Kaspersky Internet Security Produces Excellent Result in Independent Malware Removal Testing

Woburn, MA – December 13, 2013–Kaspersky Lab announces today that Kaspersky Internet Security 2014, the security product for home users, earned the highest score and the Advanced+ rating in the Malware Removal Test conducted by the independent AV-Comparatives lab in October and November. The test assessed how well security products could help a computer recover from a malicious infection that occurred before antivirus protection was installed.

AV-Comparatives assessed 16 home security products during testing and chose 11 malware samples for the test. The sample collection was deliberately small so that a different disinfection process was required for each malicious program. During the test, a computer was infected with each malware sample, one at a time, and then a security solution was installed.

After each stage of testing, the analysts rated each product according to two criteria: whether the solution was capable of neutralizing the malicious program, and whether any user intervention was required. To earn full marks, the security solutions had to successfully remove the malicious program and reverse any changes it had introduced into the system (creation of files, entries in the system registry, etc.). Products which failed to remove the malware were awarded a lower mark. In terms of user involvement, automatic treatment with no intervention from the user earned top marks, while requests to contact the manufacturer’s support services scored poorly.

Kaspersky Internet Security received a nearly perfect score, earning 98 out of 100 points, and the top Advanced+ rating for successfully deactivating and removing every malicious program that was installed and running on the computer. User intervention was required just once to treat a ‘blocker’ Trojan. This malicious program prevented access to the Windows desktop – contrary to the conditions set out in the test methodology – so Kaspersky Rescue Disk was used to treat the infection. Kaspersky Rescue Disk is a dedicated tool for regaining access to a system infected by a ‘blocker.’

Earlier this month, Kaspersky Internet Security 2014 also received the Advanced+ ranking from AV-Comparatives in a test that assessed security product impact on computer performance. Both results confirm Kaspersky Internet Security’s ability to maintain high protection levels without any harmful impact on system resources.

Quote:
Nikita Shvetsov, Director of Anti-Malware Research
Kaspersky Lab
“Users often fail to think about securing themselves against cyber-threats until they encounter one. The AV-Comparatives’ test reproduces a real-life situation: the computer has already been infected and a security solution is presented with the task of bypassing any self-defense mechanisms in the malware, removing the malware completely and, just as importantly, reversing any tampering with the OS configuration. The test results prove that Kaspersky Internet Security can effectively cleanse an operating system, even if it is installed after an infection takes place.”

About Kaspersky Lab
Kaspersky Lab is the world’s largest privately held vendor of endpoint protection solutions. The company is ranked among the world’s top four vendors of security solutions for endpoint users*. Throughout its more than 15-year history Kaspersky Lab has remained an innovator in IT security and provides effective digital security solutions for large enterprises, SMBs and consumers. Kaspersky Lab, with its holding company registered in the United Kingdom, currently operates in almost 200 countries and territories across the globe, providing protection for over 300 million users worldwide. Learn more at www.kaspersky.com.

* The company was rated fourth in the IDC rating Worldwide Endpoint Security Revenue by Vendor, 2011. The rating was published in the IDC report "Worldwide Endpoint Security 2012–2016 Forecast and 2011 Vendor Shares (IDC #235930, July 2012). The report ranked software vendors according to earnings from sales of endpoint security solutions in 2011.

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Media Contact
Sarah Bergeron 
781.503.2615
sarah.bergeron@kaspersky.com