration.html
No Beta Available?
• Avast - ????
• Avira – No products are available in their current beta program.
• Kaspersky - No public beta for their consumer product seems to be available. PC Pro seems to have reviewed 2011 but the product isn't on Kasperky's web site.
• ZoneAlarm – Only their free firewall.
What New Will Be In 2011 Internet Security Suites?
It will vary. Some of the above sites will have you agree to not publish any information about the beta before you can download the software. For competitive reasons, internet security providers are under pressure to incorporate new features. At the same time, industry pundits are complaining about bloat ware. Some surveys are showing that many are people are satisfied with basic protection. There’s a perception that any slowing down of a PC/laptop is due to the security software. Avira, Avast, AVG Technologies, and PC Tools (owned by Symantec) provide free basic protection and then encourage you to upgrade to a more comprehensive solution. Also, look for internet security vendors not stressing new functionality to promote things like: improved detection, smaller footprints, faster scanning time (though you can always schedule scans when you're aware from your laptop), and other under the hood enhancements.
For those interested in learning what constitutes test best practices, go to the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO) web site. www.amtso.org
Look for publications like PC Magazine (Rubenking), PC World (Mediati, others?), and PCPro (Graham-Smith) to get reviews of the 2011 Internet Security suites into their review queue once the products are released. Computerworld may take a little while longer since they reviewed 9 2010 suites in July “9 security suites: maximum protection, minimum fuss”. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9179499/9_security_suites_maximum_protection_minimum_fuss_ .
Below is the status of where some of the major security vendors are with respect to their consumer 2011 offerings (as of August 6). The list isn’t exhaustive. Sophos is business focused security play, so they’re not included below. Where a public beta is available, individuals should be able to register and download product.
Internet Security 2011 Shipping
• Panda Security – Panda Internet Security Suite 2011 is released! http://www.pandasecurity.com/usa/homeusers/ Germany based AV-Test has tested the product.
• Webroot - Webroot Internet Security Complete 2011 is released! http://www.webroot.com/En_US/consumer.html It has already been reviewed by PC Magazine.
The 800 Pound Gorillas - Beta
• McAfee - Total Protection is available in public beta. http://beta.mcafee.com/betamcafee/Home.aspx?cookieCheck=true
• Symantec - Norton Internet Security 2011 suite is in public beta. http://www.symantec.com/norton/beta/
• Trend Micro – Their Syncsort product is in beta but not their security suite. https://www.trendbeta.com/pages/main
Others in Beta
• AVG Technologies – Consumer security suite is in public beta. http://www.avg.com/us-en/29571
• BitDefender - BitDefender has a pair of consumer products available in public beta. http://beta.bitdefender.com/
• ESET – Their Mac AV product and a mobile security product. http://beta.eset.com/
• F-Secure – A public beta of F-Secure Internet Security 2011 is available. http://www.f-secure.com/en_EMEA/downloads/beta-programs/home-office/is2011beta/registration.html
No Beta Available?
• Avast - ????
• Avira – No products are available in their current beta program.
• Kaspersky - No public beta for their consumer product seems to be available. PC Pro seems to have reviewed 2011 but the product isn't on Kasperky's web site.
• ZoneAlarm – Only their free firewall.
What New Will Be In 2011 Internet Security Suites?
It will vary. Some of the above sites will have you agree to not publish any information about the beta before you can download the software. For competitive reasons, internet security providers are under pressure to incorporate new features. At the same time, industry pundits are complaining about bloat ware. Some surveys are showing that many are people are satisfied with basic protection. There’s a perception that any slowing down of a PC/laptop is due to the security software. Avira, Avast, AVG Technologies, and PC Tools (owned by Symantec) provide free basic protection and then encourage you to upgrade to a more comprehensive solution. Also, look for internet security vendors not stressing new functionality to promote things like: improved detection, smaller footprints, faster scanning time (though you can always schedule scans when you're aware from your laptop), and other under the hood enhancements.
For those interested in learning what constitutes test best practices, go to the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO) web site. www.amtso.org
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