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Secunia exploits security suites flaws

A new report (PDF) from Secunia is raising awareness about the need to patch vulnerabilities and block malware from desktops.

The report found that "security vendors do not focus on vulnerabilities." And while Symantec Norton Internet Security 2009 bests the 11 other suites tested, Secunia found that Symantec "detected a mere 64 out of 300 exploits, or less than one-fourth, leaving 236 exploits undetected." Overall the dozen products all received an "F" on the report.

The Secunia test departed from the traditional testing done by organizations such as AV-test.org and AV-comparatives.org, which … Read more

Post-launch frenzy: What can you actually use?

There were over 120 different products launched in the past week and the sad truth is that you're only able to use about half of them.

I spent the greater part of Thursday dropping all of the launch companies from the TechCrunch50 and DemoFall conferences into a spreadsheet and making a note on which ones were open to the public--including technology you might not be running out the door to get, like Microstaq's silicon expansion valve (although it's cool--literally).

Here's what I found:

Of the 124 products between both conferences, CNET covered approximately 60 percent of … Read more

Independent antivirus test labs join forces

Corrected at 6:50 a.m. PDT March 26: The last paragraph has been revised to correctly describe a second antivirus partnership.

The Anti-Malware Test Lab and AV-Comparatives.org announced on Tuesday an alliance designed to create one of the most respected sources of objective, independent information about antivirus products.

Together, the pair said, they intend by year's end to create a unique system of integrated tests for determining the effectiveness of commercial antivirus software.

Andrea Clementi, founder of AV-Comparatives, said in a statement that "the partnership with Anti-Malware Test Lab will allow us to evaluate more aspects … Read more

Microsoft OneCare did/did not improve in recent AV tests

After finishing dead last in a comparative antivirus test, Microsoft Windows Live OneCare recently garnered some positive press. The latest tests performed by AV-Comparatives.org seem to show an improvement, with OneCare moving up two places. While OneCare is certified by West Coast Labs and ICSA, it is the competitive independent antivirus testing results that mean more in terms of how well a product performs in the real world against real malware. Thus, some might argue that things are looking up for the nascent Redmond antimalware team.

That's until you look closer at the tests. AV-Comparatives performed two different … Read more