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The Best Antivirus in 2008Not Windows Live Onecare 2.0! |
By Marius Oiaga, Technology News Editor
29th of January 2008, 11:19 GMT
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A new year... A new beginning... And the inevitable security solution smackdown. In this context, AV-Test has thrown together in the same arena no less than 24 antivirus products from the heavyweights of the security market. The security solutions were tested against in excess of 1 million malware samples from the last six months. According to Av-Test's Andreas Marx, the test involved only the top of the line, "'best' available Security Suite edition" from each vendor, last updated on January 7, 2008, and running on Windows XP SP2. And yes Microsoft's Windows Live OneCare 2.0 was tested, but no, it's not the best antivirus of 2008. Well, of the beginning of 2008, anyway...
"First, we checked the signature-based on-demand detection of all products against more than 1 Mio. samples we've found spreading or which were distributed during
the last six months (this means, we have not used any 'historic' samples.) We included all malware categories in the test: Trojan Horses, backdoors, bots, worm and viruses. Instead of just presenting the results, we have ranked the product this time, from 'very good' ( ) if the scanner detected more than 98% of the samples to 'poor' (--) when less than 85% of the malware was detected," Marx revealed.
In terms of signature-based on-demand detection, Windows Live OneCare 2.0 held its own. Microsoft's security solution ended up detecting a total of 992,880 out of all the malware samples thrown against it, and accounting for a "Signature Detection" rate of 96.9%. This is nothing short of an excellent score for Windows Live OneCare, an antivirus that at the beginning of 2007 managed to occupy positions only towards the bottom of the security solution pack in early 2007. In the latest AV-Test "Signature Detection" test OneCare 2.0 came on top of F-Prot (986,961 - 96.3%), Panda (979,409 - 95.6%), McAfee (959,919 - 93.7%) and Nod32 (953,936 - 93.1%).
However, OneCare 2.0 was bested by the likes of AVK 2008 (1,022,418 - 99.8%); AntiVir (1,020,627 - 99.6%); Avast! (1,018,204 - 99.4%); Trend Micro (1,009,662 - 98.6%); Symantec (1,006,849 - 98.3%); AVG (1,005,006 - 98.1%); BitDefender (1,003,902 - 98.0%); Kaspersky (1,003,470 - 98.0%);
Sophos (1,001,655 - 97.8%) and F-Secure (999,806 - 97.6%). The complete results of the "Signature Detection" test from AV-Test can be accessed here, courtesy of Sunbelt Software.
"Secondly, we checked the number of false positives of the products have generated during a scan of 65,000 known clean files. Only products with no false positives received a 'very good' ( ) rating. In case of the proactive detection category, we have not only focussed on signature- and heuristic-based proactive detection only (based on a retrospective test approach with a one week old scanner). Instead of this, we also checked the quality of the included behavior based guard (e.g. Deepguard in case of F-Secure and TruPrevent in case of Panda). We used 3,500 samples for the retrospective test as well as 20 active samples for the test of the 'Dynamic Detection' (and blocking) of malware," Marx added.
Windows Live OneCare 2.0 is among the few security solutions that have scored a in the test for False Positives. This means that OneCare 2.0 has generated no false positives, a task also completed by the security solutions from Symantec, Nod32, and Fortinet. However, OneCare 2.0 was ranked as having only a poor proactive detection, and a very poor response time to new malware being issued (more than 8 hours). But at the same time, out of all the malicious code it had to go through, OneCare 2,0 only missed two rootkits. The Anti-virus comparison test of current anti-malware products, Q1/2008 can be accessed here.
"Furthermore, we checked how long AV companies usually need to react in case of new, widespread malware (read: outbreaks), based on 55 different samples from the entire year 2007. 'Very good' ( ) AV product developers should be able to react within less than two hours. Another interesting test was the detection of active rootkit samples. While it's trivial for a scanner to detect inactive rootkits using a signature, it can be really tricky to detect this nasty malware when they are active and hidden. We checked the scanner's detection against 12 active rootkits," Marx said.
