Over at Kaspersky anti-virus website, Eugene Kaspersky has posted a very interesting article explaining the problems facing all anti-virus software developers. Some of what he says is evident. Most people pick a anti-virus software program because of hype or because they are sold a bill of good. Some may purchase a anti-virus program because this is all they have ever used and do not like change. But some of what I read in the report, I found interesting, like:

There’s been a great deal written about viruses, hackers, and those who hunt them down - there have even been Hollywood films made on the subject. The developers and vendors of antivirus solutions use their web sites to publicize their achievements. However, there isn’t much information about the problems which the antivirus industry faces. This article, therefore, aims to address this topic and, to some extent, rectify the imbalance.

What problems might the antivirus industry be facing, apart from the market headaches which plague any manufactuer of consumer goods. We all know that viruses exist, and so do antivirus solutions. It might seem that antivirus solutions are a standard consumer product - one solution barely differs from the next. Users choose their product according to design, or marketing, or for some other non-technical reason. Given this, an antivirus solution is, in theory, just another consumer product, like washing powder, toothpaste, or cars.

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) this is not the case. Users often chose an antivirus solution for its technical characteristics, and these differ widely between products. Users often focus on whether or not a specific product protects against a specific type of cyber threat, and the overall level of protection offered.

But this is what hit home the hardest:

It’s also worth mentioning the tests conducted by VirusBulletin (an industry publication) - I am sure that if I didn’t include this, readers would ask why the tests and the resulting VB100% award hadn’t been mentioned. Sadly, these tests are far from perfect. The test standards were developed in the mid-1990s and have barely changed since then. Antivirus products are tested using a collection of files infected by ITW viruses. The award is given on the basis of the test results. However, the ITW collection only contains between two to three thousand files - fewer malicious programs than appear in the wild in the space of a single month. Therefore, a VB100% award doesn’t necessarily mean that a product really provides protection against all types of malware. It simply means that the product copes well with VirusBulletin’s ITW collection, nothing more.

I tend to agree with Mr. Kaspersky on this issue. If we all depend on just one source of information on who has the best anti-virus product, we could be led down a garden path. For years I have been suspect of the VB100% award.
What do you think?

Comments welcome.

Full article here.

[tags]kaspersky, virus, software, protection, report, [/tags]