Best antivirus software overall.

Best antivirus software overall.

Reviewers say Kaspersky Anti-Virus 7.0 is the best all-around antivirus program. It excels at its primary task of preventing viruses. Reviews agree that Kaspersky is better than the bestseller Norton AntiVirus 2008 in all aspects. Kaspersky is fast and light; it won't slow your computer as much as the bestsellers. According to users, Kaspersky has more software conflicts and issues than the average antivirus program. Yet program users express a much higher level of satisfaction with Kaspersky antivirus software than with Norton or McAfee programs. (compare prices)

AV Still Weak on Rootkit Detection, Fixing Infections

By Kelly Jackson Higgins

Senior Editor, Dark Reading

Independent antivirus testing organization AV-Test.org has released new test results on the latest versions of 30 antivirus products, and the report cards weren't all good.

None of the AV products scored straight As, and a few failed in some categories, such as remediation from malware infections and AV's old nemesis, rootkit detection.

New malware just keeps on coming, according to the report. In January and February alone, AV-Test.org discovered a whopping 1.1 million samples of unique malware spreading around the Net. The organization found nearly 5.5 million total during all of last year, up from 972,000 in 2006. (See Bake-off: Many AV Products Can't Detect Rootkits.)

"We thought it would be a good idea to start a new test of anti-malware software in order to see how well the tools are currently performing, given the masses of malware 'in the wild,'" says Andreas Marx, CEO and managing director for the Germany-based AV-Test.org. AV-Test.org only tested the newest versions (as of March 1) of the English-language versions of the products, he says.

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