Symantec and Microsoft outdo Trend and McAfee in live tests.
Independent testing organisation
AV-Test.org
has released its latest round of test results in a simplified format, providing at-a-glance details of performance in a series of tests aimed at mimicking real-world situations. Testing covered a wide range of criteria, all run in a fully connected and realistic environment to exercise all available protective features.
In the tests, 19 products were put through their paces on
Windows 7
in the second quarter of the year, with 13 of them meeting the necessary standard to be marked as ‘certified’ by the testing body. The results were split into three categories, with ‘Protection’ covering the blocking of attacks from malicious websites and emails, dynamic detection of executing malware, detection rates over
AV-Test
‘s sizeable sample sets and WildList samples. ‘Repair’ comprises successful removal of common infections, removal of additional items and changes left behind by infections, and detection and removal of rootkits, while ‘usability’ covers both false alarms and impact on system performance.
High performers in the protection category included
AVG
,
G DATA
,
Panda
and
Symantec
, all scoring 5.5 out of a possible 6, while the bottom of the table was propped up by
Trend Micro
(2.5) and
Norman
(2.0). In the ‘repair’ category,
Avira
,
Kaspersky
and
Panda
did well with 5.5, while
McAfee
‘s
Internet Security 2010
was last by some distance with a lowly 2.0. In ‘usability’, several products scored equally at the top 5.5 mark, including
Microsoft
‘s
Security Essentials
,
Symantec
‘s
Norton
and solutions from
BitDefender
,
F-Secure
,
G DATA
and
Kaspersky
. Bottom of the list were
McAfee
,
Norman
,
PC Tools
and
BullGuard
, all scoring less than 4 out of a possible 6.
Scores in each category are totalled up and a total of 12 or more is required to qualify for ‘certified’ status. 13 of the products included are marked as certified by
AV-Test
– those failing to make the grade include
Bullguard
and
Norman
as well as
McAfee
and
Trend Micro
. Results for two further products are still unpublished pending further investigation, but neither is considered likely to achieve certification.
Full details of the test results, including a PDF report on the showing of each product, can be found at the
AV-Test.org
website,
here
.
Posted on 16 August 2010 by
Virus Bulletin
Leave a Reply