PC Tools: Internet Security

During November and December 2011 we continuously evaluated 23 home user security products using their default settings. We always used the most current publicly-available version of all products for the testing. 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)			Nov	Dec
Protection against 0-day malware attacks, inclusive of web and e-mail threats (Real-World Testing)	Industry average: 95 Samples used: 92	in %	90	98
Detection of a representative set of malware discovered in the last 2-3 months (AV-TEST reference set)	Industry average: 97 Samples used: 216,640	in %	95	96
Detection of widespread and prevalent malware (according to AV-TEST data)	Industry average: 100 Samples used: 5,000	in %	100	100
Protection Score: 4.0/6.0

Repair Cleaning and repair of a malware-infected computer			Nov	Dec
Detection of actively running widespread malware (including Rootkits and stealth malware)	Industry average: 97 Samples used: 38	in %	100
Removal of all active components of widespread malware (including Rootkits and stealth malware)	Industry average: 87 Samples used: 38	in %	89
Removal of further malicious components and remediation of critical system modifications	Industry average: 61 Samples used: 38	in %	68
Repair Score: 4.5/6.0

Usability Impact of the security software on the usability of the whole computer (lower values indicate better results)			Nov	Dec
Average slow-down of the computer by the security software in daily use	Industry average: 10 Number of test cases: 5	in s	13
False detections of legitimate software as malware during a system scan (false positives)	Industry average: 15 Samples used: 481,785	in #	3	2
False warnings of certain actions during download, installation and use of legitimate software	Industry average: 1 Samples used: 22	in #	7
False blockings of certain actions during download, installation and use of legitimate software	Industry average: 0 Samples used: 22	in #	0
Usability Score: 4.0/6.0