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AV-TEST Award 2021: The Best in IT Security
When the AV-TEST Institute puts security products to the test in its lab, only hard facts and convincing results count. After evaluating all test findings from 2021, the results are now in for the best IT security products for consumer and corporate users. So the time has come to confer on these outstanding products the internationally recognized AV-TEST Award as a sign of recognition for IT security. The institute is giving 27 awards to 13 companies in the categories of PROTECTION, PERFORMANCE and USABILITY for Windows, along with ANDROID SECURITY and MAC SECURITY – for consumer products and corporate solutions.
Only the best security products receive the AV-TEST Award.
Office, home office, mobile office – a year filled with security challenges
The year 2021 was marked by many challenges, some of them causing a domino effect and becoming part of a chain reaction. The pandemic was extremely taxing on individuals and companies in particular, as traditional work models were totally upended, sometimes within a matter of a few days. Part of the workforce was only in the office, another part was in a home-office setting, and some were in a mobile office. However: Everyone was supposed to have normal access to their workstation, software tools or work data, and naturally at the same level of security as before.
In some cases, staffers were required to use their own PC or Mac, as companies did not even have that much mobile hardware available. For many companies, it was the moment when even the consumer antivirus software of each employee came under scrutiny. Because a well-protected PC in this scenario was the first line of defense in using company networks. The second, and naturally more important, line of defense was handled by the corporate security solution. Reliable protection was and is more important than ever, as cyber-attackers have been mercilessly exploiting the pandemic to attack consumer and corporate PCs and Macs in every way.
2021: sharp increase in malware variants
The strong growth of threats can also be clearly gleaned from the malware samples registered by the AV-TEST Institute in 2021. Whereas from 2019 to 2020 the number had risen to 113 million, from 2020 to 2021 it grew to over 170 million – a surge of nearly 33 percent, making it one of the strongest increases over the past 10 years.
The digital malware samples registered in the AV-TEST databases are naturally only one tactical weapon among the many used by cybercriminals, which solutions for cybersecurity are required to fend off, but it is one of the most important in their arsenal. The experts in the lab at AV-TEST evaluate all Windows, MacOS and Android products for consumer and corporate users, testing how they match up in the categories of PROTECTION, PERFORMANCE and USABILITY.
Among Windows products, the AV-TEST Institute confers awards in the categories of Best Protection, Best Performance and Best Usability for both consumer products and solutions used in a corporate environment. For the protection of Android and MacOS, the institute gives additional Best Android Security and Best MacOS Security Awards – in turn for consumer and corporate users. In the overall evaluation of tests in the year 2021, some products managed to achieve several top rankings, thus in some cases receiving the same recognition along with other security solutions in a given category. The products do not have to share the award, quite the contrary: In these cases, AV-TEST is pleased to confer several awards in one category to the winners for their outstanding performance.
AV-TEST Award Best Protection 2021
Bitdefender Internet Security
Kaspersky Internet Security
Norton Norton 360
For their exceptional performance in the category of protection against malware under Windows for consumer products in the test period of 2021, the AV-TEST Institute recognized Bitdefender Internet Security, Kaspersky Internet Security and Norton Norton 360 each with the AV-TEST Best Protection 2021 Award for Consumer Users.
Bitdefender Endpoint Security (Ultra)
Kaspersky Endpoint Security
Microsoft Defender Antivirus
Symantec Endpoint Security Complete
Thanks to extremely reliable and outstanding threat prevention against malware in the category of corporate security solutions for Windows, the independent test institute, AV-TEST, conferred the Best Protection 2021 Award for Corporate Users on the security manufacturers and products Bitdefender Endpoint Security (Ultra), Kaspersky Endpoint Security, Microsoft Defender Antivirus and Symantec Endpoint Security Complete.
AV-TEST Award Best Performance 2021
ESET Internet Security
G DATA Total Security
Kaspersky Internet Security
Norton Norton 360
PC Matic Home
Protected.net Total AV
Good security products not only shield the user against threats but also work economically in the background, thus safeguarding the precious resources of the consumer user system being protected. In the test period of 2021, the following products were found to only use extremely few resources of a Windows PC. For this special performance, the institute gave the AV-TEST Best Performance 2021 Award to ESET Internet Security, G DATA Total Security, Kaspersky Internet Security, Norton Norton 360, PC Matic Home and Protected.net Total AV.
ESET Endpoint Security
Trellix/FireEye Endpoint Security
Kaspersky Endpoint Security
Seqrite Endpoint Security
In defending against malware on office PCs running in a corporate environment, system resources are a precious commodity. After all, most PC workstations are not exactly equipped to the max when it comes to hardware. A total of four corporate solutions under Windows demonstrated in the 2021 test year that in addition to offering good protection, they also get by with extremely few system resources. In recognition of excellent results achieved, the institute conferred the AV-TEST Best Performance 2021 Award for Corporate Users on each of the four solutions, ESET Endpoint Security, Trellix/FireEye Endpoint Security, Kaspersky Endpoint Security and Seqrite Endpoint Security.
AV-TEST Award Best Usability 2021
Avira Internet Security
ESET Internet Security
Perfect friend-foe identification is the prerequisite for receiving the AV-TEST Best Usability 2021 Award. Because only Windows products having an extremely low or non-existent false alarm rate receive the award from the AV-TEST Institute. Based on the best test results over the entire year of 2021, the security products Avira Internet Security and ESET Internet Security each received this award.
ESET Endpoint Security
Kaspersky Endpoint Security
When a security solution triggers a false alarm in a corporate environment, it usually causes quite a stir in the office and has some impact on the IT support work load. Deploying good malware defenses for Windows used for business, capable of simultaneously distinguishing between harmless files and attackers, takes the load off IT support. For especially good and even error-free detection of work files in the test period of 2021, AV-TEST conferred the AV-TEST Best Usability 2021 Award for Corporate Users on ESET Endpoint Security and Kaspersky Endpoint Security.
AV-TEST Award Best Android Security 2021
Bitdefender Mobile Security
Trend Micro Mobile Security
The protection of Android systems has become much more important in recent years. After all, it has occurred to attackers that mobile Android devices are available around the clock and are thus a worthy target. For the best all-round protection of private mobile Android devices, the AV-TEST Institute conferred the AV-TEST Best Android Security 2021 Award on the consumer products Bitdefender Mobile Security and Trend Micro Mobile Security.
ESET Endpoint Security
Protecting mobile Android devices has always been a high priority in a corporate setting, not only since the bring-your-own-device strategy became commonplace in companies. For special performance in protecting mobile Android devices used in corporate environments, the institute's AV-TEST Best Android Security 2021 Award went to the solution ESET Endpoint Security.
AV-TEST Award Best MacOS Security 2021
Norton Norton 360
Trend Micro Antivirus
Amid growing threats and attacks on MacOS systems, consumer users ought to have a good and reliable protection package and security they can trust. If a MacOS security product consistently achieves top scores in all tests, it is eligible to receive the AV-TEST Best MacOS Security 2021 Award. For their especially praiseworthy performance, the Mac security packages Norton Norton 360 and Trend Micro Antivirus received the sought-after award.
Symantec Endpoint Protection
In many companies, an entire array of MacOS systems run alongside Windows PCs. These MacOS-based workstations need the best protection the market can deliver. Throughout the year 2021, Symantec stood out through its perfect protection of corporate systems with MacOS. For this performance, Symantec Endpoint Protection received the AV-TEST Best MacOS Security 2021 Award for Corporate Users.
