AV-TEST - Jan/Feb 2014

[G73S]

Microsoft Security Essentials AKA Windows Defender doing the worst as usual (check the bottom of the chart)

Avast's detection has gone really bad these months

NOD32/ESET remains a resource hog after the update to v7

http://www.av-test.org/en/tests/home-user/windows-7/janfeb-2014/

 

[nemesismk2]

Microsoft Security Essentials AKA Windows Defender doing the worst as usual (check the bottom of the chart)

Avast's detection has gone really bad these months

NOD32/ESET remains a resource hog after the update to v7

http://www.av-test.org/en/tests/home-user/windows-7/janfeb-2014/

I find it so funny that Microsoft can get away with calling it Security Essentials when it doesn't offer any Security lol

 

[G73S]

I find it so funny that Microsoft can get away with calling it Security Essentials when it doesn't offer any Security lol

and what's worse, is is 80% of people on the forums use it.

Why? because it's easy to install, comes with the OS, is 100% compatible and offers no slow down :whiste:

Sure, no slowdown, because it doesn't do anything! LOL

Some say, I don't visit shady websites and don't use any cracks, etc. so I don't need more than Windows Defender. Right, wait till those people get hit hard, and they won't even know it, since Windows Defender won't tell the anything

One time, my small sister called me to fix her laptop which has been acting very slow

I noticed she had MSE on, and it was saying that it detected a few viruses. Upon checking, they were not actually viruses, a few WLAN password revealers and a windows product key viewer.

So anyway, to finish the headache, I told MSE to delete them. It had to reboot to delete such an FP that isn't even running. Oh well. I let it reboot. then after a few minutes, the same pop up came up, saying she had viruses. I checked, and it was those same files, again, and again, and again...

I quickly uninstalled that crap and installed Webroot ScureAnywhere for her and she had 0 issues since then

 

[Mushkins]

Hey look, another one of these BS AV tests and another boatload of misguided hate for MSE.

It's free, and its now *integrated into the OS* from Windows 8 and onward. Obviously free, integrated antivirus is not going to perform as well as a paid product from a software company that deals exclusively in antivirus, antimalware, and security research. Likewise, my girlfriends Mazda 2 isn't going to go 0-60 as fast as a Ferrari or survive a crash as well as a Hummer, but it still does a pretty darn good job of getting her to work every day.

But think about it for a second. It's installed and enabled as part of the OS by default, and it catches 80% of modern attack vectors and infections. That's actually pretty impressive for do-nothing protection. It even catches a non-trivial amount of Zero Day attack vectors, again for a free product that's installed automatically with the OS. Claims that it's doing "nothing" are shortsighted at best, MSE is an adequate product and accomplishes what it's designed to do: provide baseline antivirus and antimalware services to prevent many attacks geared towards known/common attack vectors. It's up to the specific user to determine if their use-case is covered by that, or needs more robust protection software.

 

[G73S]

Hey look, another one of these BS AV tests and another boatload of misguided hate for MSE.

It's free, and its now *integrated into the OS* from Windows 8 and onward. Obviously free, integrated antivirus is not going to perform as well as a paid product from a software company that deals exclusively in antivirus, antimalware, and security research.

But think about it for a second. It's installed and enabled as part of the OS by default, and it catches 80% of modern attack vectors and infections. That's actually pretty impressive for do-nothing protection. It even catches a non-trivial amount of Zero Day attack vectors, again for a free product that's installed automatically with the OS. Claims that it's doing "nothing" are shortsighted at best, MSE is an adequate product and accomplishes what it's designed to do.

yeah and you're another one of those clueless people about security that is an MSE/Defender fanboy who feels personally offended if someone shows you a valid AV test result from a reputable organization.

Why is the AV Test flawed? because it showed how sucky the AV you're using is? go figure.

It is a very fair test. AVs go up, then go down next month, depending on the test. Avast was on the top last 2 months, now it's average. ESET is doing horribly in the performance department and that is very true. I have a 3 year license for NOD32 and god it has become heavier than even Kaspersky and McAfee especially when copying large files from one HDD to the other.

