Full Version: Microsoft Security Essentials Beta on June 23rd
I have a friend that uses live one care and says its excellent. then again hes favored Vista claiming its not too bad.
This looks interesting, at least on the free level - although should be something integrated into the system in the first place - but of course MS cant be responsible for everyone who goes to sites that infect them or that download files with a virus.
This looks interesting, at least on the free level - although should be something integrated into the system in the first place - but of course MS cant be responsible for everyone who goes to sites that infect them or that download files with a virus.
From the first article:
Avira seems to install well in the last month that i've used it. I'll probably give the microsoft one a shot for a little while.
QUOTE
How good is the coverage? Microsoft scored dismal test results in the early days of OneCare, hitting a nadir in 2007, but its record has improved dramatically since. A new study (May 2009) by the independent AV-Comparatives group gave Microsoft OneCare (which shares the same engine and signatures as MSE) its highest (Advanced+) rating. Only 3 of the 16 products in the test earned that rating. Microsoft’s technology scored second in the accuracy ratings, behind AVIRA but ahead of AVG, Symantec, McAfee, and a dozen other products. And on the crucial measure of delivering the fewest false positives, Microsoft stood far ahead of the pack, delivering the fewest false positives of any program tested. In the most recent round of tests from the independent ICSA Labs, Microsoft’s technology passed, while McAfee’s VirusScan family joined several smaller competitors on the FAIL list.
Mcafee/Norton/Kaspersky have all turned into bloat. I've seen some reviews that new Norton AV is better, but i've been burned too often by them.Avira seems to install well in the last month that i've used it. I'll probably give the microsoft one a shot for a little while.
If the Microsoft Security Essentials works well I think many AV companies will need to rethink their business models. I remember many moons ago when we purchased an antivirus program we got free definition updates for life. I guess it was the life of the product and not the life of the computer (or your own life) because soon after going with subscription based models virus definitions for prior program versions were non-existent.
The following is just my opinion. If anyone uses these programs and they work for you, great, continue to use them.
Lately I haven't been to happy with the popular free AV programs out there. AntiVir has an annoying popup that people don't like and I hate getting phone calls about it. Avira has some annoying features that act too much like a firewall. I've received calls from people not being able to access network resources. Turn off Avira and everything works fine. AVG has gotten a bit bloated IMO. Seems like everytime they come out with a new build the installation file gets larger by quite a few megabytes & I've run into some recent issues where the scanner is greatly slowing systems down.
The following is just my opinion. If anyone uses these programs and they work for you, great, continue to use them.
Lately I haven't been to happy with the popular free AV programs out there. AntiVir has an annoying popup that people don't like and I hate getting phone calls about it. Avira has some annoying features that act too much like a firewall. I've received calls from people not being able to access network resources. Turn off Avira and everything works fine. AVG has gotten a bit bloated IMO. Seems like everytime they come out with a new build the installation file gets larger by quite a few megabytes & I've run into some recent issues where the scanner is greatly slowing systems down.
Thank you! I'll try it at home!
Upon installation it does an immediate update, which I like, but only shows a progress bar. I like to see file size, download speed and remaining. There doesn't seem to be a schedule as to when the program checks for updates. Is it every hour, every 4 hours, once a day, etc.? Doesn't say and there doesn't seem to be a way to set it yourself.
By default a scheduled scan is set to run on Sunday's at 2AM. There is no option to change this during installation, but can be changed via the Settings tab.
The default action when a threat is found is "Microsoft Security Essential's recommend". There is no detail on what the action actually is though. It can be changed to Remove or Quarantine for the 4 alert levels (Severe, High, Medium and Low).
By default Real-time Protection is turned on. The options are Monitor file & program activity and Scan all downloaded files and attachments. Real time protection and options can be turned off.
The program allows the user to exclude files & locations as well as file types and processes.
Under the Advanced settings there are options to:
- Scan archive files such as .zip or .cab files (on by default)
- Scan removable drives (when running a full scan). This is off by default - I don't understand why.
- Create a system restore point before applying actions to detected items. This is on by default and I don't understand why. Why would you want a system restore point made with potentially harmful settings? Well, I can understand this being done in case of flase positives, but basically I'm turning it off.
- Allow all users to view full history results (on by default)
Microsoft Spynet
No real choice. If you install Microsoft Security Essentials Beta you're going to be a member of Microsoft Spynet. The options are to send basic info or advanced info. In both cases "personal information might unintentionally be sent to Microsoft". Although it says that this information will not be used to identify or contact you, for me it just might be a deal breaker. I understand Microsoft wanting to collect info from computers the program is installed on, but give the end user a choice. There's no choice here, other than the level of info that's sent.
Help is all online. Doesn't seem to be a local help file installed with the software.
The taskbar icon has just one option - Open. Sometimes I like to disable the antivirus software - like when installing programs or transferring alot of data. With Microsoft Security Essentials Beta, I need to Open, go to Settings > Real-time protection and uncheck the options. Annoying to me.
By default a scheduled scan is set to run on Sunday's at 2AM. There is no option to change this during installation, but can be changed via the Settings tab.
The default action when a threat is found is "Microsoft Security Essential's recommend". There is no detail on what the action actually is though. It can be changed to Remove or Quarantine for the 4 alert levels (Severe, High, Medium and Low).
By default Real-time Protection is turned on. The options are Monitor file & program activity and Scan all downloaded files and attachments. Real time protection and options can be turned off.
The program allows the user to exclude files & locations as well as file types and processes.
