OneCare fails another detection test

Microsoft product found not up to scratch in AV-Comparatives review.

Respected testing organisation AV-Comparatives has released the results of its latest in-depth test of anti-virus products, with a large batch of products tried out over a wide range of malware. Only one product, Microsoft's Windows Live OneCare, failed to detect enough of the test set to qualify for any level of certification.

As part of a thorough regime of testing, AV-Comparatives runs tests of on-demand detection ability twice a year, pitting products in their most in-depth scanning modes against a vast collection of samples. Top of the test tables this time were GData's AntiVirusKit and AEC's TrustPort (reviewed in the latest issue of Virus Bulletin, available to subscribers here), both multi-engine products which spotted over 99% of the samples. Products from Avira, F-Secure, Kaspersky and MicroWorld also made the top 'Advanced+' grade.

The detection level required for certification at the lowest level, 'Standard', was recently raised from 80% to 85%, and the Microsoft product missed this, scoring just 82.4% overall. As this minimum level of detection is a requirement for inclusion in the review, OneCare risks being excluded from further testing.

'It's very disappointing to see a major product not reaching a good enough level of detection,' said Andreas Clementi, who runs the AV-Comparatives testing. 'For the sake of their customers, I hope Microsoft will be working hard to improve things and ensure OneCare offers full protection to its users.'

OneCare came last in the detection tables for both viruses and trojans. In a further test of polymorphic virus samples, OneCare was placed 15th out of the 17 entries, with fully reliable detection of only four of the 12 viruses used. Microsoft's product also failed to achieve VB100 certification in our recent test of products available for the Windows Vista platform.

McAfee and Doctor Web products achieved the AV-Comparatives 'Standard' grading, with several others including Symantec, BitDefender, Alwil, Grisoft, Eset, Norman, Frisk and Fortinet attaining the 'Advanced' level. Full details of the test results and methodologies can be found at the AV-Comparatives.org website, here.