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Microsoft Security Essentials failed AV-Test Certification

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Microsoft Security Essentials failed AV-Test Certification

from JoeUser Forums

 

Bad news if you’re relying MSE to protect you against malware, A-V Test reports.

MSE dropped to 10.5 out of a possible 18. Other software dropped 1-2 points as well.

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition and VIPRE Internet Security were among 16 of the 23 products tested which dropped in their scores.

You can get the full report here: http://www.av-test.org/en/tests/home-user/windows-7/sepoct-2012/

BitDefender, F-Secure Internet Security and Kaspersky Internet Security scored the highest, which has been a trend. Norton scored 15, down slightly from its prior 15.5.

The business products scored similar values.

So, if you’re in the market for a security product, keep the above in mind. Also, I always suggest two additional steps: Be careful about where you browse and use a Guest Account for your browsing. That way, your Administrator privileges are not accessible by any malware you encounter and deny any installation of software to that  Guest Account.. Virtual browsing is a good measure, too. Also… make a disc image every week.

Source:

http://securitywatch.pcmag.com/none/305401-microsoft-fails-av-test-certification

224,404 views 64 replies
Reply #26 from Elemental Forums Top

Always used MSE and never had problems before... but that was when it was scoring highly compared to the other free programs. Maybe it's time for a change.

Reply #27 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting ARESIV, reply 25
If you are interested... I recommend Comodo Firewall. It is free and it is the best firewall I ever had. So far nothing managed to get by it.
End of ARESIV's quote

Does Comodo's free firewall have many nags to buy their other software?  I used to use a free one from another company and their nags got progressively worse until I scrapped it.  Honestly I would have paid some pittance to just get rid of the nags.

ObjectDock - Access shortcuts and frequently used applications from an animated dock.
Reply #28 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting DaveRI, reply 27
Does Comodo's free firewall have many nags to buy their other software? I used to use a free one from another company and their nags got progressively worse until I scrapped it. Honestly I would have paid some pittance to just get rid of the nags.
End of DaveRI's quote

No.

...and the other one would have been AVG ...;)

Reply #29 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Thank you (both).  Took me awhile to think of it but the other one was Zone Alarm, no surprise that more than one is nag-crazy.  Too bad it was "the entire suite" or nags on the firewall, a pay firewall-only would have been a nice option.  In fairness that's been a couple of years, don't really know how it is now.

:thumbsup:

Reply #30 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I gave up on ZA when it decided to auto-renew itself without me OK'ing the purchase....;p

 

Reply #31 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Jafo, reply 30
I gave up on ZA when it decided to auto-renew itself without me OK'ing the purchase....

 
End of Jafo's quote

The ZA firewall (free - lol) is a bear to uninstall and can really wreak havoc if not done correctly.

As for Comodo, I do use their Comodo Dragon (Chrome) Browser... and their anonymous portal. All the Chrome Extensions work with it, and my IS is BitDefender for a couple of years now.

Hasn't let me down yet.

Reply #32 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Jafo, reply 19
Bitdefender's on top....in Win 7.....

Curiously I was running BD on XP and they were just too slow at getting compatibility with 7 ....so I dropped a year or so of sub and jumped ship to Kaspersky.

Did I jump on THEIR website and piss and moan that the bastards scammed me with a useless sub because I had updated MY OS to something new?

No.

I bloody-well didn't because it was MY FAULT/DECISION to change it.

Did I demand they pause the subscription until THEY had caught up with MY change of OS?

No.

Did I know it could also be MY CHOICE to revert to XP and be able to use the subscription that I'd paid for?

Yes.

Does it sound like I'm getting tired of running interference on our forums over similar "dramas"?

A little.....
End of Jafo's quote

 

Personally I do not want a half baked piece of software no matter how much I want it now. When I bought OD I knew it was for windows 7. I also knew I was going to upgrade to windows 8. That was my decision so I will wait for windows blinds and I am happy to do so. like I said I want my software fully baked like my pies with a crisp crust. :D  

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Reply #33 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I used to use ZA but it would suck the life out of my computer. I loved the UI but it took forever to load after a reboot.

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Reply #34 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting TechNoWeb, reply 32
Personally I do not want a half baked piece of software no matter how much I want it now. When I bought OD I knew it was for windows 7. I also knew I was going to upgrade to windows 8. That was my decision so I will wait for windows blinds and I am happy to do so. like I said I want my software fully baked like my pies with a crisp crust.
End of TechNoWeb's quote

See?

There ARE people out there who understand....;)

Karma to you, sir...:)

Reply #35 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Jafo, reply 34

Quoting TechNoWeb, reply 32Personally I do not want a half baked piece of software no matter how much I want it now. When I bought OD I knew it was for windows 7. I also knew I was going to upgrade to windows 8. That was my decision so I will wait for windows blinds and I am happy to do so. like I said I want my software fully baked like my pies with a crisp crust.

