Microsoft Security Essentials Fails Anti-Virus And Anti-Malware Testing

Microsoft Security Essentials has failed anti-virus and anti-malware testing. Microsoft’s anti-virus suite was one of only three programs to fail tests performed by independent laboratory AV-Test.

The anti-virus tests were conducted in late 2012 and involved Microsoft Security Essentials 4.1. The only other programs to fail the company’s independent testing were PC Tools Internet Security 2012 and AhnLab Internet Security 8.0.

This is the second time Microsoft’s Security Essentials has failed to become certified during independent testing. Microsoft failed tests for 0-day malware attack protection and recently-created malware detection.

When Microsoft was able to detect malware, it did remove it with high marks. Security Essentials was also found to use less computer resources than other anti-virus programs, allowing for better system performance when it was running.

AV-Test also found that Security Essentials provided no false warnings for programs that were otherwise safe to continue using.

Responding to the failed tests, Microsoft Malware Protection Center program manager Joe Blackbird said only “0.0033 percent of our Microsoft Security Essentials and Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection customers were impacted by malware samples not detected during the test.

Blackbird notes that in December Microsoft processed more than 20 million new and potentially malicious files, blocking more than 4 million other file types.

It should be noted that during testing virus .dat (definition files for detecting viruses) are updated to their most recent state, something consumers may forget to do on a regular basis.

Microsoft reminds customers to keep their virus and malware programs up to date in order to ensure the highest level of removal as possible.