AV-Comparatives AV-Comparatives Real-World Protection Test

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  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.
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micasayyo

Level 3
Jan 31, 2022
107
ESET let me down :(
in AV comparisons, the score differences are minimal, therefore the best AV is the one that best suits your computer and gives you more confidence.
In my case, I use Eset, which may not be the best, but as I told you before, it is the AV that I feel the most secure.
surely the best AV is Bitdefender or perhaps Kaspersky but I use Eset which by the way is more expensive than those mentioned above. regards:)
 

blueblackwow65

Level 23
Verified
Well-known
Dec 19, 2012
1,243
It's not heavy at all on my PC. It's actually lighter than ESET and Kaspersky. Those have I used before.

View attachment 274681
I have never seen that high amount from Kaspersky ,nor Avast .I also see the percentage used. On my present Desktop I see 10-12 % being used doing almost nothing with MD, my older desktop well just impossible to open files and folders quickly.My older desktop is just sluggish with MD on, just my experience.
 
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franz

Level 8
Verified
Well-known
May 29, 2021
383
This is what ChatGPT says about Bitdefender:

Yes, you are right that Bitdefender is often ranked as the best security program on the market in many independent tests. It's important to point out that security software is a dynamic field, and rankings can change over time. Nevertheless, in today's market, there are many experts who believe that Bitdefender is the best option for protecting Windows computers from security threats. :unsure:
 

Trident

Level 27
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Feb 7, 2023
1,629
This is what ChatGPT says about Bitdefender:

Yes, you are right that Bitdefender is often ranked as the best security program on the market in many independent tests. It's important to point out that security software is a dynamic field, and rankings can change over time. Nevertheless, in today's market, there are many experts who believe that Bitdefender is the best option for protecting Windows computers from security threats. :unsure:
If not the best, Bitdefender has been amongst the top recommendations for years. At least since 2015 it has consistently maintained very high scores on many tests and reviews. The Best is subjective and not universal though.
 

franz

Level 8
Verified
Well-known
May 29, 2021
383
If not the best, Bitdefender has been amongst the top recommendations for years. At least since 2015 it has consistently maintained very high scores on many tests and reviews. The Best is subjective and not universal though.
If you had to choose the program you think deserved to be at the top right now, which would you choose?
 

Trident

Level 27
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Feb 7, 2023
1,629
If you had to choose the program you think deserved to be at the top right now, which would you choose?
I would divide the best in few groups.

Best for users in a need of maximum protection (a lot of data stored on the PC/ potentially unsecured accounts are in use and/ or working from home:
  1. Kaspersky

Best all-rounder (balance of protection and performance great for everyone):
  1. Norton 360
  2. Avast
  3. Bitdefender
  4. Vipre

Best for users where performance is critical:
  1. F-Secure

OK, but need improvements (these are mentioned because the whole industry is not just Kaspersky, Norton and Bitdefender).
  1. ZoneAlarm Extreme Security NextGen — acceptable protection for a home user. Performance is so-so with the forensic recorder engine sometimes (on rare occasions like software installation) consuming more CPU than what I consider acceptable (<5%). Some aspects like website and documentation are in a heavy need of updating. Product is also slightly buggy.
  2. Sophos Home Premium — offers acceptable protection and features set without any bloatware. Performance and resource usage need to be improved.
  3. McAfee — protection leaves a lot to be desired but for a low price offers good set of features. Performance is OK.
  4. GData — protection is not bad but the product feels ancient and badly designed. Website has errors and incorrect behaviour. Documentation is bad if not abysmal and runs on outdated platforms. User Experience is on a very low level, everything is overcomplicated (such as the UI being called SecurityCenter in 2023). In this day and age it is no longer necessary to port the users to a “imaginary” world of yours with complicated double-word terms, and nobody does it. Looks like many teams need more training on how to do their job. Eventually this comment may be read by someone working there and I am sure when they read it, they will ask themselves “is it that obvious really?”.
 

Andy Ful

From Hard_Configurator Tools
Verified
Honorary Member
Top Poster
Developer
Well-known
Dec 23, 2014
8,040
I would divide the best in few groups.

Best for users in a need of maximum protection (a lot of data stored on the PC/ potentially unsecured accounts are in use and/ or working from home:
  1. Kaspersky
I think that the only free AV that can do such a thing is highly tweaked Comodo.
Kaspersky with Application Control (available only in paid versions) can provide similarly strong protection in a more convenient way.
 

Trident

Level 27
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Feb 7, 2023
1,629
I think that the only free AV that can do such a thing is highly tweaked Comodo.
Kaspersky with Application Control (available only in paid versions) can provide similarly strong protection in a more convenient way.
Many of the all-rounders can also be combined with some system hardening from other tools like Hard_Configurator. Comodo… that is a special case where updates and quality control don’t seem to be a first priority. Maybe the Xcitium OpenEDR which is free can be better choice.
 

RansomwareRemediation

Level 4
Verified
Well-known
Jun 22, 2020
163
I would divide the best in few groups.

