Year of Plenty: the latest roundup of Independent Tests awards for Kaspersky Lab’s products

Kaspersky Lab’s products have just “harvested” a number of awards and recognitions from independent AV testers, and while it’s encouraging on its own, it also creates an opportunity to contemplate the testing process once again. But first let’s look at various product results.

Kaspersky Internet Security

Last year, Kaspersky Internet Security was tested extensively – AV-Comparatives, Dennis Technology Labs, AV-Test, MRG Effitas, PCSL and Virus Bulletin took it on, with almost universal acclaim. It’s necessary to mention that KIS is a home-user product, but since it shares the antimalware “engine” with other Kaspersky Lab products, including business-oriented Kaspersky Small Office Security and Kaspersky Endpoint Security, they all have the same capabilities in protecting against malware threats.

The latest roundup of Independent Tests #awards for @Kaspersky

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In Q4 2014, AV-Comparatives published the results of its long-term Whole Product Dynamic Real-World Protection Test, which ran from August to November 2014. Long-terms are the most interesting kind of testing, yielding the most exact and well-based results, given the “dynamic” pattern of threats – in a nutshell it’s changing all the time with as many as 325,000 new malware samples discovered daily. So, while the testing is taking place, things change a lot.

The results of these tests can be accessed here. Kaspersky Internet Security performed among the best competing products in File Detection Test (September 2014), Performance Test (October 2014), and the 8-month long Malware Removal Test, which evaluates how effectively a product can treat an infected computer. KIS received four Advanced+ certificates.

AV-Comparatives also tested KIS for its capability of detecting phishing pages. While no awards are given for this test, Kaspersky Internet Security was one of just two products to achieve the best result – 90% – out of 14 participating products. Thus, Kaspersky Internet Security proved to be performing way “north” of the average.

Last Fall, AV-Test awarded KIS with “Certified” status for both Windows and Android, also pointing out that the Windows version of KIS hit the maximum score during the tests. MRG Effitas awarded KIS with Level One certificates both in Q2 and Q3. In the latter, Kaspersky Internet Security was the only product to achieve this.

Dennis Labs awarded AAA certificate to Kaspersky Internet Security in Q4, along with two other Kaspersky Lab products.

The Chinese laboratory PC Security Labs tested security solutions for Android-based devices. Kaspersky Internet Security for Android detected 99.75% of threats and earned the top award – the five-star certificate – in November.

Kaspersky Small Office Security

As the necessity for distinct small business-oriented solutions is being recognized, this product receives an increasing level of attention.

Unfortunately, AV-Comparatives released only a brief overview of solutions for small businesses. The researchers evaluated the level of protection provided by the solution and how easily system administrators could use its management console. Kaspersky Small Office Security earned an Approved certificate and the researchers emphasized the userfriendliness of the product’s integrated administration console – which is intended to be an advantage by design. Kaspersky Small Office Security has been created specifically so that even less tech-savvy people could handle it with ease, without spending hours studying its functions and capabilities.

Dennis Technology Labs awarded KSOS with AAA certificate in Q4.

Virus Bulletin gave Kaspersky Small Office Security the VB100 certificate as a result of separate testing of the products for Microsoft Windows 8.1 (first test) and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (second test). Kaspersky Small Office Security participated in both, performing with excellence worthy of the VB100 award.

Kaspersky Endpoint Security 10/Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business

This is an enterprise product, and it is being tested as a corporate level solution by various labs. This time, AV-Test awarded it with the Approved Corporate Endpoint Protection certificate. Dennis Technology Lab’s AAA certificate was also added to Kaspersky Lab’s trophy collection.

Virus Bulletin was equally favorable – KES received yet another top-notch VB100. Interestingly, while AV-Test tested KES in Windows 7 SP1 environment, Virus Bulletin did so in Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. Different operating systems, high results in both cases.

Number of #awards show consistency of performance of @Kaspersky products

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A few words on comparative tests

It’s always nice to see high marks and awards from testing labs – the more, the better. The same is true in regard to the number of expert testing entities: various labs use different methods, evaluate different capabilities, and use different time frames to assess the product’s performance. Different technical approaches mean different aspects are shown, thus “the full picture” cannot be deduced from the single, one-time test results.

Results have to be compared; performance of certain products is important on its own, but what is even more important is the consistency of performance over time. Kaspersky Lab’s products show consistently high results in a plentitude of comparative testing over the years, which proves their high quality, efficiency, and reliability. For more details on the latest round of comparative tests, please refer here.