Ya'll get a kick out of this; CR AV ratings

Just got the September issue of Consumer Reports out of the mail box, their Anti-virus ratings:

1. BitDefender
2. ZoneLabs
3. Kaspersky
4. Norton
5. Norton for Mac
6. McAfee
7. Trend Micro
8. AlWil
9. F-Secure
10. Panda
11. CA/eTrust
12. PC Tools

NOD was not tested. Haven't read the article yet, so there may be interesting reasons for this rating.

CR's anti-spyware ratings is just as, um, interesting, where shall I post them?

 

Do you have a link to the article? I wouldn'y mind reading it to see what their rating criteria was. It's hard to see what made them choose that AV products the way they did.

 

This came from the magazine itself, I don't know if CR has a non-subscriber website.

Acadia

 

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/index.htm

but the Sept. issue is not even on line yet ... and I agree with Ronjor. Although I do like and even respect their auto reliability records (and not much else).

Acadia

 

With all the toaster experience CR knows what the hot AV's are

 

It’s kind of en vogue to bash every AV comparison that comes down the pike.

I find it interesting even before knowing what their testing methodology is.

The one thing about Consumer Reports is that they are fair brokers – they are not beholden to advertiser or other financial incentives.

Additionally, CR puts work into their testing methodology – they are not just a guy doing a test in his garage.

Yes, CR has misfired a few times over the years (Suzuki…), but all in all, their results are informative.

Bitdefender as the #1 pick is great……Bitdefender is one of the best and the greater masses should know that there is AV life beyond Norton, McAfee and Trend.

Looking forward to the AS results. And thanks for the initial post.

 

edit - i posted wrong results

 

YO, WFS, THAT IS LAST YEAR'S RATINGS!!

Acadia

 

sry my bad

 

NO PROB! Your heart was in the right place!

Acadia

 

AH, BINGO! I thought so ... in order to view the ENTIRE article, once the latest issue appears at CR online, you must be a subscriber.

Acadia

 

will CR at least have a chart for nonsubscribers?

 

Maybe next year!

Acadia

 

They were spot on when they rated the Toyota Highlander a few years back and on topic they definetly should re-consider rating Security programs

 

I believe they rated AV's this past winter. I can't find that issue. If I remember correctly, it was TMIS, KAV and BitDefender, in that order. NAV and McAfee got honorable mention.

 

that would be last year's results: ConsumerReports.org - Protect yourself online Ratings: Antivirus software 9/05

 

CR does a great job with autos, but they do tons of research for that ... I gotta wonder how much research they do for AVs?

Acadia

 

Except when YOUR favorites are deemed best (then the comparison is considered accurate!).

I agree 100%

How they did it (I'm abreviating / paraphrasing here):
They enlisted the help of ISE (Independent Security Evaluators).
They (CR) spent weeks monitoring products' virus database update reaction time.
Products were tested against new viruses via their heuristics. They created 5,500 new variants derived from six known catagories.
They scanned 100,000 clean files to determine FPs.
Their "detection score" is based on viruses caught, with minimal FPs.

 

All of those proggies should do the job. The best buy should be Alwil/Avast because it is FREE! NOD isn't on the list because it is not a HOUSEHOLD name in the USA.

 

But neither are BitDefender or Kaspersky.

Acadia

 

To the best of my knowledge, NOD32 can only be purchased online in the US. The reseller model is not very effective when it comes to "VISIBILITY". Sure, MSFT and DELL use NOD32. Why not put this on a magazine ad and give away one year of free subscription after rebate?

One can often find VirusScan or NAV for FREE after rebate. NOD used to be FREE a few years ago in Europe. The easiest way to break into the US market is to give away free yearly trial after rebate. A good product will sell itself!

 

Holy crap, it's been a year already? It didn't seem that long ago. No wonder I couldn't find that issue. I don't remember them issueing NAV and McAfee a Quick Pick rating. But then, my memory doesn't seem to be that good anyway.

 

Did these get posted? I can't find them. I've looked in the AT and AM folders...

 

Amazing thing of all is that they compared FREE version of avast! against commercial products. And then they rate it like crap. Omg. No ****, rly (imagine the picture of that white owl)? It's a free LIMITED version. They should really stick to toasters and nothing else.