Microsoft: Security Essentials

During July, August and September 2010 we continuously evaluated 16 security products using their default settings. They were allowed to update themselves at any time and query their in-the-cloud services. We focused on realistic test scenarios and challenged the products against real-world threats. Products had to demonstrate their capabilities using all components and protection layers.

Protection Protection against malware infections (such as viruses, worms or Trojan horses)			Jul	Aug	Sep
Protection against 0-day malware attacks from the internet, inclusive of web and e-mail threats (Real-World Testing)	Industry average: 77 Samples used: 66	in %	76	53	46
Blocking of malware on or post execution (Dynamic Detection Testing)	Industry average: 50 Samples used: 20	in %	20
Detection of a representative set of malware discovered in the last 2-3 months (AV-TEST reference set)	Industry average: 96 Samples used: 1,038,795	in %	98	97	93
Detection of widespread malware (according to the WildList)	Industry average: 100 Samples used: 28,838	in %	100	100	100
Protection Score: 3.0/6.0

Repair Cleaning and repair of a malware-infected computer			Jul	Aug	Sep
Removal of all active components of widespread malware (according to the WildList) from a computer	Industry average: 80 Samples used: 20	in %	80
Removal of further malicious components and remediation of critical system modifications made by malware	Industry average: 50 Samples used: 20	in %	55
Detection of deliberately hidden active malware (Rootkits and stealth malware)	Industry average: 83 Samples used: 18	in %	72
Removal of deliberately hidden active malware (Rootkits and stealth malware)	Industry average: 56 Samples used: 18	in %	56
Repair Score: 3.0/6.0

Usability Impact of the security software on the usability of the whole computer (lower values indicate better results)			Jul	Aug	Sep
Average slow-down of the computer by the security software in daily use	Industry average: 236 Number of test cases: 13	in s	231
False detections of legitimate software as malware during a system scan (false positives)	Industry average: 3 Samples used: 530,462	in #	0	0	1
False warnings of certain actions during the installation and use of legitimate software	Industry average: 1 Samples used: 20	in #	0
False blockings of certain actions during the installation and use of legitimate software	Industry average: 1 Samples used: 20	in #	0
Usability Score: 5.5/6.0