Virus.gr released the basic results for their latest AntiVirus shootout earlier today. Expectedly Kaspersky was the best performer. In fact the top four spots are occupied by various forms of the Kaspersky Engine. F-Secure completed the top five. And if I am not wrong F-Secure and and eScan also use modified versions of Kaspersky engine.
The ranking of the popular AV softwares are as follows :
1. Kaspersky version 7.0.0.43 beta – 99.23%
2. Kaspersky version 6.0.2.614 – 99.13%
3. Active Virus Shield by AOL version 6.0.0.308 – 99.13%
4. ZoneAlarm with KAV Antivirus version 7.0.337.000 – 99.13%
5. F-Secure 2007 version 7.01.128 – 98.56%
6. BitDefender Professional version 10 – 97.70%
10. Nod32 version 2.70.32 – 94.00%
12. Avast Professional version 4.7.986 – 92.82%
13. AVG Anti-Malware Professional version 7.5.465 – 92.14%
15. McAfee Enterprise version 8.5.0i+AntiSpyware module – 90.65%
16. Panda 2007 version 2.01.00 – 90.06%
19. McAfee version 11.0.213 – 86.13%
20. Norton Professional 2007 – 86.08%
23. PC-Cillin 2007 version 15.00.1450 – 84.96%
AntiVir Classic is currently being tested. The detailed test results would be released after they have completed testing AntiVir. Again, some surprising results. Norton may not be in the top league, but a detection rate of than 86% seems too low. My guess is that, Virus.gr again included tons of irrelevant outdated Dos viruses in his sample set. Ashampoo’s inclusion in top ten is also surprising. Virus.gr tests are known to be unscientific and not so accurate. For example in their previous test a little known software ViruScape was ranked 12th with 93.87% success rate. These results prompted TeraInnovations (creators of ViruScape) to question the test results at Wilders Security Forums.
However, this test still does help to get a general idea about the performance of Av softwares. Based on various AV shootouts as well as my experience, my recommendation are as follows
Paid : i) Kaspersky Antivirus : It�s a consistent performer with an excellent detection rate. Kaspersky also has the fastest response time to a virus outbreak with frequent updates.
ii) NOD32 : NOD32 arguably has the best engine. Its light weight and fast. It�s strength is heuristics. However, it�s database is weaker than Kaspersky. Use NOD32 is you have an aging computer.
Free : i) Active Virus Shield by AOL : AVS is basically Kaspersky v6 minus a few advanced feature like web traffic scanning. It offers the superior virus detection capabilities of Kaspersky for free.
ii) Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic : This is debatable, but I am choosing it over Avast based on the Av-Comparatives on-demand test results (Feb 07). However, the free version lacks POP3 protection.
[...] Recently, Virus.gr also had carried out their own antivirus shootout. I am not including those results here, as virus.gr is known to be unreliable. You can read my analysis on Virus.gr test results here. [...]