Windows XP Professional comparative review
After re-testing, Panda Antivirus Platinum's on-access
scanner product gains a VB 100% award.
Since the publication of the Windows XP comparative
review in the June edition of Virus Bulletin (see VB June
2002, p.16), a number of the tests have continued in the
interests of determining the cause of problems which
arose during these tests. The following conclusions have
been drawn.
Panda Antivirus Platinum
The review noted that Panda Antivirus Platinum's on-access
scanner did not function when tested. Clearly this was an
issue about which the developers were concerned, and the
tests were repeated at that time, gaining the same result.
However, more recent tests, using the same hardware
and software, have not demonstrated these problems. The
lack of functionality noted in the review cannot, therefore,
be taken to be indicative of a reproducible problem with
the software.
Discussions with other developers have confirmed that
the type of problem described is not uncommon with
Windows XP. One theory put forward is that, at boot-up, XP
does not always load all operating system components in
the same order. With anti-virus programs being interwoven
with the OS to an extreme degree, this might be a cause of
such oddities.
NAI VirusScan
Also noted in the review was the fact
that the sample of W32/Gibe.A was
missed In the Wild by NAI VirusScan.
This proved to be the result of an
update method which, despite
updating virus definitions, did not
fully update the underlying engine.
While this was the update method
provided by the vendor, the results are not indicative of
those which would have been obtained had SuperDAT files
been used rather than DAT files.
The test results as published in the June issue are correct for
the older engine tested, however, it should be noted that
when subsequent tests were performed using SuperDAT
files as an upgrade method, no files were missed by
VirusScan In the Wild. Therefore, with the current 4.1.60
engine the product would qualify for the VB 100% award.
28 June 2002
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