One of the most popular articles on CyberNet is in regards to the best antivirus software. More than 160,000 people have read that article, and so I thought it is a good time to write a follow-up on it.
The latest test from virus.gr includes 52 different antivirus applications. They were rigorously tested using 174,770 virus samples, and the settings of each application were tweaked to ensure that they all caught maximum number of viruses (despite increasing the possibility that the the software would be more likely to return a false positive).
So let’s take a look at the condensed list that I put together. On it I list the top 20 antivirus applications followed by some of the other well-known solutions. If you look closely you might also notice that the top 5 options on the list are all powered by Kaspersky!
Note: I have hyperlinked all of the antivirus solutions to their respective websites. None of the links contain a referral code.
1. Kaspersky version 7.0.0.43 beta - 99.23%
2. Kaspersky version 6.0.2.614 - 99.13%
3. Active Virus Shield by AOL version 6.0.0.308 - 99.13%
4. ZoneAlarm with KAV Antivirus version 7.0.337.000 - 99.13%
5. F-Secure 2007 version 7.01.128 - 98.56%
6. BitDefender Professional version 10 - 97.70%
7. BullGuard version 7.0.0.23 - 96.59%
8. Ashampoo version 1.30 - 95.80%
9. eScan version 8.0.671.1 - 94.43%
10. Nod32 version 2.70.32 - 94.00%
11. CyberScrub version 1.0 - 93.27%
12. Avast Professional version 4.7.986 - 92.82%
13. AVG Anti-Malware version 7.5.465 - 92.14%
14. F-Prot version 6.0.6.4 - 91.35%
15. McAfee Enterprise version 8.5.0i+AntiSpyware module - 90.65%
16. Panda 2007 version 2.01.00 - 90.06%
17. Norman version 5.90.37 - 88.47%
18. ArcaVir 2007 - 88.24%
19. McAfee version 11.0.213 - 86.13%
20. Norton Professional 2007 - 86.08%
…
23. PC-Cillin 2007 version 15.00.1450 - 84.96%
…
27. Sophos Sweep version 6.5.1 - 69.79%
…
33. Comodo version 2.0.12.47 beta - 53.94%
34. Comodo version 1.1.0.3 - 53.39%
35. A-Squared Anti-Malware version 2.1 - 52.69%
…
38. ClamWin version 0.90.1 - 47.95%
…
52. Abacre version 1.4 - 0.00%
There aren’t many free antivirus solutions that made the list, or were even tested for that matter. Active Virus Shield, at number 3, is not only one of the highest-ranked antivirus solutions on the list, but it is also completely free. Both AVG and Avast have a free version that they offer, but their paid solutions were tested instead.
So if you’re just looking for an antivirus application that gets the job done well, Active Virus Shield is probably the route you want to go. Of course the software is provided by AOL which is probably what holds most people back from immediately downloading it, but in my opinion it is a great application. After all, the software itself is created by Kaspersky and the only thing AOL did was put their logo on it. For right now I’m using Avast, but when Active Virus Shield becomes compatible with Vista I’ll probably be switching over.
| Update: |
Unfortunately AOL’s Active Virus Shield is no longer available.
|
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Tags: Software, Antivirus, AOL, Reviews
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- New Retrospective Antivirus Results are in!
I too am using Avast. Make sure you let us know when Active Virus Shield becomes Vista compatible.
What is sad is that two of the most popular packages (Norton and McAfee) only caught about 86% of the viruses.
i use Kaspersky online scanner to double check
http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner
Kaspersky wrecked a laptop I worked on due to some conflict between it and the software for a new Logitech web camera. It looks like it will need a repair-install of Windows XP.
I switched it to AVG free and all is fine on that front.
I switched to Active Virus shield and it’s great! Quick and EZ. Don’t worry about AOL, they didn’t change anything but the price
Which is exactly the reason why I am not wanting to download it. I dislike how AOL installs its crap all over the place and makes it nearly impossible to totally remove (short of reformatting the drive). I just renewed my license with Avast Home (free) this morning.
I’ve been pretty tempted to try that aol active virus shield too, but yea me too, aol? We need a real review of it someday. Does it install other crap? And how is it on resources?
That’s good to hear! I assume that when Kaspersky 7 is released that Active Virus Shield will be updated as well to support Vista.
That’s a good idea. I’ll do some monitoring to see what kind of stuff it installs and create a post regarding that. Thanks for the idea!
“I’ve been pretty tempted to try that aol active virus shield too, but yea me too, aol? We need a real review of it someday. Does it install other crap? And how is it on resources?”
