Author Topic: Long time user of Avast Free surprised by Av-Comparatives results  (Read 15495 times)

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Hi All (and Avast folks),

I am a long time user of Avast Free Antivirus and have been pleased that I personally have not caught a virus on my computer since using it (together With Malwarebytes Antimalware Pro).  I keep abreast of the testing done by the team at av-comparatives and have to admit that I was a bit shocked by the poor standing of Avast versus the competition for the latest set of testing results (March - June 2014) - http://www.av-comparatives.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/avc_prot_2014a_en.pdf

Not much more to say really other than I do hope this is a temporary glitch in the detection rate.  Avast was always the best of the "free" bunch" in my opinion but it looks like some of the other one's are taking the title??

I appreciate that the Avira product used is the paid version as is bitdefender but nevertheless to see Avast so far behind Avira is a bit of a shock to say the least. The basic detection should not be vastly different between the Avira paid and free.  Avast always used to be heads above Avira and especially AVG (which is consistently poor) but not it seems that even AVG has a better protection rate.  To be below AVG is saying something.

Cheers,
Paul
 

Offline Para-Noid

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Re: Long time user of Avast Free surprised by Av-Comparatives results
« Reply #1 on: August 16, 2014, 02:51:33 PM »
I rarely put much stock on the so-called tests. The only test that
matters to me is from my own experience. Infection free for several years.  8)
Dell Inspiron, Win10x64--HP Envy Win10x64--Both systems Avast Free v17.9.2322, Comodo Firewall v8.2 w/D+, MalwareBytes v3.0, OpenDNS, Super Anti-Spyware, Spyware Blaster, MCShield, Unchecky, Vivaldi Browser and, various browser security tools.

"Look before you leap!" Use online scanners before you click on any link.

Offline Secondmineboy

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Re: Long time user of Avast Free surprised by Av-Comparatives results
« Reply #2 on: August 16, 2014, 02:53:54 PM »
Also in Avast 2015 (https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=153511.0) there will be Dyna-Gen, NG Machine Technology, improved DeepScreen and something else they do not tell us yet in Beta 2, so Avast should be better in the next Version.
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Re: Long time user of Avast Free surprised by Av-Comparatives results
« Reply #3 on: August 16, 2014, 03:15:23 PM »
I too take more heed of my own experience and I have not had a problem for 3 years or more.  Then again - I have the following set-up:

   Avast Free - Always latest version
   MBAM Pro (realtime protection)

I can't really comment on my own situation as MBAM may well be picking up things that Avast misses (and vice versa of course).

av-comparatives is well respected for being a very good "real world test" however and one can't just ignore it completely.

Cheers,
Paul
« Last Edit: August 16, 2014, 03:18:15 PM by smipx013 »

Offline Lisandro

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Re: Long time user of Avast Free surprised by Av-Comparatives results
« Reply #4 on: August 16, 2014, 04:33:58 PM »
I'm not happy with these test results either...
The best things in life are free.

Offline Para-Noid

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Re: Long time user of Avast Free surprised by Av-Comparatives results
« Reply #5 on: August 16, 2014, 04:52:31 PM »
I'm not that concerned since each a/v goes up and then down and then back up again.
One time avast does great the next test not so great. It's cyclical from test to test.
Dell Inspiron, Win10x64--HP Envy Win10x64--Both systems Avast Free v17.9.2322, Comodo Firewall v8.2 w/D+, MalwareBytes v3.0, OpenDNS, Super Anti-Spyware, Spyware Blaster, MCShield, Unchecky, Vivaldi Browser and, various browser security tools.

"Look before you leap!" Use online scanners before you click on any link.

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Re: Long time user of Avast Free surprised by Av-Comparatives results
« Reply #6 on: August 16, 2014, 05:50:26 PM »
True.....  (about being cyclical) the previous cycle of testing showed avast to be on top of AVG and Avira.

Still a bit of a concern for the Avast team though I would have thought.  Would be nice to hear what their official take on the result for this quarter is.

Cheers,
Paul

Offline Para-Noid

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Re: Long time user of Avast Free surprised by Av-Comparatives results
« Reply #7 on: August 16, 2014, 06:14:16 PM »
I have a feeling avast is concentrating on the new version v2015 beta 1.

https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=153511.msg1115934#msg1115934
Dell Inspiron, Win10x64--HP Envy Win10x64--Both systems Avast Free v17.9.2322, Comodo Firewall v8.2 w/D+, MalwareBytes v3.0, OpenDNS, Super Anti-Spyware, Spyware Blaster, MCShield, Unchecky, Vivaldi Browser and, various browser security tools.

"Look before you leap!" Use online scanners before you click on any link.

Offline Lisandro

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Re: Long time user of Avast Free surprised by Av-Comparatives results
« Reply #8 on: August 16, 2014, 09:05:28 PM »
I'm not that concerned since each a/v goes up and then down and then back up again.
One time avast does great the next test not so great. It's cyclical from test to test.
When did you see avast! goes up in these tests?
The best things in life are free.

