Leading position in performance test: Avira, once again, receives the “Advanced Plus Award” from AV-Comparatives

Thu, 05 June 2008

With its proactive detection performance Avira wins against 15 competitors and receives the Advanced Plus Award from the independent test laboratory AV-Comparatives

Tettnang, 5 June 2008 – Three stars for Avira: AV-Comparatives has awarded Avira AntiVir Premium with the highest distinction, the ‘Advanced Plus Award***’. This large-scale comparative test saw the German IT security expert achieve an excellent score for its proactive detection performance. In the “Speed” category Avira managed with its extremely low error rate to get onto the winner’s podium. In the first part of the test in February 2008 Avira AntiVir Premium achieved excellent results.

A decisive test criteria was used in the current comparison for proactive detection performance of antivirus software. The virus scanners had to deal with a selection of unknown malware samples, which AV-Comparatives had collected within over a defined time period. At the beginning of this test period the antivirus programs were frozen, so that the software was no longer updated. The Avira AntiVir Premium scan engine detected 72 percent of these digital bugs and left the competitor’s products behind due to the combination of reliability and speed.

Avira’s heuristic analysis method AHeAD-(Advanced Heuristic Analysis and Detection) technology is responsible for this positive test result. AHeAD proactively recognizes unknown malware, i.e. before any special recognition pattern against the bug has been created. Avira relies among other things on innovative structure analysis: the heuristics determine on the basis of the characteristics of the file, of the progression of significant code sequences or of certain behavior patterns, whether it is a bug file or a virulent file. For the user this system means maximum security – the Avira antivirus software protects the user against the known destructive programs of today and also against the malware of tomorrow.

During the test Avira’s heuristic detection method found 90 percent of all new Windows viruses, 71 percent of unknown worms, 79 percent of the newly created backdoors as well as 69 percent of the current Trojans, which the test laboratory let loose on the software. “We are very proud of these wonderful results”, said Tjark Auerbach, Founder and Managing Director. “This has shown us again that our team is on the right path with the research and development of our solutions and that we are able to offer our customers reliable protection against the increasingly growing threat from viruses and malware.”

Avira AntiVir Premium’s new version 8 is immediately available in the shops or directly in the Avira online shop (www.avira.com/onlineshop) with a price starting of € 19.95. The award-winning search engine is even quicker in the current version and hunts down malware with 20 percent more throughput capacity. The new version is even more secure when surfing the web due to the newly integrated WebGuard module. WebGuard checks the http-based Internet traffic for infections and automatically blocks phishing and malware-URLs.

More information on the comparative test can be obtained under www.av-comparatives.org.



About AV-Comparatives
AV-Comparatives is an independent project for the regular testing of detection performance of antivirus software. In extensive tests AV-Comparatives regularly checks the antivirus solutions of leading vendors for its reliability in the area of virus detection.

About Avira
Avira is a worldwide leading supplier of self-developed security solutions for professional and private use. With more than 20 years of experience, the company is one of the pioneers in this field.

The security expert has several locations in Germany and partnerships in Europe, Asia and America. At its headquarters in Tettnang near Lake Constance, Avira is one of the region’s largest employers with more than 180 employees. Worldwide more than 250 persons are employed and their work regularly wins awards. Avira AntiVir Personal, used by millions of private users, represents a significant contribution to security.

Avira’s national and international customers include renowned corporations listed on the stock exchange but also educational institutions and public authorities. In addition to protection of the virtual environment, Avira also provides for more protection and security in the real world by supporting the Auerbach Foundation. Founded by the founder of the company, the Auerbach Foundation promotes charitable and social projects as well as the arts, culture and science.

Contact:
Avira GmbH
Elisabeth Rothbart
Lochhamer Schlag 5a
D-82166 Graefelfing/Munich
Phone: +49 (0) 89 8583 639 17
Fax: +49 (0) 89 8583 639 20
Email:

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