Just under 40,000 viruses, Trojans etc.

A protection solution for corporate users always has at its core an endpoint security solution, deploying various protection and detection techniques to fend off classical threats. In a two-phase, sophisticated monthly test, AV-TEST examines the protection of each solution. In the real-world test, the lab uses zero-day malware, freshly harvested from honeypots, e-mails and websites. In the second phase, involving the AV-TEST reference set, the lab looks closely at protection against extremely dangerous, yet already known, malware. Overall, throughout the 6-month period, the lab deployed just under 40,000 malware samples.

The following corporate solutions completed this vital protection test in both test categories with 100% detection: Avast, Bitdefender, Bitdefender (Version Ultra), ESET, F-Secure, G Data, Kaspersky, McAfee, Microsoft, Symantec, and Trend Micro. That already makes 11 out of 16 products tested.

Here are the additional results: Seqrite was error-free in the real-world test, but it detected only 99.7 percent in the test involving the AV-TEST reference set. For AhnLab, it was exactly the other way around. While Sophos and VMware did commit errors in both test segments, they achieved between 99.7 and 99.3 percent in terms of detection.

System load on client PCs

The solutions for corporate users normally have to react to Windows PCs with a wide range of configurations. That is why it is important to know how much of a load the client software puts on a PC. In order to arrive at a realistic average value, the lab uses the following scenario: A high-end PC and a standard PC are used as reference devices. The lab performs various operations on them. For instance, it launches websites, installs and starts up programs, carries out downloads and copies data. The times required then serve as reference values. Later, the lab always installs a security solution on the PCs, repeating all the operations, noting the times required and thus determining the delays and system load, respectively.

Thanks to a hardly measurable system load, the solutions of the following manufacturers earned the full 6 points in this category: AhnLab, Kaspersky, Microsoft, Symantec, and Trend Micro. Bitdefender and F-Secure created a minor load. For this they received 5.8 points; ESET, FireEye and Seqrite 5.7 points. Somewhat more conspicuous were the clients from Avast, G Data, McAfee, and Sophos. They had slight deductions: earning 5.5 each. The version Bitdefender Ultra required more system resources than the standard version and thus received only 4.7 points. The solution from VMware demanded quite a lot of resources. For this, the lab awarded a mere 3.7 points.

Clear detection or false alarms

Under everyday conditions, endpoint security is required to scan far more harmless working and system files than malware files. That is why especially in companies, it is extremely important for solutions to be able to detect harmless files and programs as such. Which is why the lab evaluates each solution using a comprehensive detection packet. Thus, the testers visit thousands of websites, install and launch a few hundred popular programs and subject a few million harmless files to detection.

Many endpoint security solutions finished the test error-free and for this they received 6 points. They were from Avast, ESET, FireEye, F-Secure, G Data, Kaspersky, McAfee, Microsoft, Symantec, and Trend Micro. Points were taken off for minor errors. That was the case for Bitdefender (both versions), Seqrite, Sophos and VMware: 5.8 points each. AhnLab still earned 5.7 points.

Excellent endpoint security solutions

The latest endurance test over a 6-month period from July to December 2020 presented a whole host of safe security solutions for corporate users. Even over such a long test period, the endpoint security packages from Kaspersky, Microsoft, Symantec, and Trend Micro earned the maximal point score in all test segments and thus a total of 18 points. F-Secure, AhnLab, ESET and Bitdefender followed very close behind with 17.8 to 17.6 points.

Further products from Avast, G Data and McAfee reached 17.5 points, thus attaining an extremely high level of security. This means that 11 of the 16 solutions tested earned almost the maximum achievable points.