Offline Para-Noid

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Re: Long time user of Avast Free surprised by Av-Comparatives results
« Reply #9 on: August 16, 2014, 09:58:10 PM »
avast has been over 99% and lower than 97% in the past couple of years.
So my conclusion is...up and down the up and down.
Dell Inspiron, Win10x64--HP Envy Win10x64--Both systems Avast Free v17.9.2322, Comodo Firewall v8.2 w/D+, MalwareBytes v3.0, OpenDNS, Super Anti-Spyware, Spyware Blaster, MCShield, Unchecky, Vivaldi Browser and, various browser security tools.

"Look before you leap!" Use online scanners before you click on any link.

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Re: Long time user of Avast Free surprised by Av-Comparatives results
« Reply #10 on: September 24, 2014, 07:20:26 PM »
Latest tests show Avast is at about 96% and is now being consistently beaten by AVG Free, BD Free and Avira Free.

Seems to be pretty consistent now which is a real worry.

Offline DavidR

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Re: Long time user of Avast Free surprised by Av-Comparatives results
« Reply #11 on: September 24, 2014, 07:59:04 PM »
Latest tests show Avast is at about 96% and is now being consistently beaten by AVG Free, BD Free and Avira Free.

Seems to be pretty consistent now which is a real worry.

In all honesty I can't get excited about these tests - some of the shield/s activity can't be replicated in on-demand scans.

I tend to go by my own personal experience of over ten years using avast without infection - whilst I'm pretty well covered by avast and mbam pro, I do have proactive measure also. But I still don't really get much in the way of alerts, other than when I go looking into sites (checking out things from the viruses and worms forum) that are likely to alert.
Windows 10 Home 64bit/ Acer Aspire F15/ Intel Core i5 7200U 2.5GHz, 8GB DDR4 memory, 256GB SSD, 1TB HDD/ avast! free 24.2.6105 (build 24.2.8918.824) UI 1.0.799/ Firefox, uBlock Origin, uMatrix/ MailWasher Pro/ Avast! Mobile Security

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Re: Long time user of Avast Free surprised by Av-Comparatives results
« Reply #12 on: September 25, 2014, 03:03:29 AM »
Avira has always been famous for high detection rate. I'll not be surprised to see Avira tops together with BD/BD-OEM products in the tests.

However, take it easy. MBAM is a good addition to any Anti-virus software. A proactive software, e.g. OFP or Comodo, could add another layer of control (if you don't mind sometimes-too-many popup alerts).


Offline Staticguy

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Re: Long time user of Avast Free surprised by Av-Comparatives results
« Reply #13 on: September 25, 2014, 04:33:47 AM »
I won't even think about trusting the test from AV-comparatives. I have been using many antivirus programs some free some paid. Paid are: Norton, McAfee, and Trend Micro. Free are: Microsoft Security Essentials, Panda Free Antivirus, AVG Free, and Ad-Aware. All these antivirus software that I have used I have been using them on and off. Funny thing here is that I haven't mentioned about Avast! and this is where it gets funny  :P

Not until my younger brother who found out about the very 1st version of Avast!7 via internet and about the cool new features and reading user experience and comments. He then introduced it to me. From that moment on till now my 100% complete trust is still on Avast! He and me installed avast on both of our laptops. Only for the desktop we have AVG 2015 Free installed.

Since the installation of Avast!7 - current when ever we want to scan our downloaded files from our friend's computer and transfer it to our laptop and we scan it, it detects real threats and detects false alarms Avast! always does the "P" job= "PERFECT" job  :) As long as we don't go to malicious sites, download dodgy software/program, download pirated games, and etc like me and my brother do. Your laptop/computer will stay malware free. In addition to that we both have including our desktop MBAM FREE and SAS. Stay safe everyone  :)
DELL Inspiron 15" 7000 Gaming, Windows 10 Home Version 21H1 (OS Build 19043.1237), Trend Micro Maximum Security 2021 (17.0.1333), Avast SecureLine VPN (5.12.5655), Windows Firewall, Unchecky 1.2

Offline TrueIndian

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Re: Long time user of Avast Free surprised by Av-Comparatives results
« Reply #14 on: September 25, 2014, 05:19:27 AM »
Avast! performance was pretty poor for my point of view.I am hoping to see better with 2015 version.They improved their reaction times alot over this month so we will see what happens with ahead versions.

http://www.av-comparatives.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/avc_factsheet2014_08.pdf

Quote
The results are based on 669 live test cases

669?? but there is more than 50,0000 malware coming out everyday.This is like a drop in the bucket!! So we have like millions and billions of samples for like 1 month and they are testing against a few hundreds for 1 month when 669 or even a few thousands for just 1 day test wont be enough.

If you want to go to suspicious sites, just prepare to be infected anyway and make the precautions as backups and not storing anything even moderately sensitive on your machine.

I have mentioned some flaws about these tests earlier on.The usual points about static testing are:
a) the tests are carried long after the real infection took place, so it's kind of useless from today's point of view
b) the tests are carried without any context state information. Such information - if there is file named "document.doc .exe" in email, this is enough to ban the execution
c) the proactive tests are carried only with the signature engines - they don't test the other generic protection engines the products may have
d) the tests don't know anything about the relationship of the samples. If you detect the dropper, you don't have to detect the dropped binary.
« Last Edit: September 25, 2014, 05:22:53 AM by True Ind »