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Good (3.5/5) |
34 vote(s) so far |
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User opinions: |
| Comment #1 by: Garnett Clarke on 29 Jan 2008, 23:06 GMT |  reply to this comment | This is great news for OneCare...I used it some time ago and wasn't impressed but I liked the interface and its ease of use. It's good that persons take the time to perform these tests so that we can make informed choices about the guardians of our PCs. |
| Comment #2 by: JY.Wong on 18 Feb 2008, 10:28 GMT | reply to this comment | I don't like the antivirus at all. its system demanding is high and used up my RAM and greatly slow down my computer. Best for a latest new model computer but not for me. |
| Comment #3 by: Gan17 on 28 Feb 2008, 19:28 GMT | reply to this comment | I'll stick to Avast for my XP machine. |
| Comment #4.1 by: Vlad on 04 Mar 2008, 06:48 GMT | I don't use antivirus at all! High demands and slow machines. That's the result using antivirus. Format C: when needed ;) |
| Comment #5 by: Salam on 04 Mar 2008, 15:02 GMT | reply to this comment | I can't believe what i am reading, and i don't believe. my no 1 anti-virus tool is BitDefender |
| Comment #5.1 by: mohamed on 05 Apr 2008, 08:46 GMT | BitDefender, one of the worst antivirus tool in the industry .so my kind request is to always buy a genuine antivirus tool . please dont use cracks... |
| Comment #6 by: Abhilash on 05 Mar 2008, 02:14 GMT | reply to this comment | Heyy , thanks for the info..i wud prefer bit defender over avast... |
| Comment #7 by: arslane on 09 Mar 2008, 00:40 GMT | reply to this comment | The best antivirus in the worl is "Avira Antivir" avast is a bridge for viruses, kaspersky is not free and makes your machine too tired. bitdefender works on your machine, but not you. |
| Comment #8 by: Daniel on 11 Mar 2008, 04:45 GMT | reply to this comment | where is nod32(eset)? been using it for 2 yrs on 3 comps and has saved my butt even surfing with THREATSENSE will get warnings about shady sites |
| Comment #9 by: Yurij on 14 Mar 2008, 13:55 GMT | reply to this comment | I have also been using nod32(eset) and I have not had one single problem while using it.
There is no loss in preformence at all even though I play timeshift and bioshock at highest graphics settings.
I installed it t on my sisters computer wen she got a virus a couple of weeks ago and it completly cleansed the virus :-) |
| Comment #10 by: Sakurakenjihae on 15 Mar 2008, 02:29 GMT | reply to this comment | will for me semantic and avira are ok.... there is one virus that i really hate its called lipa you gonna think its harmles but its not it lipa destroy my hard drive i spend to much money to fix my loptop norton, nod32, ang avg didnt help me to kill this lipa virus but with avira it helped.... i uses 2 anti virus avira and semantic ^^! my priority is avira... |
| Comment #11 by: Marcel on 17 Mar 2008, 06:55 GMT | reply to this comment | How come Microsoft gets only praises from Mr. Oiaga? Is he, by any chance, on Vole's payroll? What is this? A presentation of the antivirus, or a commercial for Microsoft?!
Please stop treating everyone like idiots, Mr. Oiaga, and start mentioning the flaws in the OneCare, which we had some time ago.
Why don't you mention that Mac OS X is virus free? |
| Comment #11.1 by: PredaKing on 20 Aug 2008, 00:26 GMT | Heaven forbid creating a Virus for Mac OS X and infecting 20 worldwide users... Ohhh the humanity!!! |
| Comment #12 by: Jean Ann on 21 Mar 2008, 15:12 GMT | reply to this comment | The best antiviurs and anti-spyware is Panda Software the absolute best. I have used the Panda antivirus for years and unlike other antivirus programs that only update once a week or once a month, Panda updates every single day, pronto. The cost of Panda antivirus and antispyware is nominal and it works great. I never have been plaqued by a virus damaging my computer and if it did Panda provides insurance for a new computer, how's that for good service.
PANDA PANDA IS THE BEST *The web site can be found by using google search and key Panda, I am not an employee of Panda I am a good customer of theirs, Thanks |
| Comment #13 by: hendra on 25 Mar 2008, 02:58 GMT | reply to this comment | i'm alredy have avast antivirus home edition, and i love it, but can it healing for spyware? please recomend me another antispyware that can work together with my lovely avast and not make my computer slow.....thank's. |
| Comment #14 by: Skillz on 31 Mar 2008, 03:46 GMT | reply to this comment | It seems tests from different people get different results. I haven't even heard of AVK. Virus bulletin and AV-Comparitives say that NOD32 is the best. PC World says that Kaspersky is the best. I think NOD32 and Kaspersky are the best and Norton a very close second. |
| Comment #15 by: Boki on 05 Apr 2008, 12:09 GMT | reply to this comment | I test too many AVP, but my opinion about "The Best AVP 2008" and in the past is: "Kaspersky Internet Security" ver. 6 or 7 nomatter...Don't forget what I say....Boki |
| Comment #16 by: hidden on 07 Apr 2008, 15:53 GMT | reply to this comment | Marcel : Mac is not virus free Xp its just less viruses target it
hendra : i use Avast AV and ZoneAlarm AS...works perfect for me and doesnt slow down system too much
Kaspersky IMO is the best AV's out there...but a huge system hog and expensive... |
