Security → Symantec Exits AVComparatives testing for 2012

I was going to post this when this site disappeared two weeks ago.

Symantec has withdrawn from AVComparatives testing for 2012 because it refused to participate in the latest File Detection test (formerly known as the "On Demand" test) which is a very difficult test but an important "core" one. Evidently, Symantec knew it would do poorly and asked to not be tested just for this one test. Picking and choosing which tests a vendor will do is not allowed. They must participate in all tests or none at all.

IBK explains further both at his site and in a thread at Wilders Security forum.

»www.wilderssecurity.com/ ··· t=322233

»www.av-comparatives.org/ ··· dID=1060

»www.av-comparatives.org/ ··· ion-test

Whatever Symantec thought, they may have been wrong.

They may share more now but PC Tools and Symantec at least share signature databases and viruses definitions (or maybe they stopped that?).

February 2011:
PC Tools: 92.8%
Symantec: 95.5%

August 2011:
PC Tools: 88.4%
Symantec 95.1%

March 2012:
PC Tools 97.2%
Symantec: Not tested

Symantec may have performed better than they ever had, had they been tested.

I didn't know they were sharing databases. Thanks for the information.

I think Symantec was/is worried about False Positives. But it seems to me that FP's would be the same on both AV's if they share the database ...but maybe not.

(Here is where I found that information »www.pctools.com/forum/sh ··· st229971 )

Perhaps the cloud and heuristics cause the differences.

A pity Norton pulled out of the AV-Comparatives tests. I thought it performed OK in them. AV-Test still includes Norton:

»www.av-test.org/en/tests ··· reports/