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

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.

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.

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.

September 30 Addendum: AVG Technologies IPO to Appear on Warsaw Stock Exchange November 10?

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October 8 Addendum - PC Magazine Review of AVG Internet Security 2011 AVG IS 2011 PC Magazine Review http://tinyurl.com/366n5mg

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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.

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

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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

AVG Technologies Proposes Initial Public Offering (IPO) on NYSE

February 2, 2012 Addendum from Reuters - AVG Tech shares fall on market debut

“Shares of AVG Technologies NV (AVG.N), the maker of free PC and mobile anti-virus software, fell 19 percent on their market debut as investors grow wary of high valuations for newly listed technology companies.”

AVG shares closed at $13, which would mean a company valuation of $707 million. Shares had been sold to investors at $16. For the complete article:

www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/02/us-avgtech-idUSTRE8112EZ20120202

If you scroll down further in this blog, my estimated valuation in mid 2010 was about $750 to $800 million. I increased this to over $1.2 billion earlier this year (more recent revenue data).

January 13, 2012 update - AVG Technologies announced on January 13 that it has filed a Registration Statement on Form F-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the proposed initial public offering (IPO) of its ordinary shares. AVG has applied to list its ordinary shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "AVG."

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/avg-technologies-announces-filing-for-proposed-initial-public-offering-2012-01-13

This is a change from previously when they were talking about going doing an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange or Warsaw Stock Exchange. According to Reuters, AVG Technologies has filed for the IPO for up to $125 million. The bookrunning managers for the proposed offering are Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Goldman, Sachs & Co. Co-managers for the proposed offering are Allen & Company LLC, Cowen and Company, LLC and JMP Securities LLC. AVG had revenues of $218 million in 2010 and $198 million through Q3 2011.


Original Blog From August 2010

Last week, it was announced that “AVG Technologies has appointed Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and UBS as bookrunners for its upcoming IPO (initial public offering), with Jefferies acting as co-lead manager. The software firm is understood to be planning a primary listing in London to access institutional investors in the UK, but marketing will focus on American investors as AVG’s brand is strongest in the US”. http://www.ifre.com/equities-avg-appoints-for-uk-ipo/598999.article.

IPO Date?

So when will internet security provider AVG Technologies go public on the London Stock Exchange? – No official date has been announced. Earlier this year the company talked about going public during the latter half of 2010. The Prague Post had a fairly extensive chat with the company in April (Chasing a Billion Dollar Market)about AVG in general, and this was brought up. One question is whether the IPO will occur before or after the next major release of the company’s product lines. Going public before release could allow for a nice uptick, should the new version be favorably reviewed by the marketplace.

IPO activity has been relatively slow during calendar year 2010. Activity for initial public offerings seems to be increasing during the second half of 2010 versus the first half.

A number of competing companies will introduce new versions in the Q3 timeframe. Symantec has Norton Internet Security and Norton Antivirus in beta. Trend Micro’s Virus Scan API is in beta. McAfee Total Protection 4.5 is in beta. BitDefender Total Security 2011 and their Mac security product are in beta. Panda has rolled out their 2011 product line. Webroot has rolled out their consumer Internet Security suite. This isn't a comprehensive list. In order to be part of boxed promotions in the retail channel for their internet security suite, AVG is going to have to release something by early October, at the latest.

Market Capitalization

Valuating a software company for an IPO is always interesting. The market comparison approach was recommended in an article in Corporate Finance Review. In this approach, the company going public is compared to comparable publicly traded companies or recent transactions involving similar private companies.

A second approach they wrote about is using a revenue multiple of similar public software companies.

Potential comparable public traded companies to compare AVG Technologies to could include McAfee, Symantec, and Trend Micro. Potential reasons these aren't perfect: McAfee - Broader product line. They promote that they scale to the enterprise. They sell appliances, SW, and Software as a Service, which makes them a SW and HW company. They are a pure security play, however. Symantec has a broader product line than AVG. They promote that they scale to the enterprise while AVG is an SMB play. Symantec isn’t just a security company (Veritas acquisition, for example. Trend Micro has a broader product line. Their business products scale to the enterprise. Many of AVG Technologies’ competitors are private, so "numbers" are unavailable. So these three companies are probably the best comparable ones.

