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False Alarm Test September 2018

Date September 2018
Language English
Last Revision October 11th 2018

Appendix to the Anti-Virus Comparative September 2018


Release date 2018-10-15
Revision date 2018-10-11
Test Period September 2018
Online with cloud connectivity checkbox-checked
Update allowed checkbox-checked
False Alarm Test included checkbox-checked
Platform/OS Microsoft Windows

Introduction

This report is an appendix to the Malware Protection Test September 2018 listing details about the discovered False Alarms.

In AV testing, it is important to measure not only detection capabilities but also reliability. One aspect of reliability is the ability to recognize clean files as such, and not to produce false alarms (false positives). No product is immune from false positives (FPs), but some produce more than others. False Positives Tests measure which programs do best in this respect, i.e. distinguish clean files from malicious files, despite their context. There is no complete collection of all legitimate files that exist, and so no “ultimate” test of FPs can be done. What can be done, and is reasonable, is to create and use a set of clean files which is independently collected. If, when using such a set, one product has e.g. 30 FPs and another only 5, it is likely that the first product is more prone to FPs than the other. It doesn’t mean the product with 5 FPs doesn’t have more than 5 FPs globally, but it is the relative number that is important.

Tested Products

Test Procedure

In order to give more information to the user about the false alarms, we try to rate the prevalence of the false alarms. Files which were digitally signed are considered more important. Due to that, a file with the lowest prevalence level (Level 1) and a valid digital signature is upgraded to the next level (e.g. prevalence “Level 2”). Extinct files which according to several telemetry sources had zero prevalence have been provided to the vendors in order to fix them, but have also been removed from the set and were not counted as false alarms.

The prevalence is given in five categories and labeled with the following colors: fp_prevalence

LevelPresumed number of affected usersComments
1fp_prevalence_1Probably fewer than hundred usersIndividual cases, old or rarely used files, very low prevalence
2fp_prevalence_2Probably several hundreds of users


Initial distribution of such files was probably much higher, but current usage on actual systems is lower (despite its presence), that is why also well-known software may now affect / have only a prevalence of some hundreds or thousands of users.
3fp_prevalence_3Probably several thousands of users
4fp_prevalence_4Probably several tens of thousands (or more) of users
5fp_prevalence_5Probably several hundreds of thousands or millions of usersSuch cases are likely to be seen much less frequently in a false alarm test done at a specific time, as such files are usually either whitelisted or would be noticed and fixed very fast.

Most false alarms will probably fall into the first two levels most of the time. In our opinion, anti-virus products should not have false alarms on any sort of clean files regardless of how many users are currently affected by them. While some AV vendors may play down the risk of false alarms and play up the risk of malware, we are not going to rate products based on what the supposed prevalence of false alarms is. We already allow a certain number of false alarms (currently 10) inside our clean set before we start penalizing scores, and in our opinion products which produce a higher number of false alarms are also more likely to produce false alarms with more prevalent files (or in other sets of clean files). The prevalence data we give for clean files is just for informational purpose. The listed prevalence can differ inside the report, depending on which file/version the false alarm occurred, and/or how many files of the same kind were affected.

Testcases

All listed false alarms were encountered at the time of testing. False alarms caused by unencrypted data blocks in anti-virus related files were not counted. If a product had several false alarms belonging to the same application, it is counted here as only one false alarm. Cracks, keygens, or other highly questionable tools, including FPs distributed/shared primarily by vendors (which may be in the several thousands) or other non-independent sources are not counted here as false positives.

Test Results

There may be a variation in the number of false positives produced by two different programs that use the same engine (principal detection component). For example, Vendor A may license its detection engine to Vendor B, but Vendor A’s product may have more or fewer false positives than Vendor B’s product. This can be due to factors such as different internal settings being implemented, differences in other components and services such as additional or differing secondary engines/signatures/whitelist databases/cloud services/quality assurance, and possible time delay between the release of the original signatures and the availability of the signatures for third-party products.

False Positives (FPs) are an important measurement for AV quality. Furthermore, the test is useful and needed to avoid that vendors optimize products to score good in tests by looking at the context – this is why false alarms are being mixed and tested the same way as tests with malware are done. One FP report from a customer can result in large amount of engineering and support work to resolve the issue.  Sometimes this can even lead to important data loss or system unavailability.  Even “not significant” FPs (or FPs on older applications) deserve mention and attention because FPs are likely to be a result of principled rule detections. It just happened that the FP was on an insignificant file. The FP possibility is probably still in the product and could potentially cause an FP again on a more significant file. Thus, they still deserve mention and still deserve to be penalised.

