There are very few independent testers of anti-virus software that actually test running malware against real, fully updated security products. The people at the independent testers, av-comparatives.org has released tests results for 16 - 18 well known anti-virus products, based on the products success. This provides the best correlation to real-world performance, but is very labor- and time-consuming to test. There's two types of tests that are executed at av-comparatives: comparative (known signatures) and retrospective tests (ability to detect zero day threats or unknown signatures). The lastest test (comparative) was completed in February 2009.
Well I divised my own formula using the results of four independent testers of anti-virus software. And I've come up with a list of my top 12 anti-virus products. The results are posted below.
Don't have the cash to purchase any internet security? You can get pretty good protection for free. The engines and signatures are usually the same in both the free and paid versions. Therefor when it comes to scanning for viruses, the results would be the same. But you must know that some products don't include spyware & adware detection as well as other features and support in their free versions. Avira's AntiVir Personal Free, is an excellent anti-virus tool and AVG 8.0 Free Edition, received the Virus Bulletin's VB100% award and certification from ICSA Labs. With AVG you can schedule scans and scan e-mails. I've personally recommended both to those on a tight budget.
- Symantec Norton Anti-virus 2009
- Avira AntiVir Premium (2008 product of the year)
- ESET NOD32 (2006 & 2007 product of the year)
- McAfee Virus Scan Plus 2009
- Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2009
- Avast! Professional Edition
- G Data AVK 2009
- Sophos Endpoint Protection
- Microsoft Live OneCare
- eScan Anti Virus
- AVG Anti Virus
- F-Secure Anti Virus 2009
Other product that justed missed the list are: Kingsoft Antivirus 2009 and BitDefender Antivirus 2009.