Active Virus shield IS Kaspersky Antivirus. The files are even the same, the main executible is avp.exe.
No spyware, no addons, no funny AOL stuff. Paying for Kaspersky is the biggest joke going right now as AOL put their name on it and gives it away for Free. Maybe someday AOL will screw with it and add garbage to it but that day is not here. For the protection I get from it I’d even put up with some advertising.
Seriously get it, use it, be safe. Don’t even give it a second thought.
Thanks Mark Bowman. I uninstalled Avast and gave it a try. Nice! It is actually. Can’t find a single thing it installed except the antivirus itself. And its using a bit less resources then Avast too, and only two active process’s for it. Avast (custom installed with only the resident scanner) has three. Consider me switched.
Another site that I’ve used in the past is AV-Comparatives.org. They provide another good comparison of the various AV solutions.
Kaspersky screwed up my system—refused to boot up, even in safe mode or with a boot-up disk. (How do I know it was Kasperksy? Well, I had just switched from McAfee 2 weeks earlier, and when it crashed, it hung up on a Kaspersky file. Coincidence?) I had to bring it to a computer shop (something I never had to do in my life) and they couldn’t do anything but reinstall Windows XP. So I lost whatever data wasn’t backed up. Not going to risk that again….
I haven’t had any problems with it before. Were you using the AOL Active Virus Shield or actual Kaspersky software? I’m even more surprised that you were using XP and had the problem.
I’ve heard there are problems with the Iswift and ICheck options in KAV and AVS. there is an ongoing discussion here: http://www.dslreports.com/foru.....k,18608452 with the main complaint being Kaspersky’s slow or non-existent response.
1,2,3,4 places are all KASPERSKY. (”Active Virus Shield” is actually Kaspersky licensed by AOL).
Actually, as I mentioned in the article, it is the top-5 programs that are all powered by Kaspersky.
At least AOL can do something right
How about a Spyware review?
sorry for you all, but… AOL antivirus contains a major problem : AOL can freely spy on your private life by knowing on which websites you go and such.
This isn’t really AOL-created software though, and doesn’t contain any spyware. It is the Kaspersky antivirus with a simple logo in the application…nothing else is different. So I wouldn’t really say that AOL is spying on you with this.
Both download.com and Softpedia rate this software as spyware-free, which are two very trusted sources.
i am amazed to see that hardly anybody mentioned about BITDEFENDER antivirus.i think that it is one of the most cheapest antivirus solution available and it is equally good as kaspersky in tracing out viruses.KASPERSKY has compatibility problems with many softwares as compared to bitdefender and bitdefender(for xp) dosen’t slow down the pc either.
Well, it is equally as good in these tests. I don’t think it does too well in the heuristic department though.
I don’t care how cheap it is, I only use it if it’s free (or pirated) ;). Active Virus shield works well, but most importantly it’s free.
I agree with you. I am using BitDefender since I formatted my pc and I experienced no crashes, freezing… (this is also due to other maintaining). I highly recommend BitDefender to anyone, professionaly or not!
Kaspersky is sooooo nicee
I had read that BitDefender used a lot of system resources and was really slow at scanning. It sounded like it was very effective but really slow.
Sucks it isn’t free anymore
Kaspersky is Leader !!!
i feel 100% confident and secure after installing it.
Norton eats my resources slowing my system.
Mcafee dont want to detect virus.I found One myself and gave it cross check with antivirus but it didn,t even bother to detect it.
BitDefender is a good AV solution, very effective at doing its job. I used it for a couple of years but eventually switched to NOD32. I found BitDefender a bit slow and whenever it performed an automatic update of the virus definitions it would lock up my PC whilst the new definitions were applied.
well , i am trying to download aol Active Virus Shield……but is it that, after some time or months it will stop updating? or some problems in old version of antivirus with no new updates would happen?
plz let me know
now AOL has McAfee in its aol Active Virus Shield…..but am talking about the kaspersky version of aol Active Virus Shield
every body . I had used most of the anti viruses , among the kaspersky and nod32 are the best antivirus softwares. Other’s are all waste. My friend used avg and his operating system failed, he changed his operating system due to the viruses,the condition happened to me when i used bit defender. So please use either kaspersky or nod32.
I just thought of something. The AVG antivirus setup file is probably available on P2P networks and torrents
The biggest threat on the Internet today are undetectable RATs/Trojans, which pretty much means they bypass all AV engines in the market.
