AV softwares, China multiple scanning engines AV vs Western AVs

Read the title, as it i clearly that what question I am gonna ask.

I am sure, under this security products, many of you actually got try different Antivirus software (free or paid). And now many of you also aware good products come with paid version, as "there's no free lunch in the world".

Well. Now we've heard of and get in touch with Chinese security products, like Kingsoft, Qihoo 360, Tencent etc. I myself not from China, but I some sort think of using their product since everything is free and sounds powerful.

I've a question that keep pondering, and in the end I joined this forum and want to seek for some help, or opinion.

Western security product, like McAfee, Comodo, Avira, Norton, MBAM, Kaspersky, Bitdefender and many more, the scanning engines they use either from their own signature or some collaborated. While Chinese security products, using mainly signature from Bitdefender, Avira, their own cloud or QVM II Engine...

So which one actually do the best in detecting and scanning and prevent?
I myself had a Norton 360 Premier Subscription, because of some reason I dump it and start testing on China Security Product. So far not much problem.
But I always wonder, what's the different with multiple engines AV vs those western AVs.

 

Currently I am running BitDefender Free AV. It has all the protection of Paid BD like signatures, BHAV, HTTP, AVC, etc...

Products with multiple AVs like 360 IS are good but for me they are signature only i.e their proactive protections is like HIPS & not suitable for average users.

On the other hand BD Free proactive is suitable for average users & its AVC is strong.

So if I would install 360 on average users system then I would disable its proactive HIPS & then it will be just signature protection, multiple AVs yes but still signatures only & so known detection/protection only . On the other hand BD Free proactive is BB & strong & suitable for average users so it will provide better protection. So

Similarly Avast Free, now provides good zeroday protection with new technologies.

So for average users, an AV with good BB/no popup proactive is better than multiple AVs with HIPS proactive. Offcoz if you can handle HIPS then you can use any/all.

 

But Qihoo 360 Antivirus (360 IS in English version) does not have HIPS. It don't pop up at all.

But for its computer manager software, another for Malware protection, cleaner, software management and etc, that one have HIPS but not very comprehensive. (http://www.360.cn/weishi/index.html their Chinese website, but look at the image, the Weishi or PC Manager provides more option. That's why when installation, they will install recommended or in bundle option)

 

360 IS English version have proactive protection that is like HIPS. PCMAG tests also mentioned that it has proactive protection but pops up for both safe as well as malware apps like HIPS.

I tested it with malware & it gives popups like if you trust this software/file then allow otherwise block & other type popups. I think it will behave the same way with safe programs that it doesn't knows (don't know if they have some kind of whitelists & how good it is)

 

This is pretty weird. Both different versions have different aspect. Maybe because of the AV and IS.

 

You mean to say in chinese version under settings there is no section as proactive protection that has options like registry, driver, startup, etc... protection?

 

The proactive part for the 360 AV is like real time abnormal attacks and detection on documents, system overload, file virus attack some sort.

For registry changing, start up changing these don't have for AV, but for the Computer Manager, (http://www.360.cn/weishi/index.html), this one, Sorry is in chinese... this will have alert.

 

I thought Kaspersky was not a Western product, please correct me if i'm wrong but isn't Kaspersky in Russia ?

 

It depends from where you are looking.

 

Test results available at:
http://www.av-comparatives.org/comparatives-reviews/ (see Chinese reports also)
http://www.av-test.org/en/tests/test-reports/
http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archive/list

 

hahah

 

You're right. But what I mean for western product, is non-Chinese company. Apologize if I used wrong term to describe.

 

IMO non-Chinese products offer superior proactive protection, not to mention stuff like anti-phishing, anti-exploit etc.

Which is why you get products like BitDefender or BullGuard getting 99% on antivirus tests while Qihoo gets 97% or so, even though they all use the BD engine.

That being said, the real question here is how paranoid you are. If you absolutely want the highest possible degree of security, then obviously you'd be running a combination of an advanced HIPS like Comodo with a commercial AV, and perhaps a rollback program along with regular backups etc.

It's also true that for someone who's fairly inexperienced with the internet, a complete IS package might be a better choice, as they're more prone to phishing, dodgy websites etc.

But I think that if you exercise a minimum degree of care, something like Qihoo 360 (I can't speak for Baidu or Kingsoft as I don't use them) is just perfect. It's incredibly light, hassle-free, and will detect virtually all common malware. Sure, some stuff might, in theory, slip past it, but I think it's extremely unlikely.

Personally I just use 360 with the TrafficLight Chrome Extension. I regularly make financial transactions with Debit and Credit cards and have never had any issues, nor have I been infected with anything.
I also regularly install pirated software, which is supposedly among the unsafest things you can do on the internet, and yet have never had any trouble with that either. I might Sandbox with occasional keygen/crack with 360, but that's about it.
Oh, and I also watch porn. Lots of porn.

So again, it all comes down to what your habits are and how paranoid you are. IMO for someone who's reasonably careful there is simply no reason to be paying for a commercial antivirus or security suite, given that the Chinese alternatives are just as good in practice and often even lighter on system resources.

 

I am using Qihoo 360. But the Chinese Version. Well.
So far Chrome with BD TrafficLight and ABP and AVG Do not Track.

I am fine with it. I also using MBAM Pro.