Network Associates has announced that its McAfee AVERT (Anti-Virus Emergency Response Team) anti-virus research lab in Hamburg, Germany, defeated Symantec`s SARC headquarter labs in the Netherlands in an anonymous series of head-to-head tests done by one of the leading PC publications in Germany, PC Welt magazine. McAfee AVERT was declared the "winner" over Symantec SARC in all five judging categories, which was based upon each of the research lab`s handling of four specific virus tests.
According to PC Welt magazine, McAfee AVERT clearly "came away the better in our duel." In the anti-virus research lab duel, PC Welt magazine editors anonymously submitted a combination of infected and uninfected files to both labs. The editors submitted electronically one uninfected Microsoft Word file, a document containing the Wazzu macro virus and an attachment with the CIH virus via separate emails.
In addition, a diskette with a boot sector virus was submitted through traditional mail for response. PC Welt ranked the two research labs by rating their performance in the five areas of "Quality of Response," "Speed of Mails," Ease of "Transmission Procedure," "Speed for Diskette" response, and helpfulness of "Web sites." With category ratings scored from 1 for the winner to 3 for the loser, McAfee AVERT earned a 1 rating in all five categories.
Symantec SARC, on the other hand, received a 2 rating in four categories and a 3 rating for its "Speed for Diskette." The PC Welt magazine editors experienced difficulty submitting the virus samples electronically to SARC because the process required employing a Submission Applet. McAfee`s AVERT submission process was noted as much easier and more efficient, requiring only a password-protected ZIP file to be submitted for analysis via the McAfee AVERT email address.
In each instance, McAfee AVERT responded quicker than Symantec SARC with correct information about each submission, and also provided helpful information on how to remove the viruses. AVERT also returned by traditional mail an analysis summary of the boot sector virus, Ripper, that was submitted by diskette, much quicker than SARC, which took almost two weeks to respond.
In each instance, McAfee AVERT responded quicker than Symantec SARC with correct information about each submission, and also provided helpful information on how to remove the viruses. AVERT also returned by traditional mail an analysis summary of the boot sector virus, Ripper, that was submitted by diskette, much quicker than SARC, which took almost two weeks to respond.
"Fast, reliable responses to user inquiries are essential in fighting the spread of Internet-borne viruses, and McAfee AVERT has been found to repeatedly provide this effectively," said anti virus specialist and AVERT representative Lee Fisher. "McAfee AVERT provides a free, easily accessible Service to today`s growing number of threats caused by malicious code. Our dedicated team continues to evolve along with the risks and work with the anti-virus community to protect users."
McAfee AVERT has the largest number of experienced researchers in the industry, who are solely dedicated to researching and analysing variants and new viruses. McAfee AVERT also uses the breakthrough McAfee AutoImmune technology, which provides automated technology to detect and remove previously undiscovered viruses with advanced heuristics by analysing samples, and returning authenticated cures in a matter of hours.
This real-time protection component of the McAfee Active Virus Defence product line captures the expertise of McAfee AVERT researchers, giving customers unsurpassed service.
McAfee provides comprehensive and low cost solutions to protect e-businesses from attacks by malicious Internet applets and viruses. McAfee Active Virus Defence is the award-winning multi-tier virus security solution that includes WebShield Internet gateway protection, GroupShield email server protection, NetShield for file servers and VirusScan for the desktop and mobile worker. McAfee also provides the most scalable tools to manage virus security policy, updates and reporting over the Internet, with ePolicy Orchestrator and Enterprise SecureCast.
All McAfee products are backed by one of the world`s leading anti-virus research organisation, McAfee AVERT, the team which first identified Melissa and Bubbleboy, and protects customers against the increasingly complex and frequent Internet borne attacks that threaten to cripple e-business.
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