Strong protection for corporate networks with Windows 7

Windows 7 requires protection

The attacks on corporate networks by cybercriminals are on a constant upswing. That is why the use of a security solution is indispensable. Several products in fact finished the test with excellent results. The solutions from Bitdefender and Kaspersky (Small Office Security) completed all 3 test segments such as protection, performance and usability with 6 out of a possible 6 points each. In the overall results, these products, with the highest score of 18 points, were the top finishers. With 17.5 points, the solutions from F-Secure and Kaspersky (Endpoint Security) , followed very close behind.

An economical option for protecting a corporate network is the use of the endpoint module, bundled in the Microsoft Management Suite System Center 2012. The test revealed, however, that this is not to be recommended. The solution was awarded 0 points by the testers in terms of its protection function, and it achieved only 11 out of 18 possible points.

Very high protection function

In the test, all the solutions were required to prove their protection function The lab uses two tests for this purpose: the real-world test with new, still unknown threats, and the AV-TEST reference set with nearly 30,000 already known malware specimens. The malware in the real-world test was collected within the 4 weeks prior to test launch.

In this critical test area, a total of 6 products achieved a 100% detection rate, earning the maximum score of 6 points. This included Bitdefender, F-Secure, Trend Micro, Symantec, and both solutions from Kaspersky. Microsoft Security Essentials, tested for comparison, detected only 73 and 87 percent respectively in the test. This accounted for the rating of 0 points.

Low burden on the clients

In the additional test category of performance, the lab examines how heavily a security solution's routines put a burden on a client PC. Using a reference PC, websites are visited, downloads performed, applications installed and launched, and data copied under Windows. The time is clocked for all these routines, thus serving as a benchmark for all products.

Many of the security packages are able to garner valuable points in this section: Bitdefender, F-Secure and Kaspersky Small Office Security scored 6 points each. Kaspersky Endpoint Security, Trend Micro and Symantec still achieved good results of 5 to 5.5 points.

Showing weaker performance is the solution from Intel (formerly McAfee) with only 4 points. Seqrite slowed down the test client very noticeably, scoring only 1.5 out of a possible 6 points.

Top scores in usability

All the products showed superb performance in terms of user-friendliness. In this phase, the lab determined the extent to which the solutions unsettle the user on the client with false malware alarms. Furthermore, the test examines whether the products prevent installations of harmless software, for example, or block clean websites. Overall, the lab was able to award the top score of 6 in eight cases and 5.5 points in three cases.

Fortunately, the problem of false positives has in fact continued to improve over the past two years.

Excellent solutions to choose from

The test yielded excellent results for most products. When focusing solely on the protection function, a total of 6 solutions flawlessly detected and completely removed all the malware specimens.

The maximum score attainable by each solution was 18 points. Only the products Bitdefender Endpoint Security and Kaspersky Small Office Security achieved this score. Yet the solutions from F-Secure and Kaspersky Endpoint Security, at 17.5 points, also came very close to a maximum score. Overall, the midfield achieve very favorable scores.

The solutions from Seqrite and the security module from Microsoft, tested for comparison, made a considerably weaker showing. While Seqrite still did a respectable job in detecting malware, it slows down the clients much too heavily in the process. The freeware Microsoft module is much too feeble in the detection of malware.