Microsoft Live OneCare fails another anti-virus test
New report from research lab finds that Microsoft Live OneCare only one of 17 anti-virus products that failed to shine.
![](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3r6kNJbca2DM5w8zPXvBQk-128-80.jpg)
Microsoft's anti-malware product, Live OneCare has once again failed in tests against other anti-virus products.
The software was only one of 17 products that failed to come up to scratch in a run-off conducted by Austrian anti-virus testing company AV Comparatives. Live OneCare only managed to detect 82.4 per cent of the nearly 500,000 samples the company tested the software against. The software had to detect 85 per cent of all samples to pass the test.
Earlier this year IT PRO reported that the same software also failed in a test run by Virus Bulletin.
The report found that 14 of the products got an "Advanced" certification or better, while two, Dr. Web and McAfee, got a "Standard" certification, only Microsoft failed. OneCare did particularly badly on polymorphic viruses, spotting only four out of 12 samples.
The report's author Andreas Clementi said the results of the polymorphic test are of importance, because they show how flexible an anti-virus scan engine is and how good the detection quality of complex viruses is.
"In some cases anti-virus products scored zero per cent not because they are not aware of the virus's existence but because to detect such viruses with the engine of their product it may be necessary to rewrite the engine," he said.
He said that anti-virus products with a 100 per cent detection of polymorphic viruses showed a higher detection quality and engine flexibility.
Get the ITPro. daily newsletter
Receive our latest news, industry updates, featured resources and more. Sign up today to receive our FREE report on AI cyber crime & security - newly updated for 2024.
A spokesman for Microsoft said that the company was looking into the methodology and results from the test to ensure that its product performed better in future tests.
Rene Millman is a freelance writer and broadcaster who covers cybersecurity, AI, IoT, and the cloud. He also works as a contributing analyst at GigaOm and has previously worked as an analyst for Gartner covering the infrastructure market. He has made numerous television appearances to give his views and expertise on technology trends and companies that affect and shape our lives. You can follow Rene Millman on Twitter.
Most Popular
Resources
Get the ITPro. daily newsletter
Receive our latest news, industry updates, featured resources and more. Sign up today to receive our FREE report on AI cyber crime & security - newly updated for 2024.