The results are spot on. your understanding of security needs polishing

MSE blocks real 0 day exploits? ROFLMAO! did you read about what I said in the 2nd post about how MSE failed to even delete a simple false positive Wireless password revealer? puhhnleeeease!

don't feel personally offended, noone is bashing you or your beloved MSE, they are simply statistics of results. you like MSE? good for you, use it, but don't come on here defending it like a blind fanboy

you = pwned

Personal attacks are not allowed.


esquared
Anandtech Forum Director

 

[Mem]

Hey look, another one of these BS AV tests and another boatload of misguided hate for MSE.

It's free, and its now *integrated into the OS* from Windows 8 and onward. Obviously free, integrated antivirus is not going to perform as well as a paid product from a software company that deals exclusively in antivirus, antimalware, and security research. Likewise, my girlfriends Mazda 2 isn't going to go 0-60 as fast as a Ferrari or survive a crash as well as a Hummer, but it still does a pretty darn good job of getting her to work every day.

But think about it for a second. It's installed and enabled as part of the OS by default, and it catches 80% of modern attack vectors and infections. That's actually pretty impressive for do-nothing protection. It even catches a non-trivial amount of Zero Day attack vectors, again for a free product that's installed automatically with the OS. Claims that it's doing "nothing" are shortsighted at best, MSE is an adequate product and accomplishes what it's designed to do: provide baseline antivirus and antimalware services to prevent many attacks geared towards known/common attack vectors. It's up to the specific user to determine if their use-case is covered by that, or needs more robust protection software.

Problem is there are BETTER FREE AVs out there that are lightweight too, ie Panda Cloud,Bitdefender Free,AVG,Avast etc so take your pick.

When you compare those to MSE/Defender things don't look great for MSE/Defender,end of the day there are better free alternatives out there that cost you nothing with minimal impact on the OS as well.

 

[G73S]

Problem is there are BETTER FREE AVs out there that are lightweight too, ie Panda Cloud,Bitdefender Free,AVG,Avast etc so take your pick.

When you compare those to MSE/Defender things don't look great for MSE/Defender,end of the day there are better free alternatives out there that cost you nothing with minimal impact on the OS as well.

exactly what I mean, it's not like anyone is forcing people to pay for an AV. It's just that there are numerous good and lightweight free AVs out there that gives no excuse for anyone to use such a crappy AV such as MSE. They shouldn't even call it an AV. It's more like a painting of an AV that does nothing but give you a false sense of protection.

 

[Mushkins]

Personal attacks and a single anecdote about a virus on your little sister's laptop don't do much to support your argument.

AV-test.org might run a sufficient testing procedure, but they intentionally sensationalize the way the present the results. The report is just an infographic with some vague filled in bars. Even clicking into the results page gives you extremely little information about what was or was not detected by the product, and thats *all* the information they give you. If Avast detected 90/100 samples, and Kaspersky detected 92/100 samples, did they both miss the same 8? Did one detect three that the other let slip? Which ones were they? Are they new threats exploiting a brand new vulnerability? Was it an OS vulnerability, a java exploit, a flash exploit, what? There's so much more to the story than just some percentile rating.

And yes, MSE does block zero day exploits. 71% of the ones they ran through the testbed, in fact. Or are the test results from AV-test.org suddenly untrustworthy now?

Stay classy though.

 

[G73S]

Personal attacks and a single anecdote about a virus on your little sister's laptop don't do much to support your argument.

AV-test.org might run a sufficient testing procedure, but they intentionally sensationalize the way the present the results. The report is just an infographic with some vague filled in bars. Even clicking into the results page gives you extremely little information about what was or was not detected by the product, and thats *all* the information they give you. If Avast detected 90/100 samples, and Kaspersky detected 92/100 samples, did they both miss the same 8? Did one detect three that the other let slip? Which ones were they? Are they new threats exploiting a brand new vulnerability? Was it an OS vulnerability, a java exploit, a flash exploit, what? There's so much more to the story than just some percentile rating.

And yes, MSE does block zero day exploits. 71% of the ones they ran through the testbed, in fact. Or are the test results from AV-test.org suddenly untrustworthy now?

Stay classy though.

sorry I did not mean to offend you

another proof to you, AV Comparatives removed MSE/Windows Defender from their whole tests a few months because because they have failed certification, meaning, they did so bad that they figured they are not even worth testing

http://chart.av-comparatives.org/chart1.php

as I said, if it works for you, great, but why would one use a shady AV when there are many good free AVs out there like Avira and AVG?

