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Test of 16 Anti-Virus Products Says None Rates "Very Good"

Posted by timothy on from the keeps-the-av-people-in-business-though dept.

An anonymous reader writes "AV-Comparative recently released the results of a malware removal test in which they evaluated 16 anti-virus software solutions. The test focused only on the malware removal/cleaning capabilities, therefore all the samples used were ones that the tested anti-virus products were able to detect. The main question was if the products were able to successfully remove malware from an already infected/compromised system. None of the products performed at a level of 'very good' in malware removal or removal of leftovers, based on those 10 samples."

6 of 344 comments (clear)

  1. Security... by xanadu113 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Security is a process, not a product.

    --
    -Myke
    1. Re:Security... by davester666 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's like a piece of wood, a tape measure and a saw. If the person doesn't use the tape measure properly, and saws the wood too short, there isn't any magic that can fix the problem. Even buying a new piece of wood and a new fancy tape measure will still have the same problem if the user can't be bothered to learn how it works.

      And a computer is only slightly more complicated than a tape measure...

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    2. Re:Security... by Kratisto · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, see, it's like a computer and a user and antivirus software. The user expects the antivirus software to either protect him from getting a virus to begin with, or to remove it swiftly if it fails. Unfortunately, the antivirus software isn't very good in the latter situation, and because the user is an idiot, no antivirus software can help him in the first situation.

      --
      Conscience is the inner voice which warns us that someone may be looking.
  2. Browsing safely by Utopia+Tree · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't think anyone sells common sense.

    1. Re:Browsing safely by Tumbleweed · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don't think anyone sells common sense.

      It wouldn't matter if they did; no one would buy it as everyone thinks they already have it.

  3. They tested Anti-virus software for malware by Jazz-Masta · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How about testing some malware removal programs? Malwarebytes, Adaware, Spybot?

    I find Malwarebyte's Anti-malware to work wonders. Paired with Avast home edition, it is a good free combination. I think most system administrators notice the difference between software primarily tailored for virus detection and removal, and ones tailored for malware detection and removal.

    They tested these:

    Avast Professional Edition 4.8
    AVG Anti-Virus 8.5
    AVIRA AntiVir Premium 9.0
    BitDefender Anti-Virus 2010
    eScan Anti-Virus 10.0
    ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4.0
    F-Secure AntiVirus 2010
    G DATA AntiVirus 2010
    Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010
    Kingsoft AntiVirus 9
    McAfee VirusScan Plus 2009
    Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0
    Norman Antivirus & Anti-Spyware 7.10
    Sophos Anti-Virus 7.6
    Symantec Norton Anti-Virus 2010
    Trustport Antivirus 2009