Chinese antivirus: Is it trustworthy to use it?

[viettungvuong2003]

Chinese antiviruses such as Qihoo 360, Tencent, Kingsoft, Rising, Baidu have been used all over the world, not only in China. Results of them in antivirus test are positive, some of them is very high, such as 360 Qihoo. But all of you know, China is infamous for making fake or low-quality products and antivirus is not an exception. The results of these antiviruses are positive but can you trust these results? Probably not.

In 2015, AV-Test, one of the biggest antivirus-testing companies punished two biggest antiviruses of China, Qihoo and Tencent for cheating on the test. When testing, two companies used their best engine but for the user version, they used the engine that is not as strong as the engine they used in the test. That is the reason why they've gotten high score in previous tests. In result, Qihoo and Tencent is now revoked from AV-Test and no Chinese antiviruses can participate in the test. Many users have been removed Chinese antivirus on their system after this scandal.

Qihoo 360 Total Security received punishment from AV-Test for cheating on the test
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One more reason to not trust Chinese antiviruses is some of them are marked as adware. Tencent PC Manager, the former high-score antivirus is now marked as adware. In fact, the program is very annoying and difficult to remove. Furthermore, the program changes the homepage of your browser and installs a lot of unnecessary programs on your computer. They are nasty, so if you are using it, you should remove it using Malwarebytes or other on-demand scanners.

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References are used in this post:
Tencent stripped of antivirus rankings for cheating on tests
CHEATER! Test labs out AV vendor for using rival's engine
Tencent QQ - Adware Controversy

 

[Kate_L]

Yes, you can trust them. The AV-Comparatives & AV-Test is a SCAM. They tested the product even if they said that they will not (they have double standards). I'm using 360 TS Essential on my laptop and it's really good.

 

[jerzy601]

personally I do not use of Chinese antyvirusów but it is a matter of choice and confidence, but every choice is an individual matter.
it's not that I do not like them but somehow does not convince me.

 

[Noxx]

I don't know about other Chinese AV's, but Qihoo 360 is not crazy to remove like Tencent PC Manager (in fact, one of the easier I've seen), it does exceptionally well in the malwarehub, and all around has some nice features. Questionable privacy policy? Yeah, but I could say the same about any other AV. I wouldn't, however, call AV-C and AV-TEST scams, but seeing as we don't know what samples they use, you have to take the results with a grain of salt.

 

[Ink]

Are any Antivirus security software trust-worthy?

Each vendor provides their own Privacy Policy, some are more transparent than others. Some use deceptive advertising, in-program pop-ups, scareware tactics etc.

Can you confidently say Chinese-based Antivirus software are no different to American-based or European-based Antivirus software?

AVG Toolbar
Comodo HopSurf and AdTrustMedia-based Browser Extensions
ZoneAlarm Deceptive Installer and Pop-ups
Norton Auto-Renewal Pop-up (Scareware)
AVAST and Softonic Partnership
Magic Lantern (Keylogger by US Government's FBI)

Non-security related, but what about European-based Volkswagon and the Emissions Scandal.

 

[viettungvuong2003]

AV-Test is a lie. As Qihoo and Tencent used to get fake high score in the past, it's proved.

 

[viettungvuong2003]

Are any Antivirus security software trust-worthy?

Each vendor provides their own Privacy Policy, some are more transparent than others. Some use deceptive advertising, in-program pop-ups, scareware tactics etc.

Can you confidently say Chinese-based Antivirus software are no different to American-based or European-based Antivirus software?

AVG Toolbar
Comodo HopSurf and AdTrustMedia-based Browser Extensions
ZoneAlarm Deceptive Installer and Pop-ups
Norton Auto-Renewal Pop-up (Scareware)
AVAST and Softonic Partnership
Magic Lantern (Keylogger by US Government's FBI)

Non-security related, but what about European-based Volkswagon and the Emissions Scandal.

Yeah, but Tencent sometimes included in another installer and basic users don't know it so Tencent will be installed deeply.

Other adwares from other vendors are annoying, I agree but anyway the quaity of them is good. Chinese vendors are bad.

 

[sunrise]

AV-Test is a lie. As Qihoo and Tencent used to get fake high score in the past, it's proved.

That was because Qihoo turn off some engines so it won't have high false positive. Don't believe me? Checkout the malwarehub section regarding their detection rates. Even without the additional engines, Qihoo's QVMII can keep up with detection. Difference is like 0.1% without the additional engines. Heck, you can check out the The Community Video Reviews section on videos by cruelsister (one of MalwareTips expert) where it is shown that Qihoo beat some well known paid antivirus when it comes to protection against ransomware. I have been using for 1 year+ and no problem.

Qihoo deceptive have already been posted before this. Regardless, I will still use it as I only care about protection. There's a particular free AV promising new technologies, but it never work. Start including in all kind of junkware and distancing it's user. If you want more hint, it's orange in colour. Think Norton is "angel"? Norton have been known to whitelist US spyware.

 

[Captain Awesome]

Are any Antivirus security software trust-worthy?

Each vendor provides their own Privacy Policy, some are more transparent than others. Some use deceptive advertising, in-program pop-ups, scareware tactics etc.

Can you confidently say Chinese-based Antivirus software are no different to American-based or European-based Antivirus software?

AVG Toolbar
Comodo HopSurf and AdTrustMedia-based Browser Extensions
ZoneAlarm Deceptive Installer and Pop-ups
Norton Auto-Renewal Pop-up (Scareware)
AVAST and Softonic Partnership
Magic Lantern (Keylogger by US Government's FBI)

Non-security related, but what about European-based Volkswagon and the Emissions Scandal.

We should use anti-executable softwares

 

[viettungvuong2003]

That was because Qihoo turn off some engines so it won't have high false positive. Don't believe me? Checkout the malwarehub section regarding their detection rates. Even without the additional engines, Qihoo's QVMII can keep up with detection. Difference is like 0.1% without the additional engines. Heck, you can check out the The Community Video Reviews section on videos by cruelsister (one of MalwareTips expert) where it is shown that Qihoo beat some well known paid antivirus when it comes to protection against ransomware. I have been using for 1 year+ and no problem.

Qihoo deceptive have already been posted before this. Regardless, I will still use it as I only care about protection. There's a particular free AV promising new technologies, but it never work. Start including in all kind of junkware and distancing it's user. If you want more hint, it's orange in colour. Think Norton is "angel"? Norton have been known to whitelist US spyware.

I know it's controversial to say that Qihoo is completely terrible. But I'm Vietnamese and you know Vietnam doesn't have a good relationship with China.

 

[Ink]

Thread Locked at request by OP.

Due reason: Controversial subject around region-based software.