24 antivirus products for Windows 8.1 tested - only two with perfect score

Windows 8.1 users who like to use an antivirus product should go for Avira or Kaspersky Lab, according to the latest test of German antivirus testers AV-Test. In total 24 antivirus applications for consumers were compared on 'real world' scenarios like protection, usability and performance.

myce-windows8.1-antivirus-november2014

ADVERTISEMENT

In total each product could score 18 points, 6 points for each category. The protection score was earned by scoring high on protection against zero-day malware attacks and detection of malware from the last month. For the performance test the virus-scanners were tested for their impact on system performance when e.g. visiting websites, downloading and installing software and copying data. Usability scores were determined based on e.g. false positives.

Avira, Kaspersky, Bitdefender, Symantec, Trend Micro, Comodo, G Data, F-Secure, Panda Free and Ahnlab all scored the maximum 6 points for protection. Windows Defender was the only to score 0 points, the software only detected 70% of the zero-day malware from September and October. When frequently occurring malware from the last 4 weeks was tested, Windows Defender detected 80%. The best scanners scored 100% on both malware sets.

When it comes to performance there are less scanners that achieved a perfect score. Only Avira, Kaspersky Labs, Bitdefender and Kingsoft scored the maximum 6 points. Windows Defender was in the middle with a score of 4.5. On usability, especially on "false positives", the Microsoft scanner scored the maximum 6 points along with many other scanners.

ADVERTISEMENT

After all tests were completed only Avira and Kaspersky Labs scored all 18 points. Windows Defender and ThreatTrack failed to earn a AV-Test certificate, which is only awarded to antivirus products with more than 10 points and at least 1 point for each test.

No posts to display