Anti-virus and anti-malware programs each perform different tasks as it relates to computer security and threat detection. Comparative testing: A bit of background for the uninitiatedĪlthough McAfee is as good as any other well known anti-virus program, IMO, it is better utilized in an Enterprise system environment protecting many client computers.Īlthough Windows 8/10 Defender provides some anti-malware is not adequate enough for comprehensive protection. The changes mean that the certificates produced by the new rules are, to put it mildly, pretty useless for evaluating the merits of different AV products.With AV-TEST’s new certification standards, the onus is on the user to carefully investigate the actual results of each individual test…they may find that a product that blocked 99.9% of attacks has the same “certification” as a product that only blocked 55%. for some unknown reason.the renowned German test lab AV-TEST has quietly (there was no warning) modified its certification process. Some of the testing criteria and standards may even be misleading. As such, you need to look for detailed information about how the tests were conducted, the procedures used, and data results.

There are no universally predefined set of standards or criteria for testing which means each test will yield different results. These kinds of comparative testing results will vary depending on a variety of factors to include but not limited to who conducted the testing, what they were testing for (type of threats, attack vectors, exploits), what versions of anti-virus software was tested, what type of scanning engine was used, and the ability to clean or repair.

There are several reputable labs which test the effectiveness of major anti-virus programs and security suites to include, Virus Bulletin Comparative Tests,, NSS Labs Consumer Anti-Malware Products Group Test Report, etc. In many cases choosing an anti-virus is a matter of personal preference and what works best on a particular system. Each has has its own strengths and weaknesses and they often use a mix of technologies to detect and remove malware. Every vendor's virus lab and program scanning engine is different.

There is no universal ' one size fits all' solution that works for everyone and there is no single best anti-virus.

Is mcafee virus protection worth it