We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Anti-virus systems get tested

savemoney
savemoney Posts: 18,125 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts
edited 24 September 2010 at 2:54PM in Techie Stuff
Found this report about anti viruses being tested

Source http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1735260/anti-virus-systems-tested

A NUMBER of the most common anti-virus security systems have had a beady eye passed over their effectiveness and fitness for purpose in an assessment.


The study, which was carried out by the AV Comparatives group, looked at twenty products from the main providers. Main providers that agreed to be included in the study, that is.


Report http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/ondret/avc_od_aug2010.pdf

Haven't read the full report but G data appears to come out on top for detection rates only

Comments

  • tronator
    tronator Posts: 2,859 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    savemoney wrote: »
    Found this report about anti viruses being tested

    Source http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1735260/anti-virus-systems-tested

    A NUMBER of the most common anti-virus security systems have had a beady eye passed over their effectiveness and fitness for purpose in an assessment.


    The study, which was carried out by the AV Comparatives group, looked at twenty products from the main providers. Main providers that agreed to be included in the study, that is.


    Report http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/ondret/avc_od_aug2010.pdf

    Haven't read the full report but G data appears to come out on top for detection rates only


    If you can trust this report, why do people still recommend MSE over Avira? It's even behind AVG, which is considered bad in this forum.
  • savemoney
    savemoney Posts: 18,125 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts
    I dont recommend it and I certainly wouldnt recommend AVG now. I cant speak for others I was mealy the messenger its entirely up to you what you make of the results

    I use bitdefender internet security 2011 if I wanted a free version perhaps MS AV or Commodo
  • Knarf44
    Knarf44 Posts: 557 Forumite
    You have to remember that these tests were conducted on specific versions of the programs and all of them have been updated since this time.

    The https://www.AV-Test.org site has a similar list of comparatives tested for Win 7, there MSE fared better. This same site will update its comparatives for XP users at the end of this month.
  • tronator wrote: »
    If you can trust this report, why do people still recommend MSE over Avira? It's even behind AVG, which is considered bad in this forum.

    Detection rates are not the be all and end all of an anti virus program. I'd favour one that that is lighter on resources, doesn't harass me to upgrade to a paid for version and has lower false positives than one that is marginally ahead by points of a percent in detection rates any day..
  • tronator
    tronator Posts: 2,859 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 24 September 2010 at 5:19PM
    anewhope wrote: »
    Detection rates are not the be all and end all of an anti virus program. I'd favour one that that is lighter on resources,...

    OK, still Avira who's real time scan speed is three times faster on top of that ;)
    anewhope wrote: »
    ... doesn't harass me to upgrade to a paid for version...

    There are workarounds for this.

    Edit: You also compare apples and oranges. MS subsidizes MSE with profits from their other products. A company like Avira is of course not able to to this.
    anewhope wrote: »
    ... and has lower false positives than one that is marginally ahead by points of a percent in detection rates any day..

    Marginally ahead? You're talking about 2% or 19880 undetected viruses compared to 7 more FP...

    And all FP from the test have been fixed in all of the products.
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 352.1K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.5K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 454.2K Spending & Discounts
  • 245.1K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 600.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.4K Life & Family
  • 258.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.2K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.