The author also discussed the asset approach (SW companies don’t possess a lot of physical assets) and the earnings approach. He wasn’t fond of the latter for a variety of reasons, including: the company may have been managed for growth, the company may have been focused on developing the technology, and valuation models based on earnings are highly sensitive to assumptions made. “Valuing Software Companies: One Size Does Not Fit All” Corporate Finance Review September/October 2007. http://www.thevenemareport.com/pdfs/3-Valuing%20Software%20Companies.pdf


Doing a comprehensive discounted cash flow analysis (while fun for quants) can be difficult. For AVG, there’s the free product, where revenue comes from someone other the home user. AVG gets revenue from the toolbar/Yahoo! (no, you’re not forced to use the Yahoo as your search engine). The “consumer paid” product line. Revenue from 3rd party partners who let individuals who want to download AVG Antivirus Free Edition upgrade to a paid product in exchange for purchasing something from the 3rd party. The “business paid” product line. The OEM business (deal with WatchGuard, for example http://www.watchguard.com/news/press-releases/wg438.asp ). There are the antivirus engine and the behavioral engines. Deals with ISPs. The Data Feed Solution (aggregate web activity of over 40mm AVG users marketed to 3rd parties) More detailed descriptions are on http://www.avg.com/us-en/gsa-solutions.

Other methods – Book Value, Internal Rate of Return (IRR) Profit/Sales Multiple, P/E (Price/Earnings ratio), Dunn-Rankin formula, free cash flow.

So what will the market capitalization of AVG Technologies be? (Note that the below uses no proprietary information!)

In October 2009, TA Associates paid more than $200 million for a 25% stake in AVG. “European Private Equity in Review”, full year 2009 edition at www.mergermarket.com. http://www.avg.com/us-en/press-releases-news.ndi-224903. This suggests that at the time of sale, 100% of the equity in AVG had a worth of about $800 million US.

In 2008, Symantec paid a revenue multiple of 5x and 4.8x for PC Tools and Message Labs, respectively. In 2009, McAfee paid a revenue multiple of 4.9x for MX Logic. Using a 5x multiple suggests a market cap of about $750 million US for AVG in early 2009. http://blog.updataadvisors.com/2009/11/05/avg-technologies-rakes-in-big-multiple-on-small-revenue/.

End of year 2009 revenue data? Unavailable. 2010 year to date revenue data? Publicly unavailable. It’s information like this that AVG, and the investment firms and bankers they’re partnering with are probably taking into “the room”, along with business projections for the next several years (with and without acquisitions), in order to arrive at an appropriate capitalization/valuation. Doing the math, and having an initial share price below what the math suggests is a way for a quick rise in price on opening day. An argument could be made that this leaves money on the table, however.

It will be interesting. Conversations may get intense. Beverages of all sorts will be consumed.

September Addendum

According to a Reuters article dated September 15, “Czech AVG's IPO to be worth 400-800 mln EUR” AVG Technologies Initial Public Offering “IPO” may take place in the first quarter of 2011. This is a change from what AVG has been saying. Previously, the London Exchange (UK) was mentioned as to where the company was going to be listed. Now it may be on the Warsaw exchange “and one other”. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSWSF00947520100915

This differs from 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 recent security technology acquisitions in North America may have contributed to the IPO not taking place third quarter

Bitdefender issues ‘H1 2010 E-Threats Landscape Report”

One bad Trojan is all it takes. For the first half of 2010, Trojan.Autoruninf.Gen accounted for over 11% of worldwide malware infections. According to the report’s contributors, the autorun technique is used by worm writers as a means of spreading their evil creation through mapped network drives or removable USB media, for example. Internet security providers had their work cut out for them.

The 33 page report is an interesting look backwards at the first half of the year. It’s vendor neutral. It’s actually a quick read with a number of graphics. For those who want a nice summary (if nice is the word), the report is worth downloading. This report isn't a "how to protect yourself" publication. The report looks at:

• Malware Threats in Review
• Spam and Phishing
• Phishing and Identity Theft
• Vulnerabilities, Exploits and Security Breaches

Other techniques talked about in the white paper besides Trojans that were used heavily included in the first half of the year included instant messaging worms and rogue AV software.

China and the Russian Federation have the negative distinction of being the predominant hosts for malware during the first ½ of 2010, at 31% and 22% respectively.

For Facebook® users, it was Koobface that wormed its way into the 500 million member community. Facebook Friends would find themselves receiving what looked to be a URL to a video page. Instead it would lead to an infected executable file.

Clickjacking was also a source of problems for the Facebook community as was deployment of adware via third-party rogue applications for Facebook®.