If you do some research on underground forums where these ‘tools’ are available, it is a general consensus amongst the programmers and ‘hackers’ that Kaspersky is the best (even though it too is bypassed with a fully undetectable RAT, or crypters that make them FUD).
I’d trust the opinion of the people writing and using the RATs to know what’s the hardest to bypass.
Hi
The link
3. Active Virus Shield by AOL version 6.0.0.308 - 99.13%
Now points to a page trying to sell McAfee Virus Scan - can you update the posting please and maybe give your views on it?
Thanks
Craig
Active Virus Shield has been replaced by AOL with their McAfee substitute:
http://cybernetnews.com/2007/0.....or-mcafee/
Personally I don’t like McAfee at all so I wouldn’t use it, but it surely beats paying for their software. I’m sure this will be tested in the next round though.
Avast is the best!!!
Just want to mention that if you install any two anti-viruses without fully uninstalling the other one, the consequences will be bad. Don’t blame kaspersky. And btw, if you’re looking for a great firewall, ZoneAlarm Pro is probably the best.
~
Rob
Some programs will notify you that you have another antivirus already installed before continuing, and that you have to remove it.
Will you be updating this soon to include the new norton?
I don’t think the results will change all that much, but we are awaiting new results to come in.
i used avast for 2 years and never had any problem with the system but yes, good things have been heard about Kaspersky.
I AM USING NOD32 ANTI VIRUS AND IT IS WORKING REALLY GOOD.
I ADVISE YOU TO BUY IT.
IT IS ONE IN KIND.
I was glad to see Kaspersky doing well in the 2008 reviews. Ive been using BitDefender myself.
hi guys,
i have used avast,kaspersky,bitdefender and nod 32 and among these i feel nod 32 is the best. it doesnt even utilize much of the cpu resources compared to others.
I belive in home product NOD = made in Slovakia ….its now one of best antivirus….. i have this porduct iam happy with this …AOL shield sux
:lol:
Sorry… My Previous Computer Had Bitdefender Total Security 2008 On It And I Needed Ti Uninstall Bitdefender Due To The Amount Of Memory Usage It Swallowed Up! My Computer Became Almost Unuseable!
What’s With The Capitalizing Of The First Letter Of Each Word?
How do I delete AOl Antivirus 1.0?
BISHWARUP AND dEBOPAM SIR…….
WAR AGAINST THE VIRUSES……..
VICTORY…….
YAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOO
Avast is the bestest.
Bidefender is the worstest.
Kaspersky has good skin but poor virus detection.
Panda is so cute.
Hi Ryan (Author of article)
Thanks for the nice article.
but its now nearing a year since u wrote this.. right?
so how about a new one ?
Also I saw the other article to which u wrote this as a follow up.
In there the link : “…., please read our most recent article…. ” also is v. old
So I guess its high time u write a new one
R
Thanks
Keep it up
PS : By the way, Pl indicate where u get these ratings.
We provide updates as they become available. You must not have looked around the site because there is a newer article available:
http://cybernetnews.com/2007/1.....ive-tests/
Check the second paragraph of the article.
Big surprise : only 19 anti virus are better than Norton ?
The 2007 version seems to have improved a lot.
I don’t see Avira AntiVir (the free version is already better than norton).
The number of program tested should be improved but already great job.
Anyway, lets keep surfing without any antivirus on linux
so i cannot comment on nod32. kaspersky is really good always scanning but interms of the overall package bitdefender total security and not just antivirus. it updates via net, its interface is the best, it has tune up on it as well also a backup so if ur computer malfunctions then u can run the backup, it has parental control, man it just got everything in one.
I feel 100% confident in it. I more than recommend BITDEFENDER TOTAL SECURITY 2008 to professionals as well as non-professionals.
There is a relatively new program called Vipre by Sunbelt. There are hardly any tests available yet, but I read in one source that it is pretty good. I have installed the trial version (15 days) a few days ago, will do various online scans at the end of the trial perdios to see if I’ve contracted any malware using Vipre. The company is even US-based, unlike Kaspersky, Bitdefender, ESET etc., which are all from the Eastern Europe/Russia
I wonder if one can trust Kaspersky, given the nationalist Russian hacker scene.
Most of those companies (except for the German Avira) have a weird pricing policy in place, charging some Europeans about twice as much as Americans, I wonder why that is. Bitdefender Total Security for instance is $70 vs. 85 Euros (=$130)
kaspersky is the best l have ever used.its a bit complicated if you dont no how to use it,but its very easy when you do