Below you will find some info about the false alarms we observed in our independent set of clean files. Red entries highlight false alarms on files that were digitally signed.

1.ESET1no/very few FPs
2.Avira2 few FPs
3.Avast, AVG, Kaspersky5
4.Bitdefender9
5.Emsisoft10
6.BullGuard13
7.Tencent, VIPRE14
8.F-Secure15 many FPs
9.Panda28
10.Microsoft32
11.McAfee, Quick Heal35
12.Trend Micro40 remarkably many FPs
13.Symantec47
14.K759

Details about the discovered false alarms

eset 1 False Alarm
False alarm found in some parts of Detected as Supposed prevalence
Dashnite package a variant of Win32/Injector.DWIM trojan

 

avira 2 False Alarms
False alarm found in some parts of Detected as Supposed prevalence
ComfortUpdater package TR/Dropper.MSIL.owqsp
Tickmeter package HEUR/APC (Cloud)

 

avast 5 False Alarms
False alarm found in some parts of Detected as Supposed prevalence
BMKbuddy package Win32:Malware-gen
Lockbox package Win32:Malware-gen
Photomatix package Win32:Kraton-A [Trj]
Spryzip package Win32:Malware-gen
TakeABreak package Win32:Malware-gen

 

avg 5 False Alarms
False alarm found in some parts of Detected as Supposed prevalence
BMKbuddy package Win32:Malware-gen
Lockbox package Win32:Malware-gen
Photomatix package Win32:Kraton-A [Trj]
Spryzip package Win32:Malware-gen
TakeABreak package Win32:Malware-gen

 

5 False Alarms
False alarm found in some parts of Detected as Supposed prevalence
Doppeldecker package HEUR:Trojan.Win32.Agent.gen
Melody package UDS:Trojan-Banker.Win32.ClipBanker.sb
NetClientManager package HEUR:RiskTool.Win32.Generic
Sony package Trojan-Ransom.Win32.Foreign.nzdy
SubmitTwo package UDS:Trojan.Win32.Agent.a

 

bitdefender 9 False Alarms
False alarm found in some parts of Detected as Supposed prevalence
ComfortUpdater package Gen:Variant.Ursu.220013
E-Calc package Gen:Variant.Symmi.61975
FileWorks package Gen:Variant.Jacard.128910
Gero package Advanced Threat Defense
Herold package Gen:Variant.Ursu.147178
MaceGriffin package Gen:Suspicious.Cloud.8.kqW@auZOhyni
MyPhoneExplorer package Gen:Variant.Ursu.281421
Qualimail package [email protected]
TextScan package Advanced Threat Defense

 

emsisoft 10 False Alarms
False alarm found in some parts of Detected as Supposed prevalence
AntiDuplicate package Blocked
BlueTooth package Blocked
ComfortUpdater package Gen:Variant.Ursu.220013 (B)
FileWorks package Gen:Variant.Jacard.128910 (B)
Herold package Gen:Variant.Ursu.147178 (B)
MyPhoneExplorer package Gen:Variant.Ursu.281421 (B)
Qualimail package [email protected] (B)
Restore package Blocked
StartTime package Blocked
Yabe package DeepScan:Generic.MSIL.DownloaderB.420228B4 (B)

 

bullguard 13 False Alarms
False alarm found in some parts of Detected as Supposed prevalence
ComfortUpdater package Gen:Variant.Ursu.220013
ConnectionManager package Suspicious
E-Calc package Gen:Variant.Symmi.61975
FileWorks package Gen:Variant.Jacard.128910
GranParadiso package Suspicious
Herold package Gen:Variant.Ursu.147178
Magix package Suspicious
MyPhoneExplorer package Gen:Variant.Ursu.281421
NetClientManager package Suspicious
Qualimail package [email protected]
Rainmeter package Suspicious
TakeABreak package Suspicious
TKKG package Suspicious

 

Tencent 14 False Alarms
False alarm found in some parts of Detected as Supposed prevalence
ComfortUpdater package Gen:Variant.Ursu.220013
E-Calc package Gen:Variant.Symmi.61975
FileWorks package Gen:Variant.Jacard.128910
Gero package Dangerous
Herold package Gen:Variant.Ursu.147178  
IeTester package Gen:Variant.Ursu.231296
MyPhoneExplorer package Gen:Variant.Ursu.281421
Qualimail package [email protected]  
SemSim package Dangerous
TextScan package Dangerous  
TotalRecorder package Dangerous
Wavosaur package Dangerous
WinTBS package Dangerous  
Yabe package DeepScan:Generic.MSIL.DownloaderB.420228B4  

