AV-TEST Jan/Feb 2012

Here is the run down % wise for AV-Test's 3 categories

Protection %
Bitdefender 100.00%
Gdata 100.00%
Bullguard 100.00%
Symantec 99.75%
Fsecure 99.50%
Kaspersky 99.50%
Qihoo 99.50%
Webroot 99.00%
Panda 98.75%
Vipre 97.50%
McAfee 97.50%
PCTools 97.50%
Trend 97.25%
Avast 97.25%
K7 97.25%
AVG 97.00%
Norman 96.50%
Avira 96.25%
Eset 94.25%
Microsoft 90.00%
Ahnlab 88.00%

Removal % - Mean Average (Removal x 2, Advanced Removal)
Bitdefender 93.67%
Kaspersky 91.33%
Microsoft 80.67%
Avira 79.00%
Trend 79.00%
PCTools 76.67%
Symantec 76.67%
Avast 76.33%
Fsecure 75.00%
Norman 72.00%
Gdata 71.67%
Ahnlab 70.00%
AVG 70.00%
K7 69.00%
Qihoo 67.67%
Panda 67.00%
Bullguard 65.67%
Webroot 61.33%
McAfee 55.67%
Vipre 54.67%
Eset 47.67%

Usability % - FP and performance scaled to be out of 100 (0 the worst, 100 the best) then mean averaged.
Norman 93.24%
Webroot 85.42%
AVG 83.40%
Fsecure 82.14%
Eset 77.22%
Microsoft 75.00%
Avira 72.97%
Trend 71.81%
Panda 70.27%
Kaspersky 69.40%
Symantec 69.31%
Avast 68.92%
Vipre 65.35%
Ahnlab 62.84%
Bitdefender 60.71%
McAfee 58.88%
Gdata 50.87%
Bullguard 50.00%
K7 44.31%
PCTools 39.58%
Qihoo 25.00%

 

I think the fact that the lowest protection % was 88% says a lot, that even the "worst" AV provides a high level of protection.

And ouch for ESET on removal.

 

Looks like Symantec & PC Tools shares the same method in removing!!!

 

They use the same engine so that is not very surprising. Actually, PC Tools should be better since it has a tighter focus on spyware cleaning, but I guess this sample set didn't consist of a lot of spyware/adware samples.

 

few days ago i did client's pc's full scan with PC Tools internet Security & it missed some trojans which where hidden in docs & settings.
The same day i installed Norton on the same system & did a full scan & it found 3 trojans.
So if they are using the same engine, why did PC Tools missed those samples?

 

They don't use the same virus definitions.

 

Seems I will quit Avast and switch to Panda after these results. What about you, guys ?

 

Better to consider a "bigger picture" imo, based on overall accredited/official test-overview, user needs, experience, and preferences. We're all different, yes?
Both Avast and Panda got good results with AV-TEST, as did others. One man's meat is another's poison.
And bear in mind:

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2032844&postcount=12

Avast: http://www.av-test.org/no_cache/en/...ports/?tx_avtestreports_pi1[report_no]=120555

Panda Cloud free: http://www.av-test.org/no_cache/en/...ports/?tx_avtestreports_pi1[report_no]=120593

 

Heres another "Comprehensive Comparison Test: Internet Security Suits 2012" test:
https://www.protectstar.com/index.php?site=en_testcenter
Eset comes second after Kaspersky and before Norton.
The pdf is in german only but you will understand the results (scroll to page 16).

 

well guys, uninstalled avast and Panda cloud av is better for me and way faster. Also it found one trojan not detected by avast. One problem only - you can't tweak almost nothing

 

Same engine, different cloud, different heuristics. I think it's the same definitions but PC Tools seems to cull some very old definition files from the database.

(Question: Was PC Tools set to use the "comprehensive" database? The compact database uses only a subset of the definitions)

 

I downloaded the full database. It was around 160mbs!!!

 

The current PC Tools uses by default the comprehensive database.
The new Norton uses by default the smart definitions (not full database) to increase the performance.

 

After the scan finishes, PC Tools queries a cloud server with information of the particular files to decide whether the detection should be excluded.

It is not impossible that some infected files actually got declared clean by the process especially if that system is reputation based. However, this matter may require further investigation.

 

I think that could have done the trick...
because the pc which was pc tools installed was a proxy client
and maybe the cloud service could have been blocked!!!