;1412712 said:

I thought I would pass this one along here after someone had pointed it out.

VIPRE (who?) tops anti-virus repair test while Microsoft disappoints

Tony Sarno
24 May 2011, 8:59 AM
(9 hours 29 minutes ago.)

An anti-malware package called VIPRE has topped one of the key tests performed by the German security testing company AV-Test. But Microsoft’s Security Essentials was disappointing

The surprise result - VIPRE Antivirus Premium 4.0 got top score in the "Repair" test.

Testing anti-malware software is fraught. Since the effectiveness of security packages varies from day to day depending on what new malware is released, APC magazine has given up trying. Instead, we rely on the test results of some independent security testing bodies whose only job is to test security products, . One of the main testing organisations is AV-Test GmbH, a German company which runs a 20-person lab that regularly tests and certifies consumer and enterprise security software.

The AV-Test for consumer software tests for three main things. One is "Protection," or how effective the anti-malware is at detecting and preventing malware. Two, "Repair," looks at how well the software removes malware and disinfects a PC. And three, "Usability," determines how much the software slows down the system and how many false positives it generates.

The latest tests of 22 consumer anti-malware products for the first quarter of 2011 (Jan-March), have thrown up some real surprises. While the overall winners were F-Secure's Internet Security 2011 and BitDefender's Internet Security Suite 2011, which shared the top overall score (15.5 out of 18), closely followed by Symantec's Internet Security Suite 2011 (15/18), the Repair test was won by an anti-virus package we’d never heard of, VIPRE Antivirus Premium 4.0, which beat giants such as Symantec, Kaspersky, McAfee, AVG and Microsoft to become the software that best cleans out an infection on your PC.

See full report

I've been using VIPRE Antivirus for the past few months its a great bit of software and is growingly popular every month on month. I love it to shreds its much better than Norton or other McAfee rubbish, I would highly recommend it - These big antivirus companies have got to comftable and spend all there money on marketing not the antivirus software itself. To anyone else thinking of getting it, save yourself some cash go to VIPRE Antivirus Coupon. Also I run VIPRE alongside Malwarebytes and that works fine too Ive had no conflicts or problems, overall I would highly recommend VIPRE to anyone its good but they could improve on the GUI seems dated but works fine still.

My system setup: VIPRE + Comdo + Malwarebytes - Seems to run fine
My system spec: 16GB DDR3 RAM, 96GB SSD Drive, 3TB (1X3TB) SATA Drives, AMD 6X 1090T (6Core).

The VIPRE Home Premium edition includes a firewall of it's own. In fact that just tagged a trojan trying to remove the PC Wizard program by sustituting the uninstaller.

I've been putting it through the tests for over a year and wasn't surprized to see the comparison results. The firewall and web filters can seem a little overprotective at times but that also keeps a great deal of bugs from even getting on in the first place.

Note it is no longer called Sunbelt but GFI Software as far as company name there. I should also add in here part of "the Infamous CR Review" seen the day after the article here that went:

Here is a recent test from Malware Research Group that shows VIPRE detecting malware that multiple vendors did not detect.

Threat Name: Zeus (zero-day)
Threat Type: KeyLogger
Risk Level: Severe
Operating System: Windows 7 32-bit Ultimate

Standalone Anti-Malware Applications

Avira AntiVir Premium - Failed
Avast Antivirus Professional - Failed
AVG Antivirus - Failed
BitDefender Antivirus - Failed
BluePoint Security - Passed
Emsisoft Anti-Malware - Failed
Eset Nod32 Antivirus - Failed
F-Secure Antivirus - Failed
G Data Antivirus - Failed
Immunet Protect Plus - Failed
Kaspersky Antivirus - Failed
Microsoft Security Essentials - Failed
McAfee Antivirus Plus - Failed (McAfee always manages to do that! )
Norton Antivirus - Passed
Panda Antivirus - Failed
PC Tools Spyware Doctor with Antivirus - Failed
Prevx - Passed
GFI/Sunbelt VIPRE Antivirus Premium - Passed

Complementary Anti-Malware Applications

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware - Passed
SUPERAntispyware Professional Edition - Failed

Note that is a quote from one part of the Sunbelt SecurityNews regularly seen at http://www.sunbeltsecuritynews.com/

Ok, Im not trying to bash the product as I know little about it admittedly, but Im obviously missing something.

It scored a 3.0 for protection, (although a good repair score) and right below is Norton & Kaspersky with a 5.5 and Bitdefender nabbing a 6.0.

The 3 lowest protection ratings were Viper, McAfee, and ESET with a score of 3.0


So what am I missing in that report thats getting it so much praise?

I never go strictly by reviews alone to start with but in actual use. I found that the detection rate for VIPRE actually surpassed several other av as well as other removers discovering trojans imbedded in old downloads that were never opened I had saved on a separate drive for use on XP.

Different programs as a rule will tend to better detection for certain types of malwares over others. Besides the article look at the quote from the SecurityNews when a different comparison shows a different type of malware where most failed. VIPRE took one of the leading roles there.

What helps VIPRE even more is not being an older software with a newer version but a recent new software with an updated code base. The updated design also takes into consideration the long dreaded problem of "bloatware" other programs are noted for.

Despite the ratings regardless of which program takes the lead there's one thing that none can do being a 100% foolproof security app. Since new malwares can often be more clever in disguise the advantage seen with this one is having several protection layers wrapped up in one program without being a resource grabber.

That was one thing being looked at being a little bit doubtful at first when being pointed at the program. When running the 30 day trial once activated the decision became apparent when it did more then the 3 or 4 separate programs in use at the time which made sense for use here.

That was over a year ago when giving it a try. For anyone looking for a full retail software the 30 day trial would be an idea to see if it will work out for them. The difference over other trial versions is all features are made available during the trial period where other program only provide limited options until paying out for the full versions.

I tried out various programs over the years! That was the one way to find out which would work the best here.

I also confer on occasion with a senior security analyst at times one being part of the staff on anther site I belong to for a different company. Another interest collects malwares to run tests with VIPRE as well as other programs.

As far as any false positives I could rule those by researching the findings in the logs on what was blocked as well as low risk tracking cookies and other things in the scan history. The program also includes a process analyser in the PC Explorer tab when having the control center open where you can look up any running process for more info separately as well as add safe items to the always allow exceptions for the firewall with the Premium edition.

As with any other program if you download something that should trash Windows a manual removal tool may be required. Most companies have their own special tools for certain bugs. The VIPRE Rescue Program is a free stand alone dos like remover that creates a temp folder to run from in order to get Windows back running seen at VIPRE Rescue - VIPRE Computer Recovery Solution from Sunbelt Software

Once Windows operation is restored you still would need to run a full security sweep of the drives you have to locate and remove any downloaders left behind.

malexous said:

malexous said:

Such as?

None?

Simple find out for yourself by trying out each one. Some will have all features available for use in their trial version. Others won't. That also is typical of a variety of softwares besides av products.