Under the Advanced settings there are options to:
- Scan archive files such as .zip or .cab files (on by default)
- Scan removable drives (when running a full scan). This is off by default - I don't understand why.
- Create a system restore point before applying actions to detected items. This is on by default and I don't understand why. Why would you want a system restore point made with potentially harmful settings? Well, I can understand this being done in case of flase positives, but basically I'm turning it off.
- Allow all users to view full history results (on by default)
Microsoft Spynet
No real choice. If you install Microsoft Security Essentials Beta you're going to be a member of Microsoft Spynet. The options are to send basic info or advanced info. In both cases "personal information might unintentionally be sent to Microsoft". Although it says that this information will not be used to identify or contact you, for me it just might be a deal breaker. I understand Microsoft wanting to collect info from computers the program is installed on, but give the end user a choice. There's no choice here, other than the level of info that's sent.
Help is all online. Doesn't seem to be a local help file installed with the software.
The taskbar icon has just one option - Open. Sometimes I like to disable the antivirus software - like when installing programs or transferring alot of data. With Microsoft Security Essentials Beta, I need to Open, go to Settings > Real-time protection and uncheck the options. Annoying to me.
QUOTE
Microsoft Security Essentials: The First Test Results Are In
Nick Mediati, PC World
Jun 25, 2009 12:50 am
The biggest question on everyone's minds with regard to Microsoft Security Essentials is how well it can detect and remove malware. The early returns are in, and Microsoft Security Essentials performed well overall in initial malware detection testing provided to PC World by AV-test.org.
When put against AV-Test's "WildList" collection of 3,194 recent, common viruses, bots, and worms, Microsoft Security Essentials detected and removed each and every one of the malware samples. How does this compare to other security products? AV-Test coordinator Andreas Marx notes that "several other [antivirus] scanners are still not able to detect and kill all of these critters yet." In addition, Microsoft Security Essentials put up a perfect score with zero false positives—it didn't flag a single clean file as being malicious. AV-Test also took an initial look at Microsoft Security Essentials' rootkit detection, testing it against a few rootkit samples, and found "nothing to complain about."
Previously I took a look at Microsoft Security Essentials, and found it to be a straightforward, easy-to-use piece of software. While AV-Test's initial results aren't exhaustive, if they are any indication of Microsoft Security Essentials' malware detection capabilities, you may be pleasantly surprised. Note that Microsoft Security Essentials will only give you basic anti-malware protection; If you're looking for more comprehensive protection, see our latest security suites roundup.
Nick Mediati, PC World
Jun 25, 2009 12:50 am
The biggest question on everyone's minds with regard to Microsoft Security Essentials is how well it can detect and remove malware. The early returns are in, and Microsoft Security Essentials performed well overall in initial malware detection testing provided to PC World by AV-test.org.
When put against AV-Test's "WildList" collection of 3,194 recent, common viruses, bots, and worms, Microsoft Security Essentials detected and removed each and every one of the malware samples. How does this compare to other security products? AV-Test coordinator Andreas Marx notes that "several other [antivirus] scanners are still not able to detect and kill all of these critters yet." In addition, Microsoft Security Essentials put up a perfect score with zero false positives—it didn't flag a single clean file as being malicious. AV-Test also took an initial look at Microsoft Security Essentials' rootkit detection, testing it against a few rootkit samples, and found "nothing to complain about."
Previously I took a look at Microsoft Security Essentials, and found it to be a straightforward, easy-to-use piece of software. While AV-Test's initial results aren't exhaustive, if they are any indication of Microsoft Security Essentials' malware detection capabilities, you may be pleasantly surprised. Note that Microsoft Security Essentials will only give you basic anti-malware protection; If you're looking for more comprehensive protection, see our latest security suites roundup.
This thing is looking like a winner
QUOTE (NARC @ 6-26-09, 1:16pm) 
This thing is looking like a winner
just don't tell microsoft. hehguess i'll give it a try this weekend.
looks like av-comparatives will be testing it in august: http://www.computerworld.com/action/articl...p;intsrc=kc_top
Been using this for at least month.
My system actually seemed to run better when replacing the free avira with this. Don't notice it running at all.
Haven't kept up with how well it tests compared to other AV programs, but it's definitely one to keep an eye on once it officially releases.
My system actually seemed to run better when replacing the free avira with this. Don't notice it running at all.
Haven't kept up with how well it tests compared to other AV programs, but it's definitely one to keep an eye on once it officially releases.
QUOTE (cron @ 8-12-09, 12:26am)
Been using this for at least month.
My system actually seemed to run better when replacing the free avira with this. Don't notice it running at all.
Haven't kept up with how well it tests compared to other AV programs, but it's definitely one to keep an eye on once it officially releases.
My system actually seemed to run better when replacing the free avira with this. Don't notice it running at all.
Haven't kept up with how well it tests compared to other AV programs, but it's definitely one to keep an eye on once it officially releases.
I've been using it on my Windows 7 system. The I don't even know the software is there and I just assume it's doing it's thing. It doesn't even give a notice when it updates.
My previous opinons are the same, but otherwise it's there and does it's thing. Not much to complain about. In the past two weeks I helped people install Norton Internet Security, McAffe Internet Security & CA Internet Security. I felt each one was very bloated and will give the end users trouble down the road. My favorite paid AV solution these days is ESET NOD32. They came out with v4 which adds some new features like website blocking, which is something I use in store point-of-sale systems that are connected to the Internet. I haven't tried the NOD32 v4 solution yet, but will do so within the next week.
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