Top every time!

A veritable plethora of security solutions is out there, competing for the right to protect your desktop and network. How does the average user navigate this unfamiliar landscape? Advertising may get your attention, but it’s hard facts that count.

That’s where independent testing comes in. Independent expert ratings can be trusted; they are what they say they are. To minimize randomness and get a more meaningful aggregate score, users should base their choice of security solution on several independent tests all at once. Testers don’t work together to compile an overall rating, however. So to make it easier for you to get a handle on all things AV-related, every year we combine the results of various independent studies into the Top 3 metric.

So, what is the Top 3 metric?

The metric is calculated on the basis of tests conducted by the world’s biggest and most reputable labs: AV-Comparatives, AV-Test, SELabs, MRG Effitas, Virus Bulletin, ICSA Labs, and PC Security Labs. We take into account both general and task-specific testing — for example, benchmarking of AV antiransomware performance, analysis of protection mechanisms for Android, measuring of false positives, and so on.

Each vendor’s products have three key stats: number of annual tests; number of top-three finishes; and number of first-place results. To make the results more balanced, companies that rarely reach out to independent experts (those with less than 35% participation rate in tests) are not included in the metric.

In 2017, well-known AV vendors such as Avast, AVG, Avira, BitDefender, ESET, F-Secure, G DATA, McAfee, Microsoft, Sophos, Symantec, Trend Micro, Kaspersky Lab, and many others featured in the Top 3 metric. 133 companies in total. See here for metric details and descriptions.

Top of the class

The undisputed leader over the past twelve months — for the fifth consecutive year! — is Kaspersky Lab. Our products not only were the most tested (86 times), but finished in the top three in 91% of all cases! In total, we scored 78 top-three hits and 72 firsts. For comparison: second-place BitDefender took part in just 61 tests and medaled in 44.

What’s the upshot?

So many golds for our products can mean only one thing: Thanks to Kaspersky Lab’s technological advancement and experience in the field of IT security, our solutions offer the most reliable protection for your devices against any threats, including the newest and most complex, and without crying wolf. And if you’re wondering which awards our products picked up in 2017, and what they mean, check out this post.