AV-test.org is a group with over 25 years experience in anti-virus research and data security. And they have awarded Microsoft Security Essentials their certificate of approval. A total of 19 AV and security applications were tested, all but 4 got certified: Trend Micro Internet Security Pro 2010, BullGuard Internet Security 9.0, Norman Security Suite 8.0 and McAfee Internet Security 2010.
The team at AV-Test said: "During April, May and June 2010 we continuously evaluated 19 security products using their default settings. We always used the most current publicly available version of all products for the testing. They were allowed to update themselves at any time and query their in-the-cloud services. We focused on realistic test scenarios and challenged the products against real-world threats. Products had to demonstrate their capabilities using all components and protection layers."
The products were tested in the following categories:
AV applications were scored between 0.0 (worst)-6.0 (best). Security Essentials scored 4.0 for protection, 4.5 for repair and 5.5 for usability.
The Windows Security Blog was pleased with the certification and said the following:
"the most important validation of AV quality comes from independent certification organizations like VB100, AV-Test and others. With the current version of Microsoft Security Essentials and the new version now available in beta, our commitment remains constant: to provide security you can trust that is easy to use and provides protection that runs quietly and efficiently in the background, ensuring a great Windows user experience."
The top three AV applications were Panda Internet Security 2010, Norton Internet Security 2010 and Kaspersky Internet Security 2010. but none got higher than a score of 5.5.
