February Virus Bulletin RAP Averages Quadrant (Reactive and Proactive) July 2012 through February 2013

Virus Bulletin has released their   RAP Averages Quadrant for the July through February timeframe.  There was a little bit of movement from the previous test, but nothing too exciting.  Avira Free wins among the companies best known for their freemium solutions.  Avast was a little ahead of AVG Technologies for Praha bragging rights.   

Once again, some estimating was necessary to pick the below.

RAP Averages Quadrant July 2012 through February 2013

1. Coranti
2. Avira Free
3. G Data
4. Fortinet
5. Lavasoft, TrustPort, BitDefender, BullGuard, Huari

Hall of Shame awards for their performance – Total Defense (by far), SPAMfighter, Frisk, and Commtouch. All scored below 70% on Reactive Detection, with Total Defense at about 55%.  Where are the 800-pound gorillas awards go to Symantec and Trend Micro for not being in the test.  Come on, Steve Bennett.  This test and AV-comparatives.  Time to step up.  Symantec had a big booth at the RSA security show.  The company   should be willing to be in these. 

The previous RAP averages test  had clusters of companies, as listed below. 

1. Zeobit, Coranti (clear winners)
2. Lavasoft, TrustPort, G Data
3. Fortinet, Avira Free, Avira Pro, Roboscan, BitDefender, BullGuard, Emisoft, eScan

 Tests like these provide  useful information in evaluating the relative strengths of the products.  It obviously wins out over the wisdom of Facebook fans clicking on like!  You can view the RAP Averages Quadrant chart at

http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/latest_comparative/index

Subscribers to Virus Bulletin's publications have access to more details on the results.

RAP Averages Quadrant

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.

http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/latest_comparative/index

  

Virus Bulletin

UK based Virus Bulletin 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.  The Virus Bulletin website is at www.virusbtn.com

 

October 2012 Virus Bulletin VB100 Awards and RAP Averages Quadrant (Reactive and Proactive)

Virus Bulletin has released their October 2012 VB100 testing and published their RAP Averages Quadrant for the April through October timeframe.  Neither test results were too exciting.  No companies going irate and withdrawing from further testing, in all likelihood. 

The VB100 testing was done on Windows Server 2003.  Only 30 products were in the test.  One third of the products failed.  There were no “major” vendors failing.  Emisoft has failed three out of the last four VB100 tests they have been in.  This can’t be fun for their marketing department.

There were three clusters of vendors who scored over 95% in Reactive Detection and 80% in proactive detection.  It’s not even worth eyeballing to rank within the clusters.  These vendors are (from first to third)

1. Zeobit, Coranti (clear winners)
2. Lavasoft, TrustPort, G Data 
3. Fortinet, Avira Free, Avira Pro, Roboscan, BitDefender, BullGuard, Emisoft, eScan

There was definitely some movement from the previous test. Congratulations,  in particular, to those in “1” and “2” above!

The Top 10 in the February through August test

1. Coranti (a clear first among the top 10)
2. Huari (a clear second among the top 10)
3. Tencent
4. Lavasoft
5. BitDefender
6. G Data
7. Avira Pro
8. TrustPort
9. Emisoft
10. Avira Free

Hall of Shame awards in the latest test for scoring below 70% on Reactive Detection and below 65% of Proactive Detection (from best to worst), Commtouch, Frisk, Iolo, Total Defense Business, and UnThreat.  No fun for these companies http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/latest_comparative/index

Tests like these provide  useful information in evaluating the relative strengths of the products.  It obviously wins out over the wisdom of Facebook fans clicking on like!  You can view the  RAP Averages Quadrant chart at

http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/latest_comparative/index

Subscribers to Virus Bulletin's publications have access to more details on the results.

RAP Averages Quadrant

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.

