Who Are The TOP AV Apps And Why?

Been looking at the graphs on http://virusinfo.info/index.php?page=testseng

This seems to be good real-world data. If the last bar represents the total number of malware submissions, then none of the malware detection programs did very well (most are below 50%-never would have made it out of grade 8 at that achievement). The "AM" programs that one should be using seem to pop out at you pretty easily from this presentation.

I'ld like to know more though about the potential pitfalls of this mode of testing if anyone has more knowledge of what is going on with this. On the surface it seems to be pretty clear.

Something I noticed that makes me wonder.....Prevx1 is used, rather than the latest Prevx2 <scratches head>.... so is all the other software being compared the latest??

I like the general concept for this testing though

 

This is why you should be using a sandbox for your web browsing with an anti script component enabled in your web browser... SandboxIE for example is far superior in "preventing" infection than any anti virus as the infection is "removed" each time you empty the sandbox...

No anti virus = NONE can provide 100 % protection. The best is to prevent system changes from o curing in the first place.... HIPS are good but working within a virtual version of the working environment is hard to beat under any measurement or assessment method... (Using a combination like Returnil & Sandboxie together with a Good firewall and a HIPS based security and any AV is best as it is practically a bullet proof method) Think of it as the multi layered kevlar & ceramic protecting you against bullets in a flack jacket... 1st layer gets hit = destroyed but the other layers keep dissipating the energy away from your vital organs, preventing the bullet from killing you... nice!

 

The best av is the one that you bought and now use, if you didn't think it was the best, why would you spend money on it?

 

okay well ill add my comments. i have been through the game of trying nearly every av out there as some of you may remember. i prob have been through literally every major player and then some that are not so major. also please know i was testing on 3 different systems to see what real impact and performance was like not just the one machine. imo this sometimes can lead to issues especially when you decide on one av for your desktop say then want to use the same on your laptop to only find out it slows the laptop to a crawl.

i went through to name some ess, trend, mcafee, symantec, dr web, avira, f-secure, avast, kis, outpost, gdata, avk, avg, bitdefender, panda, norman, vba etc etc etc... i went on about this for what seemed like forever,

was it worth it. well yes to an extent. i was able to weed out those that made my systems just horribly slow running and not just one of them all three. overall i have to say no. i could have read the most up to date posts for each av and saw the same issues that i would come to expect from them only to not have to go through all that.

then after removing the ones i fealt offered poor protection or other issues from the list i went to how well they seemed to integrate to the system and vista since i am not using xp any longer.

removed the ones i just simply could not stand using every day. either a horrible interface or just plain poor modules.

there were only a handful to remain. then did some testing on what issues each had. ess had their own and avira had the scanning issue and update issue etc.. each av imo has at least one or more issues that simply can not be avoided there is no perfect running on out there.

remeber while doing this is i was watching reviews and tests. what i founf from that is one week one av would rule the next week could be someone different. this is simoply because av's are constantly updated. sig's and modules get updated all the time. and just because last week av 1 was tops and now what was av2 has been updated it may be av1 this week and what was av1 may now even be av5 or well you get my point. yes there are some that are consitantly in the top levels but thet have even faulted at times.

the whole av --- which is best was a game i played. and while yes i was able to weed some out that are simply imo poor applications (not hitting on detection rates specifically a program i would not run on my machines) i still liked something about av 1 or av 2 that av 3 did not have or visa versa. this was a game that simply could last forever with no clear cut winner imo.

i settled on one i thought gave me consistant performance on all systems it ran on and one that seems to always remain near the top in tests and reviews. i will not name names as this is not the point of my post and it may not be the answer you wanted. but what im saying is as everyone else has already said in a more blunt way.. its going to be a desicion for you to make. i was the newb asking forevere which was best and i learned the hard way after months and months of back and forth and system restores etc... i will stick to my choice while i will still play with new apps and updated versions but i will not be rushing to the newest or most up to date versions "just because" anymore.

hope maybe i helped a bit and maybe will save you from all the aggravation i went through to only learn there simply is not best out there. unless you want to be switching av's every weeks according to test results you will drive yourself insane..

 

No it's not.

Market hype and marketing strategies makes it difficult for the vast majority of computer users to know what is really best.

The truth is the computer world needs to stop playing around with security, and just like the article below suggests and shows, it's time that a testing standard be put in place so people will really know the truths about what is best and what works.

http://www.securityfocus.com/news/11502

Sure I'm a PC geek I can weed through the HYPE and BS, but even beyond that sometimes even as a geek, unless you make certain areas of software your speciality, you sometimes miss out on key things that make or break things, that is ONLY why I asked the question I did, to see what things might be going on with software that I wasn't aware of.

 

Its information asymmetry and the situation will never change. Vendors will always know their product better than consumers. People rely on signaling such as branding and retail presence to make their decisions.

If you are a low risk user using this approach isn't actually too bad. At a retail store you find Norton, Mcafee, Trend, Bitdefender, Onecare and occasionally KAV. None of these are bad products in terms of protection and given an average users risk profile, these products are good enough against viruses. In fact, I think spyware is more of an issue for most users.

 

Actually C.S.J, most users purchase a product because of the marketing or the pimpled face teen living next door "Who Knows" about computer said its the best... Rarely do users actually really know anything about the products they use. Most can barely use their own keyboards properly...

Essentially it falls on us geeks to "understand" and advise them... Not always easy for us either as you can read through the lines of wilder posts.

 

This isn't an average user post, and most here are not average users...

But nice reply anyways for that crowd...

 

You make a great point. Most users given they practice intelligent habits online would not be exposed too severely.

However I find that there is a definite tendency to downplay the risks users face while online or otherwise while interfaced to some public network.

Particularly due to the economic downside as it may impact several industries at large I would assume...

 

I'm referring to the same class of users you were referring to in your post .

This goes back to a point which you have brought up in other threads relating to user education and I think you are exactly right.

I'm not quite following on this one.

 

Many corporations have a vested interest in the global user base not to be too concerned about Internet security issues... Mostly where it concerns E-Commerce...

 

Normally, I'd agree, until you learn only latter more about the AV and it's business practices. Then what you may consider "the best" may not be entirely true.

Thus, I'm here today to really search for software that does it's job without the hype; fan clubs; and dogpile if you don't promote the product.

Capital skeptic.

(BTW, nice smilie collection. Color matched even. 1+++!).

 

Was hoping this industry wasn't t-h-a-t bad with self-promotion.

"Please, Joe, don't say it's so..."

 

I can get anything to work on this rig -- have over 127 programs installed, without a glitch -- but I'm more interested in products without the fanfare. It pollutes learning the true abilities before installing them.

Trick in getting so many programs to work together well is to ensure what is installed isn't, for a lack of a better word, crap. That's what I seek, either by a good service history, or self-reports that the software works well (I found this site from searching for such reports).

 

Well right now we do have to decide for ourself, and that is where I'm hoping that AV Standards group is going to make a difference, when and if it ever gets going.

Peter if you're getting BSOD with software it should be fairly straight forward as to what is causing this so you can fix it and use the product.

Since XP has come out I've only had a FEW BSOD and they were related to the Nvidia drivers, I've never had any due to any other software.

 

I guess I fall within the first two categories noted above. That means Norton is the one for me? Well, I was never a fan of Symantec and since I have never encountered an unrecoverable malware event on my systems since I started using them since the early 1990's (going back to the 4.77 Mhz chip), I think I will pass.

 

To the title-
The one that suits you.

 

Same approach here trjam