Microsoft’s OneCare Finishes Last in Anti-virus Tests

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A well-regarded anti-virus testing laboratory has released its latest quarterly results, and placed Microsoft’s OneCare anti-virus solution squarely at the bottom of the list.

In each of three categories&#151 viruses, macros, worms and scripts; backdoors, Trojans and other malware; and a third category, combining the results of the first two—OneCare received the worst score out of 17 products tested, according to AV-Comparatives.org, a group of IT graduate students who have published formal analyses of antivirus tools since February 2004. The effort is led by Andreas Clementi, the project tester and a graduate student at the University of Innsbruck.

Check out the best of 2006’s security suites in PCMag.com’s roundup.

Microsoft also ranked third from the bottom in detection of polymorphic viruses, which included such worms as W32/Insane.A, which can produce varied copies of itself, defeating a static signature file.

Microsoft’s OneCare was launched in May 2006; in January, the software package was updated with improved backup and language options, as well as integrated spyware and virus detection.

Read the full story on PCMag.com: Microsoft’s OneCare Finishes Last in Anti-virus Tests