Security firms fail on Windows Server

Some of the biggest names in the security industry have failed the latest Virus Bulletin VB100 test.

The test examined 100 pieces of malware collected from active samples and put them up against a number of major security suites for Windows Server 2008.

Of the 24 products pitted against the test, 16 passed, while 8 fell short due to missed malware samples or false positive returns.

Most of the major vendors, such as McAfee, Symantec, Microsoft and Sophos were able to pass the test. However, several others, including F-Secure, Kaspersky and Computer Associates, saw their security offerings fall short of the certification.

Other firms failing the test included Redstone, Avira, Microworld, Quick Heal and ArcaBit, whose ArcaVir product missed 93 wildlist samples and returned 3 false positives.

In order to pass the test and receive a VB100 certification, a product must be able to identify all 100 pieces of malware without returning any false positives for uninfected files.

CA's eTrust software missed one item from the malware list, while F-Secure and Kaspersky antivirus products each returned one false positive result.

Conspicuously absent from the latest VB test was Trend Micro. The company pulled out of the tests following a failure in April.

Critics of the VB100 test say that the testing system is antiquated and relies too heavily on signature-based testing, which checks for known malware samples, rather than more recently-developed heuristics, or behavior-based, checking methods that can catch new or unknown malware.