This post is from 2014. You can check the updated post with the best antivirus for 2019
Computer virus are software that when executed in a given computer (affected area) perform some type of harmful activity. There is a wide range of computer virus with different definitions (malware, trojan, bugs, spyware, and more) according to the way they infect and the harm they produce. Thus, antivirus software was created in order to prevent, detect and remove computer virus.
We have a wide availability of different computer antivirus software, both free and with a given economic license costs. We always have the doubt of which antivirus is the best one. Of course everyone has its own preferences according to its personal needs. Nevertheless, different institutions perform tests on different antivirus available in order to provide guides about their performance. Due to the high dynamic of the IT world, such comparisons are continuously performed and every two months they provide new results and rankings.
Computer virus are software that when executed in a given computer (affected area) perform some type of harmful activity. There is a wide range of computer virus with different definitions (malware, trojan, bugs, spyware, and more) according to the way they infect and the harm they produce. Thus, antivirus software was created in order to prevent, detect and remove computer virus.
We have a wide availability of different computer antivirus software, both free and with a given economic license costs. We always have the doubt of which antivirus is the best one. Of course everyone has its own preferences according to its personal needs. Nevertheless, different institutions perform tests on different antivirus available in order to provide guides about their performance. Due to the high dynamic of the IT world, such comparisons are continuously performed and every two months they provide new results and rankings.
In the most recent rank (January-February 2014) from AV-TEST, the Chinese antivirus Qihoo360 got the highest qualification.
Image 1. Computer virus
Source: Dreamstime
The comparison
The common procedure of comparing antivirus products consists on comparing the performance considering 4 categories (it used to be 3 categories, but one new category was recently included):
Protection. This is performed by installing the product into a non-infected system and then evaluate how they respond to different threats.
Performance. This category consists on evaluation the influence of the product on the system speed. For instance, some tasks (like files downloading, copying files, running and executing common products like Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel) may become little slower or very much slower.
Usability. This category investigates the influence that the security software has on the usability of the system and any system interference that may occur. For example, warning messages and warning pop ups that may be annoying and difficult to remove. Other example in this category are the false reports, which is very common when plugging USB data device or introducing a CD; usually the auto-executable of such devices is considered a threat, preventing the execution of the desired file.
Repair. This new category evaluates the products ability to remove virus and to restore files or system changes affected by the virus. This is a new category, and was not yet evaluated in the last report (February 2014).
Image 2. Wigoo user interface
Soure: ZDNet
Qihoo360
Qihoo360 technology CO. Ltd. is an internet platform company from China. It is one of the top three internet companies from China, the number one provider of internet and mobile security products and services in China and the number 2 internet browsers from China. Considering the Chinese market and the aproximatly 441 million of monthly active users from this company, it may also be one of the biggest in the world.
In the last comparisson report, Qihoo 360 earned a total of 17.5 points (the maximum possible is 18; 6 point for each category). 6 points for protection, 6 points for usability and 5.5 points for performance.
The other day I just found an article suggesting that the Chinese city of Shenzhen is becoming the new Silicon valley (location of the most important high technology companies). Although this is another topic, this results (Chinese antivirus ranked as number one) along with the growing experienced by China in other fields surely shows that market and the IT industry is moving towards East.
In the last comparisson report, Qihoo 360 earned a total of 17.5 points (the maximum possible is 18; 6 point for each category). 6 points for protection, 6 points for usability and 5.5 points for performance.
The other day I just found an article suggesting that the Chinese city of Shenzhen is becoming the new Silicon valley (location of the most important high technology companies). Although this is another topic, this results (Chinese antivirus ranked as number one) along with the growing experienced by China in other fields surely shows that market and the IT industry is moving towards East.
Image 3. Qihoo logo image
Soirce: ZDNet
References & Further reading
Chinese antivirus Qihoo 360 earns top score in independent test
AV-TEST
Qihoo360
Is Shenzhen the new Silicon valley