Our tests show which we thought was the best anti-virus

Discussion in 'Malware Help - MG (A Specialist Will Reply)' started by randommayham, Feb 3, 2009.

  1. randommayham

    randommayham Private E-2

    So, recently, at work, I have battled several viruses and used a few of the free anti-virus, trojan and malware programs. So my I.T. guy got several free anti-virus programs, then installed them (one at a time) on a fresh system and infected them, then he recorded how many & which ones the anti-virus program recorded after a scan. Then he re-imaged the system and installed the next anti-virus program, and repeated the cycle on 5 popular free anti-virus programs.

    When he totaled the numbers, and looked at what was found, he found most of them got a core group of viruses, trojans and spyware – the differences in the programs were what non-core virus, trojans and spyware the program did find.

    After we looked at all the data, we bought and installed Cyberdefender, since we feel that in the end it offered our company the best protection, for the best price with features others didn’t offer as part of the package.

    We have been running it on 16 systems, and so far only one issue, and that was with the Rogue Antivirus 2009. We contacted Cyberdefender when we got the virus, since it still got through on one of our systems, and they got on=line and was able to fix it. Next day they had a new update which took care of it.

    Our IT guy told me that one of the other things that he like about Cyberdefender is that it runs fast, and if there is a problem, then he is able to get Cyberdefender to work on it.

    One last thing, it's best to have your anti-virus software installed before you get a virus. We have encountered viruses that don't let you install anti-virus programs after infection, such as the virtumondo virus - it does this.

    So, I hope this review helps others. Please note, that we did our testing with the free versions of anti-virus programs. Half had full functionality, supported by Ads and pushing for upsell. The other half were more scanners or limited functionality – Cyberdefender Free is more a scanner, that is able to fix Trojans and spyware, but it needs the purchase of the upgrade to remove a virus. The paid version (upgrade) functions exactly as the free version – but the virus removal feature is added as well as some other functions.
     
    randommayham, Feb 3, 2009
    #1
  2. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    Test results are very dependent upon which infections you have and are trying to clean. Also it is dependent upon the versions of the infections. For example there are dozens of versions of Virtumonde aka Vundo out in the wild. I'm not saying CyberDefender is a bad choice nor am I saying it does not work. I'm just saying test results will vary based upon which infections, versions of infections, and also how long the infection has been in place. Want a good test...... infect your test PC with a Bagle infection and then tell me how good CyberDefender is at cleaning it up.

    Running fast is not always synonymous with a good detection rate. Many programs have a quick scan mode but those modes can often miss things. A full comprehensive scan will always take longer but it is a more thorough scan.

    Yes obviously. The Bagle infection I mentioned above would probably make it impossible for you to even install (maybe even download) CybeDefender.

    No! Virtumonde does not do this. Bagle infections, and some of the recent waves of AntiVirus XP 2008, 2009....etc will attempt to block you from accessing various websites, download particular programs, running them if already downloaded....etc. One such infection adds a driver into the non-plug and play section of the registry and it is a rootkit like infection which is at the heart of blocking you from running things. They want to make it difficult for you to remove the infection.

    It would be much more useful if you actually said which programs you are referring to and which infections you actually tested.

    CyberDefender is not free. They have a short term trial program ( called CyberDefender Early Detection Center ) but then you need to purchase it after the trial period. In addition as you stated, the pruchase version has more features (like most programs do). They actually have a full Internet Security Suite. They also have an antispyware tool (also not free) which people can download here: CyberDefender AntiSpyware This is shareware.
     
    Last edited: Feb 5, 2009
    chaslang, Feb 5, 2009
    #2
  3. randommayham

    randommayham Private E-2

    You did have some very good points, and perhaps we might need to retest based on you data - thank you for the suggestions.
    Just as an FYI, the other progrm s tested were Previx, spuera ntispyware, Norton & AVG. I'm not sure of the infections, I would half to check with my IT guy.

    I did saywe bought the full version, as it seemed to be our best optionl.,

    Thanks for the input.
     
    randommayham, Feb 7, 2009
    #3
  4. chaslang

    chaslang MajorGeeks Admin - Master Malware Expert Staff Member

    I don't think much of PrevX or Norton.

    SUPERAntiSpyware is excellent but don't forget that it is an antispyware application not an antivirus application.
     
    chaslang, Feb 7, 2009
    #4

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