Melih of Comodo challenges Symantec

[mac]

After this statement by a product manager at Symantec:

Thesis David Hall, a product manager at Symantec: "If you are only relying on free anti-virus in this modern age, you are not getting the protection you need to be able to stay clean and have a reasonable chance of avoiding identity theft … free anti-virus is not enough: you need in-depth layered technologies, which only come from the more mature paid suites."

Guardian UK pageMelih of Comodo issues this challenge:

Challenge to Symantec from Comodo CEO!I read what Symantec have said about Free Anti Virus products. This kind of misinformation is just unacceptable from companies like Symantec! Enough is Enough..You can’t mislead end users with blatant lies like this!If Symantec truly believes what they preach to the media then they will have no problem taking this challenge:To Symantec: Comodo openly challenges you to an independent test to see which product can protect users better. A $$$ Norton product or totally Free Comodo!Just let us know. Our respective companies will choose a mutually agreeable independent testing organisation to test which product can “Protect” the end user better.Eagerly awaiting your answer.MelihCEOCOMODO

Melih blog pageIt will be interesting to see if Symantec rises to the bait!

[amenditman]

In the olden days (when Norton was still owned by Norton not Symantec) Norton's utilities were the best products on the market.Unfortunately, since Symantec entered the picture they have been, at best, second rate.I hope that they do accept the challenge.Lay this paid vs. free debate to bed once and for all.

[Corrine]

According to Melih, I hope you will now stop spreading misinformation Symantec!, Comodo won the challenge. Interestingly, the link that Melih posted in his blog goes not to the test results but to http://www.av-test.org/. So, what shows up there? How about recent tweets by avtestorg:http://twitter.com/#!/avtestorg/statuses/27271247884 with the link to the mentioned results going to the Comodo website, “AV-Test's Paid Vs. Free” AV Product Comparison Shows Comodo Scores Better Than Norton/Symantec at Protecting the Computer and It’s Free.

Comodo challenges Symantec to antivirus showdown http://bit.ly/cgCdo1 - the results of the Comodo-commissioned AV-Test: http://bit.ly/dph40R

and then we have this little same-day tweet by avtestorg at http://twitter.com/#!/avtestorg/status/27271591215

Comodo has joined AV-Test’s full product review and certification program - final showdown results will be available by January 2011

I've searched the avtest.org site and cannot find the actual results. The closest I come is the PCMag article, Comodo: 'We Beat Norton!', which states:

A closer look at the detailed results reveals that there's more to the story. The test shows that both Comodo and Norton detected and warned about 100 percent of the threats, though Norton got just 90 percent for the "Overall Detection and Blocking Rate". Comodo didn't mention that for the "Overall Detection, Blocking and Removal (Cleaning) Rate" their product scored 53 percent to Norton's 80 percent.

Have I mentioned that I have no intentions of ever installing a Comodo product on any computer I own?

[lewmur]

Have I mentioned that I have no intentions of ever installing a Comodo product on any computer I own?

I don't intend to install Comodo either. But I won't hunt down and destroy any occurrence the way I would Norton malware.

[amenditman]

I don't intend to install Comodo either. But I won't hunt down and destroy any occurrence the way I would Norton malware.

Some of the most punishing all night fixit sessions I have ever had have been caused by 'Norton Malware' Suite.I used Norton stuff before and after Symantec bought them. Back in the Norton Utilities days they were the best.I won't let them anywhere near my computers now.

[mac]

Some of the most punishing all night fixit sessions I have ever had have been caused by 'Norton Malware' Suite.I used Norton stuff before and after Symantec bought them. Back in the Norton Utilities days they were the best.I won't let them anywhere near my computers now.

Amen brother, Amen.

[amenditman]

Dos was a great light command line for playing at home when the server at school was unavailable.I played a lot of games back then.

[b2cm]

I think Symantec Norton Antivirus performs as well as the free Microsoft Security Essentials in detection and removal of malware. And not a resource hog and difficult to uninstall like it was years ago. I tried the Comodo antimalware program when it was launched years ago but uninstalled it because the hit on system performance reminded me of Norton.

