Internet Explorer 9 - the first on protecting users

Internet Explorer 9 is still the most secure browser! In Q2 2011 the company NSS Labs conducted independent research in 20 European countries from Britain to Russia, during which explored how many qualitatively different browsers block websites containing malicious code.

The results showed that due to the filter SmartScreen, Internet Explorer 9 can detect and block 92 per cent malicious websites, it is more than 7 times higher than in other browsers such as Firefox 4 (13 percent) and Chrome 10 (13 percent).

Also, thanks to the "Application Reputation" feature, Internet Explorer 9 identifies remaining 8 percent of threats and warn the user about the danger of downloading malicious software.

Internet Explorer provides additional protection and prevents attacks that use social engineering, detecting and blocking malicious web sites and downloadable files, even if they do not identify with antivirus software. Daily Internet Explorer 9 blocks of 3 to 5 million attacks, far more than any other browser. So if you are using an earlier version of Internet Explorer, you should definitely download Internet Explorer 9!

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Microsoft Security Essentials - the most widely used antivirus

According to last reports of company OPSWAT, Microsoft Security Essentials is the most popular anti-virus appendix all over the world.

Microsoft Security Essentials it is used on 10.66 % from 43 000 computers tested OPSWAT worldwide. It exceeds results Avira Antivir Personal taken the second place with an indicator - 10.18 %e. Free antivirus AVAST! has taken the third place from 8.66 %.

However if to look at world market shares of sellers, Microsoft takes of the fourth position with an indicator of 11.24 %, conceding Avira (12.29 %), AVAST Software (12.37 %) and AVG Technologies (also 12.37 %). This distinction is connected by that other suppliers of anti-virus decisions have more than one product that in the sum gives the big share.

Company OPSWAT has noticed in the research that the gain of a share of market MSE "can be connected with advantage of distribution which is available at Microsoft Security Essentials thanks to convenient installation through Windows Update and unobstructed integration with popular browser IE". Also, undoubtedly, there is one more plus which consists that Microsoft Security Essentials is the free anti-virus decision and it certainly helps with a rating.

According to Microsoft, an antivirus already have downloaded more than 30 million users all over the world!

Comparative testing of antivirus products from AV-Comparatives.org (Summer 2011)

AV-Comparatives regularly holds testing of anti-virus products by two various ways - the test of proactive protection (reveals ability of antiviruses to find out attack of harmful programs) and the test of signature protection (checks as antiviruses use the dictionary of known viruses for detection of new threats).

The test of proactive protection

In comparison with the previous tests executed in November of last year, results of many tested programs have decreased.

In the proactive test of the highest rating (ADVANCED +) have received Avira and Kaspersky.

Rating "ADVANCED" have received - G Data, ESET, Panda, TrustPort, Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0, F-Secure, BitDefender, and eScan.

The rating - "STANDART", has earned antivirus Sophos.

Despite decrease in indicators, ability of anti-virus products to detection of harmful programs has hardly decreased.

Testing of complex remedies

Full dynamic test was conducted jointly antivirus AV-Comparatives and the Institute of Innsbruck was supported by the Austrian government. Testing was conducted every day for several months. System under the protection of seventeen antivirus exposed to thousands of malicious URL-addresses. Using the automated procedure that determines whether the antivirus blocking malicious attacks, missed it or have requested user's discretion.

The full report and comparative analysis of results for 2011 will be published in July.

Fastest antivirus software 2010

Fastest antivirus software 2010

Russia independent information-analytical center Anti-Malware.ru decided to find out which of the fastest antivirus software. The estimation was made for speed and the consumption of system resources.

Tests gave an entertaining result. Fastest boot the computer, which as a means to combat malware have been installed Avira, Trend Micro, F-Secure and Norton. These programs are only a 10% increase in the standard boot time. And the worst on this indicator were found Sophos and Panda - 60%. On the other hand, the minimum amount of RAM in idle mode consumes Antivirus BitDefender, Kaspersky, Panda and Outpost - they are satisfied with 50 MB of RAM.

No less important was the test that monitors in real time. Unparalleled showed antivirus Avast. Little behind him Antivirus Avira, Norton, BitDefender, Sophos, AVG, Kaspersky Internet Security and Panda. However, we must bear in mind that in reality work Avira, Norton, BitDefender, and Kaspersky Anti-Virus will run faster due to embedded system optimization subsequent audits.

The best on-demand scanning speed showed antivirus Avira. Few gave him Kaspersky Anti-Virus, Norton, BitDefender, F-Secure and Outpost.

After a series of tests, the researchers Malware.ru noted that among the leaders in nominations "the fastest anti-virus monitoring," "fastest virus scanner on demand" and "the fastest anti-virus software to work with office software, most often provided to Avira and BitDefender -- three references. Behind them are Avast, AVG and Norton. Without the "awards" were anti-virus software from Microsoft and Dr.Web. What is the truth, not to say that they are bad, just not very fast.

