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Microsoft Fails Antivirus Certification Test (Again), Challenges the Results
redletterdave writes "For the second time in a row, Microsoft's Security Essentials failed to earn certification from AV-Test, the independent German testing lab best known for evaluating the effectiveness of antivirus software. Out of 25 different security programs tested by AV-Test, including software from McAfee, Norman, Kaspersky, and others, Microsoft's Security Essentials was just one out of three that failed to gain certification. These results are noteworthy because Microsoft Security Essentials is currently (as of December) the most popular security suite in North America and the world."
Ha Ha Ha!
Does anyone else remember Microsoft DOS 6 with AV built in? It was defeated by every virus writer imaginable before it was released. Hell, even VCL (virus creation lab) had it circumvented before released.
Okay, but seriously. If anyone trusts a company with a known history of abuses to audit and secure themselves, PT Barnum had you pegged.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
You missed the biggest reason people use MS Security essentials. It's bundled, and people don't know any better. We want to think that most users are smart, but most end users are not smart. They use IE because it's there and they don't understand what Firefox is, or Chrome is. They use the MS Security tools because it's there and you don't need to know anything about security to have "security" (no matter how poor it is, the name is what matters).
Have end users gotten smarter? Maybe, but I think it's my own wishful thinking.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.