Antivirus:Nod32 x Sophos x Kapersky

NOD 32,Sophos or Kapersky.. which one to choose?

It’s time to renew anti-virus licenses.. a year ago we replaced our company’s anti-virus software by ESET NOD32. We were using Symantec,but it was just too resource consuming. Back then we had analyzed some solutions and NOD32 seemed to be the best,however times change and we have to look out and check whether we should stick to NOD or not.

Virus!!

So.. that windows popped up and warn me that the licenses were expiring.. took the right procedures and asked the I.T. professional that was responsible for buying to e-mail the supplier questioning about license renewal prices. By coincidence a security company had scheduled a meeting to present their range of products,which of course included anti-virus software. That’s when I heard about Sophos.

As a good I.T. professional you always have to look into things,gather information and take a decision based on facts and not personal beliefs. Ok,but where to find information about anti-virus softwares? Their websites really throw you with lots of statistics,good results,product qualities,options and enhancements but of course they won’t show you the faults or weak points.

Fortunately there’s some light in the end of the tunnel:AV-Comparatives.org,which is an Austrian non-profit-organization,that provides independent Anti-Virus software tests free to the public.

There are other organizations that test anti-virus,and I made a lot of research (including contacting people using the other anti-virus solutions),however AV-Comparatives give you free access to the results they publish,while as for others,some information must be paid and you have to register to access them,also personal opinions are subjective.

My research was made primarily on Nod32 and Sophos because I had the suppliers for those. My interest on Kapersky was due to hearing so much about it on the researches I had done.

Considerations:

First:An anti-virus software must have a low footprint on the machine and can’t hog the resources.

Second:Fast scanning.

Third:Must have rapid deployment of the software to the workstations and centralized management.

Comparing the ease of use of the three,Nod32 is no winner…Sophos is definitely the easiest to use and Kapersky is in between. However Nod32 has the best Administrator Console and options for remote install. Also,it’s the one that I think it’s better for medium to large networks.

For more in-depth information about the corporate reviews access AV-comparatives.org Corporate reviews.

Tests and Comparatives

Virus Code

Em relação aos testes proativos e falsos positivos,o Nod32 detectou um total de 56%,o Kapersky 50% e o Sophos 37%. Todos apresentaram poucos falsos positivos. O Nod32 e o Kapersky foram distinguidos com a certificação Advanced+ (3 estrelas) e o Sophos obteve a certificação Advanced (2 estrelas). das amostras de “novas ameaças”Regarding proactive tests and false positives,Nod32 detected a total of 56%,Kapersky 50% and Sophos 37% of “new”samples. All had few false positives. Nod32 and Kapersky were awarded the certification level of Advanced+ (3 stars) while Sophos was awarded the certification level Advanced (2 stars).

On the On-Demand detection of malicious software Nod32 had a total detection rate of 97,6%,Kapersky a total of 97,1% and Sophos 89,6%. Nod 32 and Kapersky were awarded the certification level of Advanced+ (3stars) and Sophos was awarded the certification level of Standard (1 star).

Performance wise,Nod32 is clearly the winner with only +22% delay (very fast) on the overall impact (0% is without anti-virus),Kapersky +47% (fast) and Sophos +117% (mediocre) with the highest settings enabled. Nod 32 was awarded the certification level of Advanced+ (3 stars),Kapersky and Sophos were awarded the certification level of Advanced (2 stars).

Conclusion

The above results combined with the previous one year experience I had with Nod 32 made up my mind. I’ll stick with Nod 32. Of course,not every situation is the same and what’s best for one sometimes is not for the other. If you’re deciding about which anti-virus product to use narrow your choice to three or four “candidates”and test them out. Ask opinions to people who are using those products,read anti-virus reviews,and install a trial version to “feel”and see them in action.

Good luck for your anti-virus quest!