AV-Comparatives Awards 2020

8. April 2021

AV-Comparatives’ Awards Ceremony for 2020 honoured the security vendors whose products stood up to the year’s cyber-threats and kept the Internet safe. This year, for obvious reasons, it was held virtually rather than physically, but over 100 participants attended. In total, 27 different vendors were given awards for their security products.

As in previous years, there were major awards for the best Windows security products in the Consumer Main Test Series. This subjects consumer security products to a number of demanding tests, covering different protection scenarios, false positives, and impact on system performance.

The “Product of the Year” award for the best overall results went to Kaspersky, with Bitdefender and ESET receiving “Outstanding Product” awards. Avast and AVG were also honoured, getting “Top-Rated Product” awards.

2020 was an exceptional year in many ways, due to the biological virus known as Coronavirus. This had a knock-on effect with regard to computer viruses too. There was a huge increase in the numbers of people working from home, meaning that businesses needed to worry about their employees’ home-computer security as well. Sadly, cybercriminals exploited the situation by using various Covid-19-related scams to spread malware. Targeted attacks on enterprises and government networks continued too.

In 2020, AV-Comparatives performed more tests than ever before, to keep up with the cybercriminals. Tested products included security programs for Windows consumer devices, macOS and Android; endpoint protection and EPR (endpoint prevention and response) products for enterprises; anti-phishing products; parental control products.

All tested products underwent rigorous testing, using methodologies designed to emulate real-life scenarios. A certification by AV-Comparatives for one of its tests is a guarantee of an effective and reliable product.

In both the Consumer and Enterprise Main Test Series, security products were subjected to a number of different individual tests, to assess their all-round capabilities. These were: protection against Internet-borne malware; protection against malware on the local area network or external device; protection against targeted attacks; false positives; impact on system performance.

In line with its philosophy of public service, AV-Comparatives donated its surplus budget to the charity Red Noses Clown Doctors International.

Red Noses Clowndoctors