Microsoft security essentials review11/25/2023 ICSA Labs and West Coast Labs certify it for virus detection and cleanup. Independent Lab Results All of the major independent test labs include Microsoft in some or all of their tests. Microsoft Security Essentials 4.0 malware blocking chart To understand how my malware blocking tests work, please read How We Test Malware Blocking. This product is definitely better at keeping viruses and other threats from attacking a clean system that it is at wiping out already-present threats. Kaspersky detected 83 percent of these samples, and ZoneAlarm detected and completely blocked every single rootkit. Microsoft detected 67 percent of the samples that use rootkit technology the rest succeeded at hiding their activities. The results aren't directly comparable, since the samples are different, but Microsoft does seem to lag behind its free competition. Avira Free Antivirus 2012 (free, 4 stars) and Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+ 10 (free, 2.5 stars) both detected 91 percent of those threats Avira scored 8.7 points and Ad-Aware 8.3. When tested using my previous malware collection, Comodo Antivirus 2012 (free, 3 stars) detected every single threat and scored 9.1 points. Microsoft's 8.3 points for malware blocking is decent, but others have done better. Kaspersky PURE detected 89 percent of this same sample set while ZoneAlarm detected 95 percent. ![]() The antivirus detected 84 percent of the malware samples either on sight or during the install process. It missed over 20 percent of the modified files, which suggests that its virus signatures might benefit from a little more flexibility. I tweaked a few non-executable bytes in each renamed sample and padded them with nulls to change the file size. I also tested it with a folder containing hand-modified versions of the threats that it wiped out on sight. When I opened a folder containing samples downloaded earlier, Microsoft immediately detected and eliminated over 70 percent. That's pretty good, but the combination of regular antivirus and special download analysis in ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall (free, 3.5 stars) killed 83 percent of those downloads. Microsoft doesn't attempt to block access to malicious URLs, but it eliminated 67 percent of the still-available threats before the download ever finished. Microsoft Security Essentials 4.0 malware removal chartĭecent Malware Blocking I tried to download my current malware collection on a system protected by Microsoft Security Essentials. Even so, I wouldn't rely on Microsoft to clean up a malware-infested system.įor an explanation of the testing and scoring process, see How We Test Malware Removal. Quite a few products tested with the previous malware collection scored lower, despite higher detection rates. However, Microsoft thoroughly cleaned up all the rootkits it did find, scoring 4.0 points. Its overall score of 4.3 points for malware cleanup is the lowest of any current product.Ĥ0 percent detection of rootkit samples is also a new low. It left behind executable files for more than half of those it did detect, and several of them were still running after their alleged removal. Microsoft Security Essentials detected 63 percent of the threats, lower than any product tested with the current or previous set of malware samples. And despite these lengthy scans, the cleanup wasn't very thorough. ![]() Scanning my standard clean test system took 72 minutes, about twice the average. Mediocre Malware Cleanup On the malware-infested systems where Microsoft Security Essentials installed and ran correctly, a full scan took hours. On this particular system the malware bamboozled Microsoft Security Essentials. I ran a full scan using Windows Defender Offline, but it didn't solve the problem. Tech support advised reinstalling Windows, an entirely inappropriate course given that Microsoft's own validation tools report a genuine installation. In truth, the Windows installation was fine, but malware fooled the antivirus into thinking otherwise. On another test system, Microsoft Security Essentials refused to update or scan because it claimed the system was not running a valid copy of Windows. A full scan with this tool solved the problem and allowed me to complete the installation. On the advice of Microsoft Tech Support I downloaded the bootable Windows Defender Offline. Ransomware on one test system made launching normal Windows impossible, and Microsoft Security Essentials won't install in Safe Mode. Saved by Windows Defender Offline Microsoft Security Essentials installed successfully on ten of my twelve malware-infested test systems. Best Hosted Endpoint Protection and Security Software.
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