See?

There ARE people out there who understand....

Karma to you, sir...
End of Jafo's quote

Me too... I installed Win 8 and knew full well that I'd have to wait for WB and other SD apps to be Win 8 ready.

Now where's me f***ing kama???? :-" ;P

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Reply #37 from JoeUser Forums Top

Don't have a clue what they paid, but MS bought RAV antivirus, what is now MSSE, from a Romanian company, GeCAD.  I actually used RAV for awhile back in the day and it was considered quite good at the time.  They also bought another AV company called Sybiri.  For awhile, MSSE was quite good, good enough for our tech support guy to have us use it for all our network desktops (we use Clam AV for the server, which is not well-known but quite good and donation-supported).  Disappointing MS haven't continued to give SE the resources it apparently needs.

 

 

Reply #38 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting starkers, reply 35
Now where's me f***ing kama????
End of starkers's quote

You have enough already, you greedy sod....whereas TechNoWeb had none...til I came along...;)

Reply #39 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Daiwa, reply 37
we use Clam AV for the server, which is not well-known but quite good and donation-supported
End of Daiwa's quote

I used Clam AV until I found out it does not do any real time scanning.

Reply #40 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Jafo, reply 38

Quoting starkers, reply 35Now where's me f***ing kama????

You have enough already, you greedy sod....whereas TechNoWeb had none...til I came along...
End of Jafo's quote

Ah, but you initially gave it to him for understanding... right?

Well I understood... TOO.

All men were created equal....

... and credit where credit is due.

So!  Where's me f**king karma. ;P

 

P.S. Greedy sod, eh?  From somebody who's not that far behind? :S :-"

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Reply #41 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting starkers, reply 40
All men were created equal....

... and credit where credit is due.

So!  Where's me f**king karma.
End of starkers's quote

I'd suggest somewhere near the hepatic flexure, wot? ;)

Reply #42 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Yeah, I keep reading that this Comodo software is good, so I went over to their site to take a look.  Hmmm, I'm rather impressed with their range of offerings and have downloaded the Internet Security Suite.  Although Win 8 supposedly doesn't need 3rd party security software, I would feel better with a stronger line of defence, having read the OP.

Also, I bookmarked their page for future reference, given they have various solutions to PC maintenance, etc.

Reply #43 from WinCustomize Forums Top

You might really consider browsing with Comodo Dragon (or Ice Dragon)... it's Chrome with much higher security, and uses the same extensions.

Reply #44 from JoeUser Forums Top

Quoting kona0197, reply 39
I used Clam AV until I found out it does not do any real time scanning.
End of kona0197's quote

It runs only on our network server which doesn't have much need for real-time scanning.

Reply #45 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I'm using Immunet on my XP rig in the living room. It's cloud based and has such a small footprint, I don't even notice it running. This rig isn't exactly slopping over with power and memory. (Sempron 1.8 GHz /1.5 GB's RAM) 

 I needed something that wouldn't effect it's use as a media center but still offer real-time protection. So far, I am really liking it. Video runs smooth and I never need to worry about updating it.

Reply #46 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting DrJBHL, reply 43
You might really consider browsing with Comodo Dragon (or Ice Dragon)... it's Chrome with much higher security, and uses the same extensions.
End of DrJBHL's quote

Yeah, I have Ice Dragon installed, but I'm currently in FF as I'm still setting it up with my bookmarks and addons, etc.  However, it does look promising and I'll be sure to give it a fair go to decide if it will be my default browser or not.  With its added security features I'm guessing it might very well be.

Reply #47 from WinCustomize Forums Top

What's the point of a AV program if it does not do real time scanning?

Reply #48 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting kona0197, reply 47
What's the point of a AV program if it does not do real time scanning?
End of kona0197's quote

Quoting Daiwa, reply 44

Quoting kona0197, reply 39I used Clam AV until I found out it does not do any real time scanning.

It runs only on our network server which doesn't have much need for real-time scanning.
End of Daiwa's quote

If you want real-time scanning that won't load the old box down, see my reply #45

Reply #49 from JoeUser Forums Top

Thanks, Wiz.  Immunet sounds interesting but Server 2003 is not one of the OS's listed as supported.

 

Reply #50 from JoeUser Forums Top

Quoting kona0197, reply 47
What's the point of a AV program if it does not do real time scanning?
End of kona0197's quote

In our case, the server is a file-server only (no Exchange) and touches the internet only for AV signature file updates and Windows Security updates, making real-time scanning less of an issue.  It runs a scan daily and we have daily redundant backups.  With our setup, our workstations are 'guarding the server' rather than the other way around.  We are currently using MSSE on the workstations because it's free, but these sorts of reports have us considering going to a paid option.  Our tech support vendor is currently recommending McAfee products as he feels they seem to have a more sensitive finger on the pulse and are quicker to respond to zero-day exploits.  FWIW.