AV Comparitives

[LiuKangBakinPie]

There you go

 

[Scouzer]

These are old tests... this is the latest: Feb 2011 http://av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/ondret/avc_od_feb2011.pdf

 

[smitbret]

The study is useful, but the Award Level categorization seems silly. I can't, for the life of me, figure out why Avast is in the top 3 for detection rates, #1 for througput speeds and gets knocked down an entire category for being slightly higher than average in false positive hits. I'll take 100 FP's if it means I catch 1 more virus or trojan in a year. Not to mention it's free.

 

[Binky]

They missed the most important test of all - how many of these AV packages will not time out in some way, requiring the (idiot) user to do something as "complicated" as re-registering the free product or buying a new subscription?

I know of one that passes this test - MSE. Every other package that I've used on friends and family at some point becomes abandoned by them because they're too lazy or stupid to do anything when the warning pops up in their face every day.

It ends up something like this: Nine months after the subscription runs out I happen to look at their system and notice the giant red warning flag in the taskbar. They have 200+ trojans and viruses. They claim they told me about it, and "it's been like that for a while."

I threw in the towel once MSE came out and I saw that it never needs to be re-registered. /end rant

 

[Lemon law]

Binky makes a point about periodic re-registration of AV software, but IMHO, its not much of a valid point for anyone but the security unaware and ignorant.

I have always used freeware Avast on my wife's computer, while I used to use freeware Avira for its usually better detection rating. Sadly, since the last version of Avira has come out, its auto updates have become extremely unreliable. So I switched back to Avast and find that both do fine.

As for smitbret's lack of fear about false positive's, there is a hidden danger he may not be considering. If you click too fast and tell your AV to remove a false positive, it may instead remove a part of your OS or some vital file required to make some program run.

 

[Binky]

Binky makes a point about periodic re-registration of AV software, but IMHO, its not much of a valid point for anyone but the security unaware and ignorant.

You just described 90% of the population.

 

[Lemon law]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lemon law View Post
Binky makes a point about periodic re-registration of AV software, but IMHO, its not much of a valid point for anyone but the security unaware and ignorant.
You just described 90% of the population.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First of all Binky I doubt its great as 90%, but point granted its way too high.

But the seeming flaw in your logic, is why should we the more security aware, use the same security software choices of the totally security ignorant?

Take a look at the latest AV comparatives. Avast comes in with a score of 98.4%, yet MSE comes in with a rating of 95.8%. Turn the figures around, and it somewhat implies, Avast misses some 1.6% of security threats, and MSE misses 4.2% of security threats. Meaning MSE is over 2.5 times more likely to let the ignorant down than Avast. Add in the fact, the security aware have other software that plugs many other layers that MSE does not, is all the more reason for me to not rely on MSE.

 

[Scouzer]

Take a look at the latest AV comparatives. Avast comes in with a score of 98.4%, yet MSE comes in with a rating of 95.8%. Turn the figures around, and it somewhat implies, Avast misses some 1.6% of security threats, and MSE misses 4.2% of security threats. Meaning MSE is over 2.5 times more likely to let the ignorant down than Avast. Add in the fact, the security aware have other software that plugs many other layers that MSE does not, is all the more reason for me to not rely on MSE.

Which is why I always say MSE sucks in this forum. It's just not the best free AV.

 

[lowrider69]

If somebody is that lazy and/or stupid where they can't open the Avast UI and put in a email address to register once every 14 months they should stay off their computer. It's not like it doesn't give you a heads up, I think Avast will notify you a month before it actually expires. I know there's people out there where registering a product will be a monumental task, screw 'em. I'd rather go with an effective AV that has a registration policy than a ineffective AV with no registration policy.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

The study is useful, but the Award Level categorization seems silly. I can't, for the life of me, figure out why Avast is in the top 3 for detection rates, #1 for througput speeds and gets knocked down an entire category for being slightly higher than average in false positive hits. I'll take 100 FP's if it means I catch 1 more virus or trojan in a year. Not to mention it's free.

false positives are as bad as malware coz if the false positive is a system file no operating system.

 

[Bradtech519]

Symantec has fallen off it looks like. Wonder if there is such a large sample size of malware now the tests can change sporadically.