AV-Comparatives on Demand Detection of Malicious Software – March 2012

AV-Comparatives (www.av-comparatives.org ) has released their On Demand Detection of Malicious Software March 2012 report. Twenty vendor antivirus (internet security) products were tested. Symantec was not tested as they wished to pick and choose which tests to participate in. Over 291,000 samples were used in the testing. The AMTSO (Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization at www.amtso.org) would be pleased! Eleven products received the top rating of Advanced+, or three stars.

The top four products (incentive to download the report) were from

1. G Data
2. Avira
3. Kaspersky
4. Sophos

These products also had the overall top detection rates, in the same order with G Data the best at 99.7%. The vendors with the lowest detection rates from lowest "up" were Microsoft and AhnLab.

Only one product, from AhnLab, received the lowest rating, “Tested”.

AV-comparatives also tested for false positives. The top five products were from

1. Microsoft
2. Eset
3. BitDefender/F-Secure (tied for 3rd)
4. BullGuard

Microsoft actually had zero false positives. The false positive cone of shame award goes to Webroot with 428 false positives. Only they and Trend Micro had more than 80 false positives. Something must be going on with how the Webroot scan engine is evaluating samples.

In alphabetical order, internet security vendors in the test: AhnLab, Avast, AVG Technologies, Avira, BitDefender, BullGuard, eScan, ESET, F-Secure, Fortinet, G Data, GFI, Kaspersky, McAfee, Microsoft, Panda, PC Tools, Sophos, Trend Micro, and Webroot.

It’s worthwhile to go to the web site, download and read the whole report to gain insights on the AV-comparatives test methodology. As well as to view the complete rankings! The end of the year report is a good one to read in conjunction with this report as well, since there are details on most of the products that were in this latest report. Congrats to the top performers.

About AV-Comparatives

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

Go to the AV-comparatives website for complete details about the organization, the many tests they perform, and to download copies of test reports.

www.av-comparatives.org

AV-Comparatives Anti-Virus Comparative Retrospective Test - November 2011

AV-Comparatives has released their Anti-Virus Comparative Retrospective Test (static detection of new/unknown malicious software) – November 2011. Twelve vendors were included in the test. In general, the company’s antivirus 2012 products were used, not the internet security suite 2012 products.

Seven vendors received advanced (3 star) ratings In Av-comparatives November test. In order, these were G Data, Avira, Eset, Kaspersky, F-Secure, and BitDefender. These all received 3 star ratings in the previous test, as well. http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/ondret/avc_retro_nov2011.pdf .

Advanced Plus (3 star ratings) were received by 10 vendors in August, G data, Avira, Panda, F-Secure, BitDefender, Kaspersky, ESET, Avast, McAfee, and Trend Micro. http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/ondret/avc_od_aug2011.pdf .

The table below combines a couple of results. The November test results for proactive detection of new malware (first two columns) and the Q3 AV Comparative test rankings. Note that the order in the table below doesn't match the order for the three star rankings, which take other factors into account.



















The November test evaluated only the offline heuristic/generic detection of the products against unknown/new malware, without the need to execute it or to submit it against anything else.

According to AV-Comparatives, a number of vendors declined to participate in the test. “In their opinion (the vendor), their product’s real-life capabilities are not adequately represented in the retrospective test to the absence of a live Internet connection or because URL blocking is not considered.” See page 4 of the report for additional details.

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

Go to the AV-comparatives website for complete details about the organization, the many tests they perform, and to download copies of tests.