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Test of 16 Anti-Virus Products Says None Rates "Very Good"
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."
Security is a process, not a product.
-Myke
I don't think anyone sells common sense.
They said AV-Comparative.org in the article. Try going there and see what happens. The correct site is av-comparatives.org.
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
Stop recommending products. The tests demonstrate that av products don't perform well. It is right on. 80% of my day is spent cleaning malware. I have written here many times about how you need a combination of products. I've also emphasized the need to do the initial cleaning with the infected drive as the secondary in a second machine.
Until you do this day in and day out please stop with the recommendations, as you are not helping anyone one bit.
You can lead a man with reason but you can't make him think.
I've been working in the on-site support field for over a decade. I've seen the viruses get nastier and nastier.
It used to be that the virus got a hold of the system, maybe did a little damage or had a little fun. Sometimes it was pretty funny. Such as screwing with the mouse.
Then things started to get a little more serious. The virus would insinuate itself into the system folder and maybe IE. They stated doing tasks. Thus rose the botnets.
Then it became big business for people. The spreading of spam and fake anti-virus (that wanted you to purchase the "full version" so that you'd get rid of the virus they said you had) was the order of the day. They started blocking access to the run box, the task manager, and sites that might be able to help you (online virus scanners). They started killing the AV programs. They also replaced the explorer.exe and iexplore.exe files. Hell, they even go after Firefox, Chorme, and Opera.
They really get their hooks into in and don't want to let go because it means money. Big money. So I'm not surprised that AV programs are having a tough time getting rid of them. It hasn't been kiddies out for fun for a long time. Now it's all about professional programmers out to make an ill gotten buck.
Of course, half of the software they tested is not anti-Malware software (Avast, for example, is an AV, not an Anti-Malware).
They also did not test MalwareBytes, probably because it would make all of the others look bad.
Imaging products have become so good and fast that I no longer bother with 'scrubbing' a computer clean when it gets a virus. I can reimage the machine in less time; 15 minutes from start to finish, and I don't have to worry about viral remnants in the registry or some deeply buried hidden folder with a time bomb inside.
I keep our company's image file up-to-date, and when something goes wrong with a computer (drive crash, corrupt registry, malware, whatever) they are back online in 15 minutes. Screw scouring the web for a utility to remove a particular virus that may or may not work, and screw relying on an all-in-one product to save you from malware.
I have come to terms with the absolute fact that users are stupid and careless and aside from rare individual who bother to be responsible, they will always be stupid and careless, no matter how much I wish they would change.
In a business environment, imaging is the way to go.
(I use a Mac at home and don't have to worry about such things)
"Study your math, kids. Key to the universe." -The Archangel Gabriel
I can't provide citations to stuff I just made up
NB: The message above might reflect my opinion right now, but not necessarily tomorrow or next year.
BuY H3rB@l V1agaRa t0Day!!!
I know you are going for funny with a shot at Microsoft (will that work around here I wonder? :), but you did notice that Microsoft Security Essentials was one of the best in the test? ;->
No kidding. I am not an MS fanboi by any stretch, but when they released Security Essentials, I gave it a whirl and have now swapped out AVG for it on everything I run AND recommend it to many of my clients (who usually are complaining about how slow their computer is since they installed NORTON 360 or they have a paid AV that expired years ago) It's lightweight, easy to us, has a very easy to understand user interface that isn't so graphical (*cough* N360), and it just works. Nice to see it garner some of the higher ratings in this test.
What amazes me is how much like Malware Norton, McAffee, and CA can be. Uninstalling them doesn't remove them completely. You HAVE to use their removal tool. I had to remove CA ISS the other day and it was painful. Had to remove it in pieces AND run a fix on the registry permissions which had been completely locked down to the point that 'Administrator' couldn't add/remove programs. So yeah - any time systems come into my shop, I recommend they drop whatever paid AV they're using and run MSE. No nag screens like AVG and it doesn't talk to you like Avast :) My only fear is that in a year they'll let it stagnate OR try to bloat it like the others. But if they keep it simple and go for the majority of infection vectors, hats off to them. Still won't make me use IE, but it's nice to see something like this come out of Redmond, even if they bought part of it.
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