| Comment #17 by: PRABHAT KUMAR JHA on 08 Apr 2008, 05:33 GMT | reply to this comment | I think that the best anti virus software is NOD32 even in free as trial time. I suggest to try the free trial period of NOD32. |
| Comment #18 by: chris on 18 Apr 2008, 08:50 GMT | reply to this comment | For me, The BEST anti virus? I tested almost all of them they mention but as far as good detection is concern. Bit Defender Internet Security 2008 tops them all followed by Sophos and Steganos anti virus... |
| Comment #19 by: hidden on 18 Apr 2008, 22:35 GMT | reply to this comment | The amount of ignorance on this site is astonishing. Just because you use a certain anti-virus does not make it the best. In your opinion, perhaps, but in the real world, not. Look at some numbers as far as what the programs actually detect and you'll see half the antivirus programs on here are terrible. Some programs may run a bit sluggish but i'd rather have a virus and spyware-free machine instead of having a machine taht runs fast temporarily, catches a virus or some type of spyware, and runs slow anyway corrupting your files til they are beyond repair, forcing you to do a system restore or buy some form of anti-virus anyway. Do a little research and then present hard evidence as to why you believe your anti-virus is the best. Simply because you've been using it for a long time does not mean it's even a good program. It simply means you are ignorant. That is all.... |
| Comment #20 by: Sniper wolf on 24 Apr 2008, 03:55 GMT | reply to this comment | personally i will say AVG is the best , why , cuz every spyware i encrypt it the only AV cought it is AVG . Nod32 , KasperSky ,and Bitdefender , plus Antivir , and avast , r for viruses and trojans :).
add for that , AVs r not fully secure for ur pc , so thers many viruses and trojans born each day , and the most important thing , that thers a lot of spywares arnt detectable by any AV those days ! |
| Comment #21 by: mau on 21 May 2008, 07:05 GMT | reply to this comment | AVG antivirus is definitely the best antivirus. For 2 years, I have been using Eset Nod32, and yes it scans virus and spywares, but not that much. I had this problem just last week, I have been attacked by the SystemErrorFixer spyware, the automatic updates turned off even though it is on and the worst, the DrWatson Postmortem Debugger or the Acebot Trojan. My internet has gone really slow. Nod32 can't fix these, so i downloaded and installed AVG, and it found A LOT of virus and spywares nod32 can't found. Here's what i did to make my computer clean as better: I used AVG antivirus instead of Nod32, i installed Ad-aware, i installed Spybot Search and Destroy, i installed Superantispyware and i installed ComodoBoclean. With all of that, I assure you, you'll get rid of all spywares and virus and get the protection you need. And yes, AVG slows your computer a little, but it is only at startup loading the icons, then after that, it will be back to your original speed, or even better! AVG Antivirus is the best! |
| Comment #22 by: mussa on 23 May 2008, 13:17 GMT | reply to this comment | i think that node32(eset)is the best then the kasper |
| Comment #23 by: Zeno Marin on 12 Aug 2008, 15:36 GMT | reply to this comment | Hi folks, I am a professional software tester. The skills and experience of a user are the best defense as you all know, I'm sure. First don't trust reviews. Be aware that each review will tell you a different story according to what the companies payed them. So don't rely entirely on them.
I tried things on my own and for a while I thought that AVG would be a neat fine & free solution to my home system, with plenty of features all in one, simple and reliable (they all are pretty reliable, quite the same, either free or payed).
So I "married" AVG quite happily for 2 years and more, using it home. A little sluggish at boot time, but that's bearable.
Only too recent, to my shame, anger, disappointment and surprise, I realized what a resource hog it is. I suddenly found out I got "cheated"...
Here are the facts you might expect: say you have 100 exe files in a folder and want to simply move them to another one, in the same partition.
Usually such a plain operation would take mere seconds or should actually even be instant.
Instead, AVG's resident shield avgrsx.exe would paralyze 99% of your CPU while moving the files, during which it scans the selected files. It takes minutes, and the system nearly freezes. That's abnormal, even if there are so many exe files involved (or other files that might get infected).
So I switched to Avast! (another free AV, as you all know). Gave it a try and it seems slightly better in terms of resources. Far from perfect though... Gotta keep searching.
Nevertheless I can't recommend what I don't try myself. I just wouldn't recommend either of these. Of these two, still Avast! is vaguely better. Finally, don't buy any payed version until you tried it and compared it with others. |
| Comment #24 by: Neo on 12 Aug 2008, 16:18 GMT | reply to this comment | When you know that your system is being hit by an virus or spyware.... Instead of trusting the antivirusPrograms....installing tons of software to remove it and wait for the show to being.... i will rather prefer to backup and format the c: thats it.... As installing the AVP does the temporary job of healing the virus but the virus is hidden and it replicates. |
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