 

vipre 14 False Alarms
False alarm found in some parts of Detected as Supposed prevalence
Bitdefender package Misc (General)  
ComfortUpdater package Gen:Variant.Ursu.220013
ConnectionManager package Virus.Generic
DropUpload package Misc (General)  
E-Calc package Gen:Variant.Symmi.61975  
Easybuch package Misc (General)  
FEAR package Misc (General)  
FileWorks package Gen:Variant.Jacard.128910  
Herold package Gen:Variant.Ursu.147178  
Mingw package Misc (General)
MyPhoneExplorer package Gen:Variant.Ursu.281421
Qualimail package [email protected]  
TextScan package Misc (General)  
Zoner package Misc (General)

 

f-secure 15 False Alarms
False alarm found in some parts of Detected as Supposed prevalence
ComfortUpdater package Gen:Variant.Ursu.220013
EFcommander package Suspicious
F1 package Suspicious
FileWorks package Gen:Variant.Jacard.128910
GPLegends package Suspicious
Herold package Gen:Variant.Ursu.147178
IeTester package Gen:Variant.Ursu.231296
KeePass package Suspicious
MultiBrowser package Suspicious
OpenOffice package Suspicious  
Qualimail package [email protected]
Stinger package Trojan:W32/Generic.bd6cc1b9af!Online
TakeABreak package Suspicious
WinTBS package Suspicious
Yabe package DeepScan:Generic.MSIL.DownloaderB.420228B4

 

28 False Alarms
False alarm found in some parts of Detected as Supposed prevalence
Bae package Trj/Dtcontx.D
Bitdefender package Blocked
ClearProg package Blocked
ConnectionManager package Blocked
DivX package Blocked
Doppeldecker package Blocked
DropUpload package Blocked
Easybuch package Blocked
EasyExif package Blocked
EFcommander package Trj/GdSda.A
EmailValidator package Blocked
Encryption package Blocked  
Herold package Blocked
HP package Blocked
Logik package Blocked
MagicSkin package Blocked
Melody package Blocked
OpenOffice package Blocked
PaperOffice package Blocked
Perfekt package Blocked  
RegDefrag package Blocked
Restore package Blocked
Tickmeter package Blocked
Tiscali package Trj/CI.A
TKKG package Blocked
Tonec package Blocked
TotalRecorder package Blocked
Zdataburn package Blocked

 

microsoft 32 False Alarms
False alarm found in some parts of Detected as Supposed prevalence
AddTime package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
AhnenForscher package Exploit:O97M/CVE-2017-8570.A
AxBx package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
ConnectionManager package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
CPserver package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
DVB package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
EA package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
EFcommander package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
Encryption package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
eRightSoft package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
FastStone package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
FileZilla package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
Fractalus package Trojan:Win32/Zpevdo.A
Gotcha package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
Grub package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
IDUnlocker package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
MAF package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
Magix package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
MeldeMax package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
Merant package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
OOSoftware package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
OpenOffice package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
ShutdownManager package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
Syslog package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
SysReport package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
Tierpension package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
Tiscali package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
TKKG package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
Videowave package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
Warner package package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
WinTBS package Trojan:Win32/Bitrep.B
Youngzsoft package Trojan:Win32/Vigorf.A

 

