Labs

Anti virus exposed

An anti-virus program needs to detect and remove viruses effectively. Viruses can enter a computer in many ways: via email, from an infected CD, flash drive, web download, from a file server or even over an internet messaging (IM) chat session. We have tested the most likely routes, attempting to infect our test systems with the latest and most common threats. We've also thrown in Trojans that hackers and practical jokers use to take control of your PC.

Each test system runs Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 and patched with the latest security updates. Default settings are left intact. Windows is told not to download further updates during the testing period. The anti-virus programs are installed and updated on the same day so none benefits unfairly from having newer updates.

The test PCs are located on a secure network that allows us to monitor malicious activity should an anti-virus program fail to detect a virus and allow it to run. Viruses are never allowed to leak out on to the internet. The sample viruses that we used were supplied by email security company MessageLabs.

Sometimes virus files can become corrupt and fail to work. They may be detected by some anti-virus programs but not others. All the samples used in these tests have been verified as working viruses.

In situations where an anti-virus program failed to detect a virus or Trojan, we actually infected the system to prove that the threat was real. In one case, with ZoneAlarm, the firewall part of the program prevented the Trojan calling home. The system was still compromised, however.