Important info for users of MICROSOFT SECURITY ESSENTIALS

Since it came out, about 12 months ago, Microsoft Security Essentials (MSSE) has gone from strength to strength as a contender for best free antivirus. However, recent tests by av-comparatives.org show that its effectiveness for detecting new threats has dropped off significantly in recent months.

The latest report for march shows only 50% effectiveness at detecting new threats. This is a serious issue for Microsoft to address, and also poses real problems in terms of vulnerability for people using this system.

Up until this report was released, we would have recommended MSSE as a great free AV. However, in light of these findings, we suggest two possible courses of action for its users:

1. While MS is working on improving its detection rates, the addition of a real-time system such as MBAM or SuperAntiSpyware (either option, paid) – there is, however no guarantee that these problems will be addressed in the short-term

2. Obtain a proper, paid AV product with an established track-history on independent tests such as Kaspersky Internet Security

For information on independent testing results of various AV products, see the reports at av-comparatives.org

Ideally, we would suggest users consider something like Kaspersky in conjunction with MBAM or SAS for the best possible real-time protection.The combined license fees for these two products is well under the cost of a professional virus removal – and significantly reduces the likelihood of infection – and the associated security risks/inconvenience of malware intrusion.