Best Antivirus Software: Tested On Protection, Performance, and Usability.

How to use these antivirus test results

Keep in mind that these tests were done in a lab environment. Different enterprise systems with different threat models will see different results for each of the products listed below. In other words, don’t expect that a 100 percent detection rate in the lab means that a product will detect all antivirus threats on your network. One reason is that it can take days for a newly submitted malware sample to make it into any given antivirus product’s database.

What the AV-TEST results show is which Windows antivirus products are consistently the best at the fundamentals of malware detection and have minimal impact on system performance. That makes a good starting point as you evaluate which products work best for your environment.

Best Windows 10 antivirus tools

1. Avast Business Antivirus Pro Plus 18.8

Avast Business Antivirus Pro Plus could have had a perfect score with just a slight improvement on performance. It stopped 100 perscent of all zero-day malware attacks, but the biggest issue was with slow-downs when launching popular websites. It was 7 percentage points slower on a standard PC than industry average. Otherwise, it had a perfect score for usability with no false warnings, detections or blockages.

2. Bitdefender Endpoint Security 6.6

Bitdefender Endpoint Security stopped all zero-day malware web and email attacks tested, and all malware discovered in the last four weeks. Performance degradation when using applications and websites was mostly minimal in and in some cases better than industry average. However, it was 8 percentage points slower than industry average for launching standard applications. For the latest round of tests, the product gave no false warnings.

3. F-Secure PSB Computer Protection 18 and 19

PSB Computer Protection had perfect scores in all categories, improving in performance over the last round. It detected 99.4 percent of zero-day attacks and 100 percent of more common malware. The software did block an action while installing or using legitimate software.

4. Kaspersky Endpoint Security 11.0

With its perfect scores across the board, Kaspersky Endpoint Security continues its run in the top tier of anti-malware products. It stopped 100 percent of all zero-day and known attacks tested. On the performance side, the product had minimal impact on the launching or installation of websites or applications. It flagged one legitimate software sample as malware out of a sample database of more than 1.6 million.

5. Kaspersky Small Office Security 6

Kaspersky Small Office Security scored similarly to the company’s endpoint protection product. It had a slightly higher impact on website launches.

6. McAfee Endpoint Security 10.6

For protection and usability, McAfee Endpoint Security ranks with the best of its competitors. However, it falls a little short on performance, particularly during launch or installation of software. The McAfee product slowed launching standard applications by 16 percent, well above the industry average of 12 percent. It was worse during installation of frequently used applications—48 percent slower. The industry average there is 33 percent.

7. Sophos Endpoint Security and Control 10.8

You can count on Sophos Endpoint Security and Control to stop attacks as well as any other product in this group. AV-TEST penalized the product a half point for performance, but test results show it was on par with the industry average in all categoroies.

8. Symantec Endpoint Protection 14.2

In addition to a perfect protection score, Symantec Endpoint Protection is one of the better-performing anti-malware tools tested. It scored above industry average in every category. It blocked no actions while installing and using legitimate software and gave no false warnings.

9. Symantec Endpoint Protection Cloud 22.16

Symantec Endpoint Protection Cloud scored similarly to its non-cloud counterpart.