AV-Comparatives Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) Test 2025

Disclaimer
  1. This test shows how an antivirus behaves with certain threats, in a specific environment and under certain conditions.
    We encourage you to compare these results with others and take informed decisions on what security products to use.
    Before buying an antivirus you should consider factors such as price, ease of use, compatibility, and support. Installing a free trial version allows an antivirus to be tested in everyday use before purchase.

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AV-Comparatives has released the results of its 2025 Advanced Threat Protection Test. Eight consumer antivirus products and six enterprise endpoint-security programs for Windows were put through their paces.

 
As with the disclaimer below the thread title, i.e. take it with a grain of salt.
The Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) Test looks at how well the tested products protect against very specific targeted attack methods. It does not consider the overall security provided by each program, or how well it protects the system against malware downloaded from the Internet or introduced via USB devices and shared network drives.

It should be considered as an addition to the Real-World Protection Test and Malware Protection Test, not a replacement for either of these. Consequently, readers should also consider the results of other tests in our Main-Test Series when evaluating the overall protection provided by any individual product. This test focuses on whether the security products protect against specific attack/exploitation techniques used in advanced persistent threats.
 
Kaspersky: Detections occurred mostly pre- or on-execution, with four post-execution.
To be expected by Kaspersky. This is why I recommend so much to learn about Application Control. It's an extremely important module.
Bitdefender: Detections occurred mostly pre-execution.
As always. Excellent performance by one of the best and smartest antivirus in the industry.
ESET: Detections occurred mostly pre-execution.
Classic by ESET, great signatures. Actually pretty impressed they rocked 15/15 samples, with 4 files stopped on-execution. They really are stepping up.
 
Unexpected from K. I'm surprised with Eset and BD.
Expected from Crowdstrike in Enterprise.
I am a little bit confused; the latest real-world test results for B was subpar compared to those of ATP!

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Excellent results from ESET and Bitdefender, both of which have consistently ranked highly among their peers. The other contenders have shown plenty of merit, too. While interesting tests like these hold a certain value, it's always important to take a holistic view of detection capabilities and product quality. Another test result is another piece of data to consider among many.
 
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Bitdefender and ESET have been the best performer in this test since they started it a couple of years ago. So, following that pattern, the result we see here is expected.
But as @Jonny Quest pointed out, this test should be taken into consideration along with their Real-Time and Malware protection test.
I'm disappointed at Microsoft for not having the confident to ever participate in this test.
 
Bitdefender and ESET have been the best performer in this test since they started it a couple of years ago. So, following that pattern, the result we see here is expected.
But as @Jonny Quest pointed out, this test should be taken into consideration along with their Real-Time and Malware protection test.
I'm disappointed at Microsoft for not having the confident to ever participate in this test.
MD participated once in 2022 version

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MD participated once in 2022 version

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Oh, I forgot. They did well I see. Strange that they stopped. Surely money isn't an issue for them. So, who knows why!
And Eset and Bitdefender won as well. (y) McAfee...Yikes. (n)
That was the old McAfee. Curious how the new one would do :emoji_thinking:
 
And Eset and Bitdefender won as well. (y) McAfee...Yikes. (n)
That test took place before McAfee reinvented their technology. They made several discrete advances in the years since, which is what got this forum discussing and generating sudden interest. More improvements are coming as well. I have no doubt that it would fare much better in an ATP test today.
 
Unexpected from K. I'm surprised with Eset and BD.
Expected from Crowdstrike in Enterprise.
To be honest, it's not "unusual" for Kaspersky to not score a perfect result on a test. If you search for Malware Protection or Real Time Protection tests, you will find out Kaspersky hardly gets 100%, while others do; or is slight below the top performers. It's bold to affirm Kaspersky has the best pre-execution or on-execution protection, because it doesn't. In most cases, antiviruses like BitDefender surpass Kaspersky when dealing with complex malware. Many times Kaspersky realizes the system has been compromised on a latter stage. Although usually when it detects such scenario, it's more than capable to remediate the effect, neutralize the threat and rollback its actions. But do not mistake yourself, tests exist where Kaspersky fails miserably. We've seen some of these cases in the Malware Hub back in the day. It's not common, but it happens. Nevertheless, and I won't ever stop repeating this, Kaspersky's strongest defense mechanism is their default-deny approach when Application Control is correctly configured. There's isn't a safest approach on cybersecurity than not letting anything run. If more AV vendors realised this and invested on the development of such technologies for their products, Kaspersky would probably be dethroned. If I could have BitDefender's technology and efficiency with an Application Control module, I'd probably switch.
 
Time to re up my ESET sub, sadly the price has almost doubled since last year. Hoping for some BF/CM deals.

BD while great detection, I will never use again. Any software that deletes WF on uninstall is a hard no for me.

Anyone able to source a retail CrowdStrike license without jumping through hoops? Only played with it in a corp environment. Would like to play more!
 
Time to re up my ESET sub, sadly the price has almost doubled since last year. Hoping for some BF/CM deals.

BD while great detection, I will never use again. Any software that deletes WF on uninstall is a hard no for me.

Anyone able to source a retail CrowdStrike license without jumping through hoops? Only played with it in a corp environment. Would like to play more!
Do they have a Consumer Edition? I have not seen that Falcon fly in retail.
You may be able to use it at home thou if your company got extra seats and the contract allows it.