VB100 Test Methodology

The purpose of the VB100 comparative is to provide insight into the relative performance of the solutions taking part in the tests, covering as wide a range of areas as possible within the limitations of time and available resources.  More details are available at

http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/about/methodology.xml

UK based Virus Bulletin 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.  The Virus Bulletin website is at www.virusbtn.com

 

Internet Security Companies and Test Groups – Market Current Tests and Current Releases

It's October and most major internet security providers have released their Internet Security Suite 2013 solutions.  This includes AVG Technologies, Avira, Kaspersky, Panda,  TrustPort, Norton, Symantec, Trend Micro,  and G Data.  Avast hasn’t released their 2013 product line yet. 

Why  is ITwhitepapers.com  sending out an email  -  “PassMark Software conducted objective performance testing on five publicly available Enterprise Endpoint Protection products and a RTM version of Symantec Endpoint Protection 12 on Windows 7 between September 2010 and July 2011”  inviting me to download an old report?

First – the dates encompass September 2010 through July 2011.  Second – It’s now October 2012. Third – the test is on Windows 7.  Why promote  a white paper published in  July 2011?    IMHO, this report has limited utility.  Symantec, sponsor of the “Endpoint Protection Enterprise Benchmarks” study,    received the highest score among the products tested.   

Look for results from www.virusbtn.com , www.av-test.org , and www.av-comparatives.org , to start appearing in the near future using Internet Security Suite 2013 and Antivirus 2013 solutions.  AV-comparatives has posted some reports that include   2013 solutions already.  Their October “AV-Comparative Performance Test” is available.  Webroot, ESET, and Avast came in first through third.  Trend Micro trailed the pack.  This test used antivirus products. 

 http://www.av-comparatives.org/comparativesreviews/performance-tests/244-performance-test-av-only-october-2012  

You can also view   current results of the AV-Comparatives   “Whole Product Dynamic Real World Detection Test”.  You can select your own timeframe to generate a graph incorporating results for 20 internet security vendors.

Another source of information for current releases is at www.pcmag.com where Neil Rubenking has been busy reviewing products. 

Demerits for ITwhitepapers.com (and possibly Symantec).  One week in a virtual online corner for pushing old test reports, particularly  in a rapidly changing environment, internet security.  

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

 

Virus Bulletin RAP Averages Quadrant, February 2012 through August 2012

Virus Bulletin has released their latest RAP Averages Quadrant, representing February 2012 through August 2012.

The Top 10 (some eyeballing necessary):

1. Coranti (a clear first among the top 10)
2. Huari (a clear second among the top 10)
3. Tencent
4. Lavasoft
5. BitDefender
6. G Data
7. Avira Pro
8. TrustPort
9. Emisoft
10. Avira Free

These products scored above 90% on Reactive and above 80% on Proactive Detection.  Auslogics, BullGuard, and ESTSoft dropped out of the top ten in the latest test. BullGuard came close, however.

The Top 10 in the From the October 2011 through April 2012 Report

1. Coranti
2. Coranti Cora
3. Auslogics
4. TrustPort
5. G Data
6. BullGuard
7. Avira Pro
8. ESTSoft
9. Tencent
10. Avira Free 

The bottom six in the latest test from “highest” to” lowest”.    Commtouch, Frisk, Quick Heal, Iolo, Total Defense Business, and UN Threat.  Iolo had the worst Reactive detection at 62% and  Un Threat the worst Proactive Detection  at 40%. Neither Trend Micro nor Symantec were part of the test. 

This provides some more useful information in evaluating the relative strengths of the products.  It obviously wins out over the wisdom of Facebook fans clicking on like!  The relative performance   can best be viewed by looking at the RAP Averages Quadrant chart at

http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/latest_comparative/index

Subscribers to Virus Bulletin's publications have access to more details on the results.

RAP Averages Quadrant

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.

About Virus Bulletin www.virusbtn.com

Virus Bulletin started in 1989 as a magazine dedicated to providing PC users with a regular source of intelligence about computer malware - its prevention, detection, and removal.