 

[Mem]

I also use Malwarebytes Free version as backup and run a full scan now and then,you can never be too careful regardless of the AV you use.

 

[Victorian Gray]

Microsoft Security Essentials AKA Windows Defender doing the worst as usual (check the bottom of the chart)

Avast's detection has gone really bad these months

NOD32/ESET remains a resource hog after the update to v7

http://www.av-test.org/en/tests/home-user/windows-7/janfeb-2014/

How so? I recently updated to 7 from 6 (been a user since version 2 ) and haven't noticed any 'resource hogging' an any of the versions that I've used, including 7.

 

[Phynaz]

Hey look, another one of these BS AV tests and another boatload of misguided hate for MSE.

Any website that says McAfee is that good should ignored.

 

[PliotronX]

Any website that says McAfee is that good should ignored.

+eleventy

McRapee software is as prevalent as Ask Toolbar on heavily infected systems I work on. Security Essentials is not. Not saying MSE is the best, but this is what I've observed and I am willing to bet that I have cleaned up more systems than the OP has.

 

[lxskllr]

I'd be interested in hearing what the free choices are for businesses. That means explicitly following the licenses. The only ones I'm aware of are MSE and ClamWin. Any others?

Edit:
Looks like Immunet is free for commercial use according to Wikipedia, but I haven't been able to confirm that from the original site. It's based on Clam, and uses some kind of "cloud" nonsense for protection. I might give it a try at work, and see what it's like. Here's the wiki...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immunet#cite_note-4

 

[nemesismk2]

I also use Malwarebytes Free version as backup and run a full scan now and then,you can never be too careful regardless of the AV you use.

I sometimes use Malwarebytes as well because you can't trust any AV 100%.

 

[nemesismk2]

I have other doubts about whether Microsoft Security Essentials is getting a fair deal from anti virus review websites because Microsoft Security Essentials is 100% free so nobody is making money from it like anti virus review websites for example.

 

[nemesismk2]

I also use Malwarebytes Free version as backup and run a full scan now and then,you can never be too careful regardless of the AV you use.

I just read on the Inquirer that half of UK councils still use Windows XP and that Malwarebytes will still support for Windows XP.

"ANTI-MALWARE FIRM Malwarebytes launched its first paid-for update to its security software product today, Anti-Malware Premium, which offers Windows XP users security protection "for life", just before Microsoft cuts off support for its customers on 8 April.

Malwarebytes said that it will continue to provide Windows XP support in its new security tool, which is designed to protect PCs against advanced criminal software that traditional antivirus software cannot. The move is designed to help the XP users that Microsoft will leave behind, which Malwarebytes claimed makes up 20 percent of its user base.

Anti-Malware Premium protects XP machines for £23.74 per year"

Wow what a bargain from Malwarebytes

 

[TheRyuu]

"ANTI-MALWARE FIRM Malwarebytes launched its first paid-for update to its security software product today, Anti-Malware Premium, which offers Windows XP users security protection "for life", just before Microsoft cuts off support for its customers on 8 April.

Malwarebytes said that it will continue to provide Windows XP support in its new security tool, which is designed to protect PCs against advanced criminal software that traditional antivirus software cannot. The move is designed to help the XP users that Microsoft will leave behind, which Malwarebytes claimed makes up 20 percent of its user base.

Anti-Malware Premium protects XP machines for £23.74 per year"

Anybody who actually cares about security would've migrated off of XP many many years ago.

Microsoft left them behind for a reason, XP needs to just die.

 

[Mushkins]

I'd be interested in hearing what the free choices are for businesses. That means explicitly following the licenses. The only ones I'm aware of are MSE and ClamWin. Any others?

Edit:
Looks like Immunet is free for commercial use according to Wikipedia, but I haven't been able to confirm that from the original site. It's based on Clam, and uses some kind of "cloud" nonsense for protection. I might give it a try at work, and see what it's like. Here's the wiki...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immunet#cite_note-4

MSE is only free for business up to 20 users, beyond that it's technically in breach of the license. I'd imagine the Windows 8 integrated version gets a pass on that though seeing as how it's installed and turned on by default as a core OS feature.