Best for users in a need of maximum protection (a lot of data stored on the PC/ potentially unsecured accounts are in use and/ or working from home:
  1. Kaspersky

Best all-rounder (balance of protection and performance great for everyone):
  1. Norton 360
  2. Avast
  3. Bitdefender
  4. Vipre

Best for users where performance is critical:
  1. F-Secure

OK, but need improvements (these are mentioned because the whole industry is not just Kaspersky, Norton and Bitdefender).
  1. ZoneAlarm Extreme Security NextGen — acceptable protection for a home user. Performance is so-so with the forensic recorder engine sometimes (on rare occasions like software installation) consuming more CPU than what I consider acceptable (<5%). Some aspects like website and documentation are in a heavy need of updating. Product is also slightly buggy.
  2. Sophos Home Premium — offers acceptable protection and features set without any bloatware. Performance and resource usage need to be improved.
  3. McAfee — protection leaves a lot to be desired but for a low price offers good set of features. Performance is OK.
  4. GData — protection is not bad but the product feels ancient and badly designed. Website has errors and incorrect behaviour. Documentation is bad if not abysmal and runs on outdated platforms. User Experience is on a very low level, everything is overcomplicated (such as the UI being called SecurityCenter in 2023). In this day and age it is no longer necessary to port the users to a “imaginary” world of yours with complicated double-word terms, and nobody does it. Looks like many teams need more training on how to do their job. Eventually this comment may be read by someone working there and I am sure when they read it, they will ask themselves “is it that obvious really?”.
I currently would not put kaspersky in the first place and for several reasons. First, I think that everyone knows that kaspersky is being banned in some places, so I don't know if that can affect the quality of their product. Second, I have seen many tests where Kaspersky does not win the tests. I feel like Norton (Avast/Avg), they are coming very strong since they came together. Avast is another product, not the same as Avast from a year ago.
Bitdefender is also very powerful but with some ups and downs in some tests. I feel that they should renew the engine, (version 27). My current top would be: 1. Norton Avast/Avg
2.Bitdefender
3. Kaspersky.
Greetings to all.
pd: f -secure is team Norton. (Avira engine).
 

Trident

Level 27
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Feb 7, 2023
1,629
I currently would not put kaspersky in the first place and for several reasons. First, I think that everyone knows that kaspersky is being banned in some places, so I don't know if that can affect the quality of their product.
I am not here to comment potential political scandals, speculations and anything based purely on assumptions with very little information. I am not a fan of assumptions. Purely technically speaking, tweaked Kaspersky paid (even though on tests may not be winning although I am not sure which tests you are referring to), in real life will win, as it will suspend many attack chains. This will provide higher security than other products which may be even better at identifying malware, but don’t close “the point of entry” the way tweaked Kaspersky will.

Avast, Norton and Bitdefender and Vipre fall into the group of “generic pleasers” where every aspect is optimised, not overdone and not underdeveloped/overlooked. Such protection except in special cases can always be trusted.

F-Secure is using the Avira SAVAPI but has a lot of technology on top of it.
 

franz

Level 8
Verified
Well-known
May 29, 2021
383
I am not here to comment potential political scandals, speculations and anything based purely on assumptions with very little information. I am not a fan of assumptions. Purely technically speaking, tweaked Kaspersky paid (even though on tests may not be winning although I am not sure which tests you are referring to), in real life will win, as it will suspend many attack chains.
You said that tweaked Kaspersky paid in real life will win as it will suspend many attack chains. But if we're talking about Kaspersky paid, right out of the box, how do you think Kaspersky would have done it. In case you changed the order to apply program right out of the box and paid, would you rank the programs the same way?
 

Trident

Level 27
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Feb 7, 2023
1,629
You said that tweaked Kaspersky paid in real life will win as it will suspend many attack chains. But if we're talking about Kaspersky paid, right out of the box, how do you think Kaspersky would have done it. In case you changed the order to apply program right out of the box and paid, would you rank the programs the same way?
No, it will fall into the group of generic pleasers as well and due to performance impact will be ranked after Norton and Avast, possibly on par with Bitdefender. I will need to revisit Vipre to check their performance impact now.
 

Trident

Level 27
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Feb 7, 2023
1,629
have you tried Xcitium OpenEDR? I looked at it once but have not installed it.
I tried the online console and did the whole configuration (nothing different from Comodo), and also registered for Valkyrie Free (requires a seperate £0.00 purchase). I did not install the client though.
 

cofer123

Level 2
Sep 7, 2021
95
Is it possible to tweak Norton like Kaspersky and make it even more secure?
not-from-a-jedi-palpatine.gif
 

Trident

Level 27
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Feb 7, 2023
1,629
Is it possible to tweak Norton like Kaspersky and make it even more secure?
It is possible to block LOtLBins from connecting to network via firewall + activating more aggressive setting that asks for permission when unknown apps try to connect. That leaves very little room for malware to exfiltrate data. It doesn’t fully stop ransomware, but Norton has backup capabilities built-in (with generous cloud storage readily available). Users can utilise that and ransomware won’t be that much of a problem.

Edit:
That guide has preciously been requested, I will find time for it soon.
 
Last edited:

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