Looking for info on anti-virus programs...

[Ri'Orius]

Hello.

I'm currently doing some research on several anti-virus programs. One
of the big things my boss wants me to find information on is the
impact of the software on performance. I've been browsing this
newsgroup, and you guys definitely have some opinions on the matter.

However, if possible I'd like to find some more citable sources. Do
any of you know of sites that test AV programs and provide concrete,
quantitative data on system impact?

For example, cnet.com has done testing on antiviruses, and provides a
measure of percent of degredation[1]. However, I'm guessing this
doesn't tell the full story, as it says that McAfee causes the least
degredation, whereas on this newsgroup I've read a lot of complaints
about McAfee. Also, Norton scored well on their test, but it seems to
be viewed as a resource hog around here.

So, basically, where do you guys get your information? Is it all
based on personal experience, or is there some site that tests
resource consumption, uninstallability, etc. that has managed to evade
my Googling?

Thanks in advance.

[1]Site: http://reviews.cnet.com/F_Secure_Anti_Virus_Client_Security/4505-3513_7-30588579-4.html?tag=review

 

[Jeffrey A. Setaro]

Hello.

I'm currently doing some research on several anti-virus programs. One
of the big things my boss wants me to find information on is the
impact of the software on performance. I've been browsing this
newsgroup, and you guys definitely have some opinions on the matter.

However, if possible I'd like to find some more citable sources. Do
any of you know of sites that test AV programs and provide concrete,
quantitative data on system impact?

For example, cnet.com has done testing on antiviruses, and provides a
measure of percent of degredation[1].

Personally, I'd suggest reading
<http://www.cyber.com/whitepapers/papers/print/openletter_print.html>
before you put to much faith in Cnet's reviews... From what I've seen
they haven't improved all that much (if at all).

However, I'm guessing this
doesn't tell the full story, as it says that McAfee causes the least
degredation, whereas on this newsgroup I've read a lot of complaints
about McAfee. Also, Norton scored well on their test, but it seems to
be viewed as a resource hog around here.

So, basically, where do you guys get your information?

Personally, I do my own performance testing and read Virus Bulletin's
comparative reviews.

Is it all
based on personal experience, or is there some site that tests
resource consumption, uninstallability, etc. that has managed to evade
my Googling?

Some of it's personal experience... Some of it's personal bias...
Personally, I'll never recommend Symantec or McAfee products simply
because I've had all sorts of problem with them over the years and
their tech support IMHO sucks.

Thanks in advance.

[1]Site: http://reviews.cnet.com/F_Secure_Anti_Virus_Client_Security/4505-3513_7-30588579-4.html?tag=review

Typical Cnet... F-Secure Anti-Virus Client Security is an enterprise
product and it's being compared to two retail products.

Cheers-

Jeff Setaro
jasetaro@SPAM_ME_NOT_mags.net
http://people.mags.net/jasetaro/
PGP Key IDs DH/DSS: 0x5D41429D RSA: 0x599D2A99 New RSA: 0xA19EBD34

 

[null]

Hello.

I'm currently doing some research on several anti-virus programs. One
of the big things my boss wants me to find information on is the
impact of the software on performance. I've been browsing this
newsgroup, and you guys definitely have some opinions on the matter.

However, if possible I'd like to find some more citable sources. Do
any of you know of sites that test AV programs and provide concrete,
quantitative data on system impact?

For example, cnet.com has done testing on antiviruses, and provides a
measure of percent of degredation[1]. However, I'm guessing this
doesn't tell the full story, as it says that McAfee causes the least
degredation, whereas on this newsgroup I've read a lot of complaints
about McAfee. Also, Norton scored well on their test, but it seems to
be viewed as a resource hog around here.

So, basically, where do you guys get your information? Is it all
based on personal experience, or is there some site that tests
resource consumption, uninstallability, etc. that has managed to evade
my Googling?

What most users are concerned with is the impact on speed of the PC
with realtime scanning (an active monitor). There are, no doubt, some
antivirus products which cause less impact than others when you try to
do a "apples to apples" sort of comparison. By the latter I mean with
similar or somewhat equivalent scan settings options. When settings
are overly "paranoid", some realtime monitors might impact the fastest
PCs available today (from what I've heard).

I can only give you one point of reference. The KAV (Kaspersky)
realtime monitors are said to have an impact. Products such as
F-Secure which use that engine would also be expected to have an
impact. Yet, when I run KAV version 3.5 realtime on my older 900 mhz
PIII with 128 ram, I can't tell it's there. I run it with the
so-called "smart" scan settings which avoids scanning certain files
(realtime).

So I don't expect the performance degradation aspect to be your
primary concern or criteria. I suggest that you try evaluation
versions of scanners based on other important criteria on PCs of the
kind you're using and judge for yourself.


Art
http://www.epix.net/~artnpeg

 

[null]

I'm currently doing some research on several anti-virus programs. One
of the big things my boss wants me to find information on is the
impact of the software on performance. I've been browsing this
newsgroup, and you guys definitely have some opinions on the matter.

However, if possible I'd like to find some more citable sources. Do
any of you know of sites that test AV programs and provide concrete,
quantitative data on system impact?

Here's a translation from German of tests done at uni-magdeburg. A
little difficult to read, but you can get the gist:

http://tinyurl.com/4yunm


Art
http://www.epix.net/~artnpeg