Fastest antivirus software 2011 (may 2011)

The new test, we measured and compared the parameters that affect how the user perceives the rate of anti-virus programs, namely:

• Time of loading the operating system Windows;
• Size of memory consumption and CPU usage;
• The speed of copying files (on-access antivirus scanner);
• Scan speed (speed of a virus scanner);
• Speed of start of five widespread office programs.  

The received results give a fair idea of speed of the presented anti-virus programs. Having compared this data with results of other tests Anti-Malware.ru, any user can make the realized choice in favor of this or that anti-virus decision.


The fastest antivirus monitors:


Platinum Award: Avira, AVG, ZoneAlarm, Avast, Kaspersky, Eset, Trend Micro, Dr.web
Gold Award: BitDefender, PC tools, Outpost, F-Secure, Norton, Emsisoft
Silver Award: Comodo
Bronze Award: G Data
Unrewarded: Panda, Microsoft, McAfee, VBA32

The fastest virus scanner on demand (on-demand scanner):

Platinum Award: Avira

Gold Award: BitDefender, F-Secure, Norton, G Data, Kaspersky, Outpost
Silver Award: Trend Micro, Eset, Avast
Bronze Award: AVG, ZoneAlarm, Panda, PC Tools, MaAfee, Emsisoft
Unrewarded: Comodo, Microsoft, Dr. Web, VBA32
Antivirus Ratings

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Microsoft Security Essentials recognized as one of the best free antivirus

Until now, there is no and can not exist a test that is 100% correctly assesses the effectiveness of antivirus software. If desired, virtually any manufacturer can create an environment in which his program would be ahead of competitors. Nevertheless, there are several very well-known and recognized companies in the analysis of anti-virus software, the results are worth paying attention. For example, AV-Comparatives.org not only put an antivirus Microsoft in the group of the most effective solutions "Advanced +" (recall that the AV-Comparatives.org divides the anti-virus software in three categories), but also found a Microsoft product the fastest among the free antivirus programs.

It is also interesting that Microsoft Security Essentials - one of the two antivirus programs (including fee), which also has the highest rating performance in each subtest, while part of the group's most effective programs for combating malware. From the popular free antivirus in the first group also got Avast, whereas AVG and AVIRA showed more modest results.

by Antivirus Ratings

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Windows patch leads to "black screen of death"

According electronista, according to the developer Prevx, a solution for system security in the operating system Windows, was released recently from Microsoft, can lead to serious disruptions in the operation of computers. The reason lies in the fact that this patch conflicts with some antivirus applications.

According to Prevx, users run some antivirus programs after installing the patch released on November 10 reported that their systems are thrown into the so-called "black screen of death". The screen displays only one window of Explorer. Of course, this does not lead to a complete computer inoperable, but the panel menu "Start" and other functions in the operating systems Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 are unavailable. According to Prevx, a source of the problem is likely to have changes in the Access Control List, which establishes the right of access for each application in the system. Certain programs do not recognize these changes and as a result there is a conflict between them and the actual OS.

Microsoft itself said it was studying the problem of "black screen of death".

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The worm activates, fake anti-virus attacking

According to the latest report by Microsoft, the level of infection by viruses corporate environments in the first half of 2009 grew by 100%.

The most active is Conficker - his methods of reproduction in a secure firewall network environment have proved most effective. Interestingly, the level of infection with the virus home PCs below, according to experts, this is due to the fact that anti-virus software home systems are usually updated automatically.

Taterf worm was detected in the test array PC 156% more than in the second half of 2008, and especially of the players online role-playing games (MMORPG). The success of his attack is linked not only with the use of social engineering, as with the use of unprotected plug drives and uncontrolled file-sharers. At the same time, the prevalence of viruses of the family Zlob has declined considerably, with 21.1 million infected PCs in 2007 to 2.3 million in the first half of 2009

Products and services Microsoft removed malware for 1 st half of 2009 with more than 13 million PCs (in the 2 nd half of 2008 - from 16.8 million PCs).

According to the report, the greatest danger, as always, are fake anti-virus software: millions of people have been the victim «scareware», programs that display false warnings about the infection, hoping to scare users and force it to download a fake antivirus.

The infection rate and rating of risks vary depending on the region. The most affluent are Japan, Austria and Germany, where regulations are in place to counter the use of pirated software, and implemented projects in cooperation of Internet providers and others organizations for user training, network security, identify botnets and countering them.

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Microsoft Security Essentials is not yet perfect

Released recently antivirus Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) in some cases for several days does not download the latest virus definition updates, despite the fact that they already exist on the server for updates. This conclusion, the authors came to testing conducted for the computer magazine "c't". As a result of the situation, this antivirus is not able to offer a reliable level of protection.