Granted, how many businesses are running Windows 8 in the first place.

Free AV in the business space is nearly nonexistent. If anything it's the exorbitant licensing and mandatory nature of the software for businesses that subsidizes the free/ad-driven home versions from all these companies.

 

[lxskllr]

MSE is only free for business up to 20 users, beyond that it's technically in breach of the license. I'd imagine the Windows 8 integrated version gets a pass on that though seeing as how it's installed and turned on by default as a core OS feature.

Granted, how many businesses are running Windows 8 in the first place.

Free AV in the business space is nearly nonexistent. If anything it's the exorbitant licensing and mandatory nature of the software for businesses that subsidizes the free/ad-driven home versions from all these companies.

I'm currently testing Immunet in the office. I started a scan this morning, and when I got back this afternoon, I found it quarantined three .dlls. I haven't had time to look into it, but I'm pretty sure they're false positives. I'll look at it tomorrow morning.

I have a bunch of indoor projects I want to work on, but the weather hasn't been cooperating(too nice). I want to tighten things up around there though. I cleaned up a bunch of crapware when I got there, and one of the guys asked if I added ram to their machine cause it was running faster :^D I don't trust any of them to not get infected, and I'm deathly afraid of getting something like Cryptolocker on the machines. The boss is the worst. I'd like to transition him to GNU/Linux, but that's a ways down the road. I have more pressing projects, and need to do a bunch of testing. It doesn't help that no one knows what software they run, or how it works. They all use stuff I don't use, so I rely on them for good intel. I'd get more useful data from cats :^D

 

[Mushkins]

It doesn't help that no one knows what software they run, or how it works. They all use stuff I don't use, so I rely on them for good intel. I'd get more useful data from cats :^D

Isn't the world of IT management so much fun? :whiste:

Guaranteed they wait until after implementation to bring up that one obscure thing they *absolutely need* that's *absolutely incompatible* with what you just spent a small fortune rolling out.

 

[G73S]

I'd be interested in hearing what the free choices are for businesses. That means explicitly following the licenses. The only ones I'm aware of are MSE and ClamWin. Any others?

Edit:
Looks like Immunet is free for commercial use according to Wikipedia, but I haven't been able to confirm that from the original site. It's based on Clam, and uses some kind of "cloud" nonsense for protection. I might give it a try at work, and see what it's like. Here's the wiki...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immunet#cite_note-4

Comodo also offers a FREE AV/ Internet Security for Corporate

 

[lxskllr]

Comodo also offers a FREE AV/ Internet Security for Corporate

Thanks. I'll check that out after testing Immunet. Btw, the dlls found were from a restore point, and one for a Lame encoder that came with Clementine music player. I whitelisted that one, and didn't bother with the restore items. False positives are bad though. I can't count on the people around here to make the right decision.

 

[Virgorising]

Quote: Originally Posted by nemesismk2 View Post I find it so funny that Microsoft can get away with calling it Security Essentials when it doesn't offer any Security lol and what's worse, is is 80% of people on the forums use it.

WUT??? How did you arrive at this percentage????

 

[BadThad]

Hey look, another one of these BS AV tests and another boatload of misguided hate for MSE.

It's free, and its now *integrated into the OS* from Windows 8 and onward. Obviously free, integrated antivirus is not going to perform as well as a paid product from a software company that deals exclusively in antivirus, antimalware, and security research. Likewise, my girlfriends Mazda 2 isn't going to go 0-60 as fast as a Ferrari or survive a crash as well as a Hummer, but it still does a pretty darn good job of getting her to work every day.

But think about it for a second. It's installed and enabled as part of the OS by default, and it catches 80% of modern attack vectors and infections. That's actually pretty impressive for do-nothing protection. It even catches a non-trivial amount of Zero Day attack vectors, again for a free product that's installed automatically with the OS. Claims that it's doing "nothing" are shortsighted at best, MSE is an adequate product and accomplishes what it's designed to do: provide baseline antivirus and antimalware services to prevent many attacks geared towards known/common attack vectors. It's up to the specific user to determine if their use-case is covered by that, or needs more robust protection software.

I've fixed a LOT of infected PC's that used MSE. I consider it worth exactly what it costs.