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Introduction

Our Real-World Protection Test is currently one of the most comprehensive and complex tests available, using a relatively large number of test cases. Currently, we are running this test under updated Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit with up-to-date third-party software. Due to this, finding in-the-field working exploits and running malware is much more challenging than e.g. under a non-up-to-date system with unpatched/vulnerable third-party applications.

This fact sheet is a short overview of the Real-World Protection Test results of February and March 2023. The detailed overall result consumer product reports (covering four months each) are released in June and November. Each of the overall result reports will also contain a false-alarm test and will contain the awards the products reached based on their overall scores during the respective four-month period.

For more information about this Real-World Protection Test, please read the details and previous test reports available on https://www.av-comparatives.org

Tested Products

The following products (latest version available at time of testing) were tested:

• Avast Free Antivirus
  
• AVG AntiVirus Free
  
• Avira Prime
  
• Bitdefender Internet Security
  
• ESET Internet Security
  
• F-Secure Internet Security
  
• G Data Total Security
  
• K7 Total Security
  
• Kaspersky Standard
  
• McAfee Total Protection
  
• Microsoft Defender Antivirus
  
• Norton Antivirus Plus
  
• Panda Free Antivirus
  
• Total Defense Essential Antivirus
  
• TotalAV Antivirus Pro
  
• Trend Micro Internet Security
  

Testcases

Over the year we evaluate several tens of thousands malicious URLs. Unfortunately, many of these have to be discarded for various reasons. We remove duplicates such as the same malware hosted on different domains or IP addresses, sites already tested, “grey” or non-malicious sites/files, and malware/sites disappearing during the test. Many malicious URLs carrying exploits were not able to compromise the chosen system/applications because of the patch level.

This means that the vulnerabilities in the third-party applications on the system were already patched and the exploits could therefore not deliver their malicious payload. Users should be aware that by always keeping their system and third-party applications up-to-date/patched, they can dramatically decrease the risk posed by exploits.

Test Results

The results are based on the test set of 260 live test cases (malicious URLs found in the field), consisting of working exploits (i.e. drive-by downloads) and URLs pointing directly to malware. Thus, exactly the same infection vectors are used as a typical user would experience in everyday life. The test-cases used cover a wide range of current malicious sites and provide insights into the protection given by the various products (using all their protection features) while surfing the web.

Every few months we update the charts on our website showing the protection rates of the various tested products over the various months. The interactive charts can be found on our website. The chart below shows only the protection scores for the months of FEBRUARY and MARCH 2023 (260 test cases). The results of the false-positives test are also shown in the graph below.
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