Is Your AntiVirus Getting a Bad RAP?


Bob Rankin evaluates the most recent VB100 AV test results.–PC Pitstop.

Is Your AntiVirus Getting a Bad RAP?

By Bob Rankin

One antivirus program shattered two records in the latest VB100 antivirus protection test. Read on to learn which program dominated a field of 35 competitors to earn the “best overall protection” honors and the highest test score ever recorded in the “proactive detection” category…

VB100 and the RAP Test

The VB100 is a torture test for antivirus programs conducted by The Virus Bulletin publishing and security testing house. Developers voluntarily submit their antivirus software to be run through a rigorous suite of effectiveness and performance tests. (Seldom are there actually 100 candidates, but VB35 just doesn’t have the same cachet as VB100.)

In the VB100 Reactive and Proactive (RAP) test parlance, “reactive testing” indicates how well a security tool scored at detecting known threats, or viruses currently known to exist. The “proactive testing” portion indicates the tool’s ability to detect previously unknown and zero-day threats. Proactive detection is more difficult, of course, because it requires more than just checking the signature of a new file against a database of known malware samples. The behavior of the program must be taken into account.

VB100 and the RAP Test

PC Matic Home Security by PC Pitstop turned some heads by scoring a 95.8% overall in the VB100 RAP test, and a highest-ever score of 92.0% in the PROactive portion. The next highest score on the reactive test was 87.8%, and average score was 78.9%.

How did your AV perform? – Article Continued Here

Excerpt shared with permission from Bob Rankin.

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