ANTI-MALWARE REPORTS: Best Home AntiVirus Protection
July 2013 by Dennis Technology Labs
Products Tested:
- AVG Anti-Virus Free 2013
- Avast! Free Antivirus 7
- BitDefender Internet Security 2013
- ESET Smart Security 6
- Kaspersky Internet Security 2013
- McAfee Internet Security 2013
- Microsoft Security Essentials
- Norton Internet Security 2013
- Trend Micro Internet Security 2013
The effectiveness of free and paid-for anti-malware
security suites varies widely. McAfee’s
paid-for and Microsoft’s free product were the least effective.
Every product except one was compromised at least o
nce. The most effective were compromised just
once or not at all, while the least effective (McAf
ee Internet Security) was compromised by 18 per cen
t of
the threats. Avast! Free Antivirus 7 was the most e
ffective free anti-malware product while the top th
ree
products (from Kaspersky, BitDefender and Symantec)
were all paid-for.
Blocking malicious sites based on reputation is an
effective approach.
Those products that prevented users from visiting t
he malicious sites in the first place gained a sign
ificant
advantage. If the malware can’t download onto the v
ictim’s computer then the anti-malware software
faces less of an ongoing challenge.
Some anti-malware programs are too harsh when evalu
ating legitimate software.
Most of the software generated at least one false p
ositive. ESET Smart Security 6 was the least effect
ive,
blocking 13 legitimate applications. Microsoft Secu
rity Essentials, McAfee Internet Security 2013 and
BitDefender Internet Security 2013 were the most ef
fective in this part of the test.
Which was the best product?
The most accurate programs were BitDefender Interne
t Security 2013, Kaspersky Internet Security 2013
and Symantec’s Norton Internet Security 2013, all o
f which won our AAA award in this test.