The US had its own negative claim to fame in the study. 28% of spam distribution by point of origin came from the US. China was distant second at 5%.

There are a few predictions for the latter half of this year.

• Botnet activity may increase
• Rogue software (particular AV) will trend upward
• Social networking sites such as Facebook will continue to be targeted
• In the Mobile OS world, threats will still be a rarity. However, Symbian, because of its 44% share, is the most likely target

The full report is available at http://www.bitdefender.com/files/News/file/H1_2010_E-Threats_Landscape_Report.pdf

OPSWAT Report on Worldwide Antivirus Application Market Share

On July 7, OPSWAT, Inc. published a report on “Worldwide Antivirus Application Market Share”. The results may not mesh completely with the results published by the vendors themselves (surprise!). The study period was January through May 2010. Note that these are antivirus deployments, not internet security suite deployments.

By product, the top 5 Windows antivirus deployments over the study period, by product were from los Free Amigos (Avast!, Avira, and AVG Technologies) and Microsoft.

• avast! Free Antivirus 11.45%
• Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus 9.19%
• AVG Anti-Virus Free 8.6%
• Microsoft Security Essentials 7.48%
• avast! Antivirus 5.4%

The order of the top 3 may be surprising to some people since on CNET’s download.com sight the typical weekly download order for the top three is AVG, followed by Avira and Avast. Download.com isn’t the only download site for these vendors.

The top 5 Windows antivirus market share leaders by vendor for the same period were

• AVAST Software 19.14%
• Avira GmbH 11.39%
• Symantec Corp. 10.06%
• Microsoft Corp. 9.29%
• AVG Technologies 9%

A more comprehensive listing can be viewed on the links below.

The vendor share reflects both paid and free AV, business and consumer. So the Symantec data includes both the Norton and Symantec AV brands. It does not include PC Tools, which they own. AVG Technologies drop in ranking from the product deployment table to the vendor deployment table relative to that of Avast! And Avira may signify that a much higher proportion of AVG’s installed base is their free software compared to the other two companies.

European vendors comprised 52% of the deployments, and North America 31%.

The press release for the above can be viewed at http://www.opswat.com/media/news/opswat-issues-groundbreaking-report-on-worldwide-antivirus-application-market-share

The complete report can be viewed at http://www.oesisok.com/news-resources/reports/worldwide-antivirus-market-share-report%202010

Both of these provide additional statistical details and methodology.

Viruses, Internet Security, the First Amendment, Eliott Spitzer, and Escort Services

The alternative headline was going to be “Who Pimped My Internet Security Product Testing?”, but common sense won out.

In 2002, then New York State Attorney General Eliott Spitzer won a case against Network Associates’ McAfee subsidiary regarding a “censorship clause” in some of the company’s Eula’s (End User Licensing Agreements). The clause stated that customers could not publish product reviews or results of benchmark tests without permission from the company.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Marilyn Shafer issued a ruling, prohibiting Network Associates/McAfee from trying to use end-user license agreements to ban product reviews or benchmark tests. http://news.cnet.com/2100-1023-981228.html

Eliott Spitzer became governor of New York State 2007. He resigned in 2008 when his name became affiliated with an investigation being done on a high end escort service. It’d be a cheap shot to mention the v word here! Spitzer will be joining with Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper columnist Kathleen Parker on CNN this fall. Quite a trick on his part. From high end call girls to cable.

If an antivirus and internet security provider is willing to collect revenue from customers for its product, they should be willing to have the product tested, benchmarked, and/or reviewed without making the test organization jump through a lot of hoops or “hinting” that something may happen if the test group vary from what they say on the form. If a vendor is willing to allow customers to download its product for free, the same holds true.

One security vendor’s website and their EULA for testing and benchmarking states in part - “You agree that the testing/benchmarking results will only be used as specified by you in this form and for no other purpose whatsoever. …reserves the right to use its sole discretion in denying your request as a whole or in part.” The EULA requires information about the method and purpose of testing, among other details.

It’s all related to that First Amendment thing on the west side of the pond. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Vendors cannot be expected to be able to examine complete test plans in advance. Results could originally be posted on a web site, then appear in a print article, be written about in blogs, etc. This doesn’t waive the requirement that the testers utilize best practices. Vendors should not consider it their right to review results in their entirely before publication and then back out if they don’t like the test results or text of the article. Test organizations and reviewers should be willing to allow vendors to vet feature check lists and pricing if these are part of the article.