Tests have shown that despite the availability of Internet connection, under certain conditions, MSE can not download updates to the database up to a week. Play these conditions can, for example, if you regularly convert a laptop into hibernation by closing its lid. Following the resumption of work and time finding the web antivirus still assures the user that all necessary signatures are installed, and that the PC user is protected.

A closer look at the date of the last update yet allows us to understand that the signature is often not updated for a few days, despite the fact that the manufacturer has time for this time to release several new sets of virus databases. Rather, the problem is that the MSE checks for updates in certain strictly defined hours and if at that time the computer is in sleep mode and then restored to its working condition, then the update is not happening.

Let's hope that soon this bug will be fixed, and in Microsoft Security Essentials will be no more problems with updating the antivirus databases.

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Who should be afraid of Microsoft Essentials Security (MSE)?

In early October, news feeds and blog Antivirus Ratings reported that Microsoft has released its own antivirus software Microsoft Essentials Security (MSE), is designed for home users, as well as for those who use their own PCs at work in medium and small company .

It was also reported that the new product is distributed for free. The only requirement: the operating system, under which installed Microsoft Essentials Security, must be genuine. That is, the appropriate test to withstand the Microsoft. However, this is not surprising. Even the updates for pirated Windows will not be installed.

MSE - not the first experience of Microsoft in the field of information security. If we talk about client applications, many remember the service OneCare, as well as anti-spyware program Windows Defender. However, both products are not sufficiently known. As for the corporate segment, there is Microsoft offers a package of Forefront Client Security, which, of course, already subject to a fee basis.

But who will compete Microsoft Essentials Security? It is clear that in the first place, free antivirus. However, such programs are not so much. Development of anti-virus - a process quite laborious, and requires sustained financial and human resources. In this segment of the MSE has an opportunity to become a leader, because a number of parameters it surpasses free antivirus programs. First of all - to the promised update frequency. The new base for the product are produced every few days, just as happens in the market of commercial products.

In addition, due to low system requirements of Microsoft's new antivirus certainly interested users netbooks.

But whether Microsoft Essentials Security to compete with commercial products? I think that the well-established brands do not have to worry. They always find to get around than the free product. What do you think?

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Microsoft Security Essentials was detected 98% viruses
Recommended anti-virus for Windows 7


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Microsoft Security Essentials was detected 98% viruses

Free Antivirus Microsoft Security Essentials was detected 98% of more than half a million samples of malicious code. During the test conducted by AV-Test.org, is released on September 29 anti-virus program was rated "very good".

Testing conducted on Windows XP Service Pack 3, Vista SP2 and Windows 7 final version.

The tests took place in two stages. First Security Essentials was asked to identify the 3,7 thousands of viruses, trojans and worms taken from a fresh list of WildList. The product is detected, all samples from this list. Then antivirus was invited 545.344 samples.

Security Essentials 536.535 samples was detected, accounting for 98,4% of the total. In a further test for the detection of spyware and adware antivirus showed the result in 90,9%. The program also found all of the 25 rootkits.

However, experts from the AV-Test.org argue that despite good performance in our tests, Security Essentials still has one major drawback - the program does not have any technology, such as heuristic analysis, which can detect unknown viruses.

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How to provide anti-virus protection?

Antivirus Ratings

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Recommended anti-virus for Windows 7

Microsoft published a list of antivirus software, which it recommends be used with Windows 7. Of course, the point is not primarily for personal liking Microsoft, but it is compatible with the new operating system.

There are currently supports the following products:

Webroot

Rising

Avg

Norton

Kaspersky

F-Secure

BitDefender

Sunbelt Software

GData

Avast!

Panda

AhnLab

ESET

McAfee

Microsoft Security Essentials

BullGuard

Trend Micro

The list is constantly updated, so if you switch to Windows 7, check for updated information.

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Microsoft has released a free antivirus

On the official Microsoft site appeared final version of the free antivirus software Microsoft Security Essentials.

Microsoft Security Essentials program will provide a basic level of protection for users operating system Windows 7, Vista and XP. The program replaces the built-in solution Windows Defender, disabling it during installation.

On the new development of Microsoft became aware in November 2008, when the corporation announced a waiver of a paid anti-virus Windows Live OneCare in favor of free solutions, codenamed Morro. In June 2009, Microsoft invited the residents of the United States, Israel, China and Brazil to take part in a limited beta test a new product. The program is called Microsoft Security Essentials.

In June, the German company AV-Test tested the quality of the new program and found it "very good" compared to competing solutions. Anti-virus program from Microsoft has successfully recognized the 3200 common threats to computer and not allow false positives.

For business users, offers a paid solution Forefront. New version of the commercial anti-virus, code-named Stirling is now undergoing beta testing. It is built on the same core as free software Security Essentials. In the Forefront Protection Suite, which will be released in 2010, will be able to manage Group Policy, an integrated firewall, support for technology NAP (Network Access Protection) and other functions that are not in free version.

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