Edited October 19, 2010 by b2cm

[Tushman]

According to Melih, I hope you will now stop spreading misinformation Symantec!, Comodo won the challenge....Have I mentioned that I have no intentions of ever installing a Comodo product on any computer I own?

This whole "challenge" issued by Melih is nothing but BS. Might as well put on a gorilla mask, pound his chest and tell us how awesome he is. Obviously, he would rather lie by omission and try to show only selective information that puts his product ahead of Norton's.I stopped using Comodo back in 2008 after reading about Melih's reaction to Scot's review of their firewall. Basically he (Melih) was acting like a big cry baby when Scot warned his readers that version 3 did not offer outbound leak protection and recommended using OA firewall instead. We even had a discussion on the forums here about it. I read Melih's comments on his blog and I didn't like it one bit. It reeked of taunting and I thought it showed a great lack of restraint and unprofessionalism. It's hard to believe the CEO of any company could behave that way. If anything, it made me stay away from Comodo even more.--------------------------------------I found the article on Scot's blog back in Jan 2008 talking about how Melih's reaction to his firewall review.http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2008/01/22...oduct-decision/ Edited October 20, 2010 by Tushman

[goretsky]

Hello,Indirectly related: Study Finds Microsoft’s Free Antivirus As Effective As Symantec’s Norton [Forbes.Com].Regards,Aryeh Goretsky

[ChipDoc]

Indirectly related: Study Finds Microsoft’s Free Antivirus As Effective As Symantec’s Norton [Forbes.Com].

Wow... that's faint praise indeed!

[mac]

Wow... that's faint praise indeed!

But, you need to read the results. MSE scored equally as well as Kapersky, Panda, Sunbelt and Norman along with Symantec.However, the last two paragraphs are revealing:

For the industry a a whole, the most damning results may be the scanners’ low rates of exploit prevention, says Moy–as low as 3% in the case of Sunbelt Software or 10% in the case of the Spanish antivirus firm Panda.Stopping exploits rather than cleaning up the malware they leave behind may be a more practical method of preventing PC infections, Moy argues, given that only a few thousand unique exploits appear every year, while more than 30,000 new strains of malware appear every day. “The tests show that companies are much more focused on malware than exploits. They’re chasing the train after it’s left the station,” says Moy. “It’s definitely the weak link in security software.”

Emphasis is mine...

[Corrine]

This whole "challenge" issued by Melih is nothing but BS. Might as well put on a gorilla mask, pound his chest and tell us how awesome he is. Obviously, he would rather lie by omission and try to show only selective information that puts his product ahead of Norton's.

Such an apt description! That was when Melih first started showing his true colors in public.

But, you need to read the results. MSE scored equally as well as Kapersky, Panda, Sunbelt and Norman along with Symantec.However, the last two paragraphs are revealing:Emphasis is mine...

“The tests show that companies are much more focused on malware than exploits. They’re chasing the train after it’s left the station,” says Moy. “It’s definitely the weak link in security software.”

Twenty-nine security flaws were covered in the recent Oracle SunJava update for Java SE. I wonder how many people updated Java. Even more, I wonder how many people really need Java installed on their computer. Have you checked the Java?It isn't just the OS but also third party software that has exploits. As a result, MSE, ESET, KAV, etc. have no choice but to provide definitions for the malware based on those exploits.

[amenditman]

Wow... that's faint praise indeed!

So true.

[sunrat]

I was just browsing through these older posts and had to comment on this......

...Might as well put on a gorilla mask, pound his chest and tell us how awesome he is.... It's hard to believe the CEO of any company could behave that way. ...

You obviously haven't seen this video of Steve Ballmer:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RINizGmhrYo

[Corrine]

The difference is that Steve's exuberance was for the Company, not himself. Carried away? Sure, but he doesn't lodge personal attacks on people through his own stupidity.