Vendors still falling short in VB100 malware test

Vendors continue to offer security tools for Windows XP systems, but many products still fall short, according to a recent report from testing publication Virus Bulletin.

The April edition of the VB100 list found that just 58 out of 69 products tested  adequately recognised a sampling of active malware attacks.

To pass the VB100 test and earn certification, a security tool must detect a collection of malware samples taken from the wild while avoiding false positive results.

Many vendors passed the test, but 11 products fell short owing to missed samples or excessive false positives.

"With a staggering 69 products on this month's VB100 test bench, the VB lab team hoped to see plenty of reliability and stability," the publication said in reporting the results of the latest VB100 test.

"But, while the majority of products were well behaved, the team was woefully disappointed by a handful of unruly participants."

Security products which fell short of certification included Availasoft AS-Antivirus, Filseclab Twister, Emsisoft Anti-Malware and Hauri ViRobot, each of which missed multiple samples.

Iolo Systemshield and Keniu Antivirus failed with a single missed sample, while Bkis BKAV Professional and Fortinet FortiClient failed owing to false positive returns.

Among those that did pass the test was security vendor GFI. The company found itself publically embarrassed last week when a false positive return in its Vipre anti-virus led to mistaken reports of key-logging software shipping in Samsung notebooks.