Sunbeltblog comments
Thanks for the update.
Given these data (and other available tests of AV, anti-malware apps and firewalls) I will keep my current mix of Avira (free version), Comodo Pro free firewall (which now has anti-malware capabilities) and CounterSpy as the main active anti-malware component.
With SpyBot's Resident and WinPatrol on board to warn me about (and protect me against) changes to the registry, Windows services and startup programs, and Secunia's PSI to notify me of insecure program versions, I feel reasonably safe in the wild World Wide Web.
Despite having all these apps running, my machine still runs fast and never seems to drag or hang. When I bought the computer, it came pre-installed with Norton Security Suite. Even with nothing else running, the computer was slow and would regularly hang at shutdown. Dumping Norton was the best move I ever made, for this machine.
Just for the record: AV-Comparatives also released some days ago some a test report: http://www.av-comparatives.org/s...se/
report17.pdf
Thanks Andreas!
Thanks for the 'American' versions, Alex. Easier also for UK and other English-language users, methinks.
(Sorry, I forgot you Americans invented the English language )
Some interesting differences in the results of the tests by Andrea Marx and Andreas Clementi. Almost to the point of questioning whether these tests have any real relevance at all. Given that actual viruses are no longer the main threat(?), it would be interesting to see how anti-spyware programs compare against these 'anti-virus' programs when it comes to detecting and deleting spyware.
Hello,
I think, the quality of Andreas Clementi's (AV-Comparatives) tests are very low. See here:
Dr Vesselin Bontchev (one of the most respected AV people around) has written about Clementi: "Your fee is neither small nor reasonable, though. Hell, you ask for a single (incompetent, crappy) test about as much as I make in a year! And you don't have even a minuscule fraction of the knowledge, expertise and aptitude of what takes to be a good AV tester, let alone an AV researcher."
However, I do like Andreas Marx' (AV-Test) reviews. He already has more than 15 years of experiences in this topic.
Mike
Here the url... Mike
For a renowned expert, the product Bontchev works on doesn't figure that well in the Marx tests.
Hm, but Andreas Clementi (AV-Comparatives) includes all needed information about version of testing products and signatures updates. Andreas Marx (AV-Test) does not do it, I think it's unprofessional.
Hello,
Andreas Marx writing, CEO of AV-Test.org. Thanks for your comments regarding our latest review of security suites which have been posted here at the SunbeltBlog and published by Dark Reading, too.
Please note that we have only checked parts of the protection features: the malware detection, blocking and removal capabilities. We have intentionally not reviewed other parts, including the personal firewall protection, parental control features and the like. We were focussing on features which are hard to test, require quite some amount of resources (computer and people) and are very time consuming. This way, reviewers from magazines and other organizations can use these up-to-date results as a basis for their own comprehensive tests of these products. The tests were not paid or in any way sponsored by the participating companies, everyone can join these tests free of charge.
The reason why we did not mention the exact product names is related to the fact that many tools are sold under different names in many parts of the world (the version numbers also do not always match). So, for example, Trend Micro Internet Security 2008 is sold under the name VirusBuster in Japan and K7 is sold as SourceNext Virus Security Zero there. The CA product is called VET in Australia. We were using the same short product names for all online reviews during the past two years in order to avoid confusion. However, we mentioned the exact date the products were frozen (updated for the last time), in this case, it was March 1, 2008. Printed magazines have always included the exact names and version information, as they are usually only sold in a specific country. The full details are also available for the participating companies and anyone who requests them from us. Anyway, on your request, I'll post the exact version numbers in this forum. In all cases, we have selected the biggest suite (or product) with the most comprehensive security features included.
You can find the exact and extensive details about our testing strategies, for the different parts we've covered on our webpage in the "Papers" section (a direct link was included in the original story). There are quite some pages to read, if you're really interested in all details of our testing. The samples were verified by executing them and checking what they are doing, based on automatic processing tools we've developed in-house. Only verified malicious and working samples have been used for the testing (our lab is equipped with more than 100 PCs we can use for such purposes). I want to emphasize that the participating companies have received different parts of the test set, after the products were frozen (we do this by creating Ghost images on real PCs, we're not using VMware or other virtualization tools.) I've received quite some feedback, that most developers are already working on improving their tools, especially in the area of rootkit detection and system disinfection, where many tools didn't perform that well.
Just let me know if you have any further questions or concerns. You can also send me an e-mail or call me if you'd like to get more details. Thank you.
With kind regards,
Andreas Marx
CEO, AV-Test.org
Avira Premium Security Suite 2008
avast! Professional Edition 4.7
AVG Internet Security 8.0
G Data Internet Security 2008
BitDefender Internet Security 2008
ClamWin 0.92
Dr Web for Windows 4.44
eScan Internet Security Suite 2008
CA Internet Security Suite Plus 2008
Fortinet Gateway 2.81
F-Prot for Windows 6.0.8.0
F-Secure Internet Security 2008
Ikarus AntiVirus Solution 1.0.69
K7 Total Security 9.0
Kaspersky Internet Security 2008
McAfee Internet Security 2008
Windows Live OneCare 2.0.2500
Eset Smart Security 3.0
Norman Internet Control Plus 5.91
Symantec Norton Internet Security 2008
Panda Internet Security 2008
QuickHeal Total Security 2008
Rising Internet Security 2008
Sophos Security Suite 2.5
Trend Micro Internet Security 2008
TrustPort Workstation 2.8.0
VBA32 Professional 3.12.6
VirusBuster Professional 9.121.27
Webwasher Gateway 6.6.2.2924
ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 7.1
My best move was also to dump Norton, but I installed Kaspersky and now I cant live without it. It doesnt take resources, it does protect my computer. I'm happy!
I still think that BitDefender Internet Security is the best, i never had a problem with it, my PC works at full speed and it never missed any malware. For example after uninstalling Norton and getting Bitdefender on my PC he detected a lot of Viruses and removed them. I don't know why but i see that Andreas Clementi isn't using the latest BitDefender, he uses old signatures.
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