Vendors should be able to exert more influence over a test being performed when a product is in beta. If a new version of the product is going to be released before the article is published, discussions would have to take place. These issues with dates cannot be helped sometimes, due to release schedules, and publication deadlines. For example, it may be unfair to the vendor (and the customer), if a group review is published for example and an older version of the product is compared with competitors’ current releases. They can’t use the phrase “we’re in beta” ad nausea, though. When results are online, publications/reviewers should make the effort to footnote the article, should a new version be released.

Virus Bulletin's Latest Reactive and Proactive (RAP)Test Results

Virus Bulletin has published their latest Reactive and Proactive (RAP) test results.

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.

The relative performance of vendors can best be viewed by looking at the RAP Averages Quadrant (December 2009 through June 2010) chart at http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/rap-index.xml.

Products/Companies with Reactive detection greater than 90% going from lower to higher on the y axis - AVG Technologies, Avira Free, Avira Pro, Kaspersky, ESET, Check Point, Coranti, and GDATA. The third company of los free amigos, AVAST, just missed 90%, it appears.

Products/Companies scoring over > 70% on the proactive portion going from lower to higher on the x axis were -Kaspersky, Ikarus, ESET, GDATA, Trustport, Coranti, and Check Point.

A full description of the RAP testing methodology and explanation of how to interpret the results can be read at http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/vb200902-RAP-tests

Virus Bulletin is perhaps best known for their VB100 Awards - The basic requirements for this award are that a product detects, both on demand and on access, in its default settings, all malware known to be 'In the Wild' at the time of the review. The product should generate no false positives when scanning a set of clean files. A list of vendors passing/failing the test is available on the Virus Bulletin site http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archive/results?display=summary. Viewing some (not all) of Virus Bulletin’s materials requires a free registration (well worth it). Full details require a paid subscription to the magazine (well worth it).

From a marketing/PR perspective, some vendors take it as a point of pride the number of consecutive times they’ve received a VB100 award. From an evaluation perspective for customers, most recent successes (perhaps 2 or 3 years) in the tests is the most useful. To view any particular companys’ history with VB100 testing, go to http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archive/results?display=summary

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. 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.

AVG LinkScanner for Mac Announced by AVG Technologies - 6/24 addendum

On June 14th, AVG announced AVG LinkScanner for Mac. Like AVG LinkScanner for Windows, it is a free download, designed to protect people in real time from malicious threats as they surf the web. Most of AVG’s security solutions also include AVG LinkScanner for Windows.

*****
June 24th addendum - http://download.cnet.com/mac/security-software/ CNET's top Mac security downloads for the week ending June 20th.

*****

AVG promotes the LinkScanner for Mac as providing real time protection while surfing the web. This should make it attractive to Mac users, even though the world has yet to see a massive virus outbreak among Mac users! AVG CTO Karel Obluk has an informative blog about how LinkScanner works at http://obluk.blog.avg.com/2009/10/index.html. The AVG LinkScanner demo on the LinkScanner download site inaccurately states that LinkScanner “looks at every single website.” That would take awhile!

There is no migration path to a traditional Antivirus or Internet Security suite solution for the Mac. AVG currently doesn’t offer these. Trend Micro, Symantec, McAfee, among others have Mac Antivirus and/or Internet Security solutions. A Mac offering may be in AVG’s future. However, neither Avira nor Avast (the other two of los Free Amigos) offer a Mac solution, either. Those desiring a free Mac AV solution can check out PC Tools iAntiVirus at http://www.iantivirus.com/

AVG LinkScanner for Mac had an impressive number of downloads during its first week of availability. Below are the number of downloads for the product and for other standalones that promote safe surfing. The below is for the week of June 13 and lists downloads, total downloads, and from which date. These figures are from download.cnet.com and reflect downloads of a particular version. It’ll be interesting to see how weekly downloads change over the next month.

AVG LinkScanner for Mac 2094/2094, 6/13/2010
AVG LinkScanner for Windows 504/73k, 11/04/2009
McAfee SiteAdvisor 660/25k, 12/23/2009 (free version)
Web of Trust (IE) 286/45k, 3/07/2010
Web of Trust (Firefox) 301/65k, 5/05/2010

Finjan, now part of M86 Security – offers Finjan SecureBrowsing™ as a free download (IE and Firefox) http://securebrowsing.finjan.com/. They promote this as scanning web pages in real-time, much like AVG LinkScanner.

Solutions that promote “real-time” and then mention accessing a database may be playing fast and free with the phrase “real-time”. People may want to watch for this.