mcafee 35 False Alarms
False alarm found in some parts of Detected as Supposed prevalence
Abbyy package JTI/Suspect.196665!fa788af98fe7
Acer package JTI/Suspect.196612!ef798271c092
Asus package JTI/Suspect.196612!603c617bdbe9
Audacious package JTI/Suspect.196612!f2be421f79f0
Autodata package JTI/Suspect.196612!e5d1dc02c85a
Bastian package JTI/Suspect.196665!20801c0dd1e8
ComfortUpdater package JTI/Suspect.196612!b26126ae5c60
ConnectionManager package JTI/Suspect.196612!15becddd6d7b  
CPserver package GenericRXEU-UK!39EB5AE61795
Databecker package JTI/Suspect.196612!afa22c905e9d  
Doppeldecker package JTI/Suspect.196665!759d83a3dd67
FileWorks package JTI/Suspect.196612!3b0f5f8d1265
GameSpy package JTI/Suspect.196612!b8cfaec494db
Grub package JTI/Suspect.196665!c4dcca9279b4
HP package JTI/Suspect.196612!ad29f0860a49
IcyTower package JTI/Suspect.196612!26cc6094a6bb
Lenovo package JTI/Suspect.196612!2486b95c310c
Magix package JTI/Suspect.196612!50abab1b2312  
MakeMulti package JTI/Suspect.196665!2aef292f2c59
Merant package JTI/Suspect.196612!4a2541a02fc0  
Musikmaker package JTI/Suspect.196612!d87fe5cef380
NetClientManager package JTI/Suspect.196612!26f3edfcbad0
PackardBell package JTI/Suspect.196612!1c84f9b992a4
PEview package JTI/Suspect.196612!c569075f3f94
PowerDirector package JTI/Suspect.196612!c331058776f4
Quiz package JTI/Suspect.196665!c64d4d966432
Rainmeter package JTI/Suspect.196612!7716a5b44ba9
Restore package JTI/Suspect.196612!31a1f20ae602
Samsung package JTI/Suspect.196612!1411bc7f6047
SemSim package JTI/Suspect.196612!4f49776bb467  
Skype package GenericRXEL-QN!FA5555644483
Tierpension package JTI/Suspect.196612!31a3a19d8ee2
TKKG package JTI/Suspect.196612!80233c34803f  
TotalRecorder package JTI/Suspect.196612!97295fd52148
WinWart package JTI/Suspect.196612!b9820356dca7

 

quickheal 35 False Alarms
False alarm found in some parts of Detected as Supposed prevalence
Acer package Suspicious
Aclive package Trojan.ICGENERIC
AutoIt package Trojan.ICGENERIC
CDDVDburner package Trojan.Generic
Codeblocks package Trojan.Scan
ComfortUpdater package EE:Malwr.Heur.Ursu.220013
Cresoeas package Trojan.Fuery
DpWiper package EE:Malwr.Heur.GZ.dmW
EasyExif package Suspicious
EFcommander package Suspicious
Elsword package Trojanspy.Agent.19229
FEAR package Trojan.Azden
FileWorks package Suspicious
Firefox package Trojan.Ditertag
FreeRideGames package Trojan.CGeneric
Gero package Suspicious
Herold package EE:Malwr.Heur.Ursu.147178
IeTester package EE:Malwr.Heur.Ursu.231296
JewelQuest package Suspicious
MediaServer package Ransom.Ryzerlo.S4
Merant package Suspicious
MyPhoneExplorer package EE:Malwr.Heur.Ursu.281421
N64 package Trojan.Fuerboos
NotepadPlus package Trojan.UGeneric
PerfectMenu package Trojan.Malagent.20271
Performance package Suspicious
Qualimail package EE:Malware.Generic.SMH
SeekFreak package Trojan.Azden
SpywareBlaster package Trojan.VBCrypt.MF.7448
StartOffice package Trojan.GenericPMF.S2873074
Tickmeter package Suspicious
Tiscali package Suspicious
ToolbarCop package Trojan.VBCryptVMF.S2729126
Wildtangent package Trojan.IGENERIC
Yabe package EE:Generic.MSIL.DownloaderB.420228B4

 

trendmicro   40 False Alarms
False alarm found in some parts of Detected as Supposed prevalence
AddTime package Suspicious
AntiDuplicate package Suspicious
AVCutty package Suspicious
AxBx package Suspicious
Bitdefender package Suspicious
BMKbuddy package Suspicious  
ComfortUpdater package Suspicious  
ConnectionManager package Suspicious  
Databecker package Suspicious  
DropUpload package Suspicious  
DVDregion package Suspicious  
Easybuch package Suspicious  
EmailValidator package Suspicious  
Encryption package Suspicious
FEAR package Suspicious  
Fractalus package Suspicious  
Gero package Suspicious  
GranParadiso package Suspicious
Herold package Suspicious  
HotChime package Suspicious  
Jose package Suspicious
Logik package Suspicious
Macomfort package Suspicious
MakeMulti package Suspicious
Mingw package Suspicious  
NetClientManager package Suspicious  
OpenOffice package Suspicious
Perfekt package Suspicious  
PowerVideo package Suspicious  
Quiz package Suspicious
StartTime package Suspicious  
StartTime package Suspicious  
SubmitTwo package Suspicious  
Syslog package Suspicious  
TakeABreak package Suspicious  
TextScan package Suspicious  
Tickmeter package Suspicious  
Videowave package Suspicious  
WinTBS package Suspicious  
Zdataburn package Suspicious  

 

symantec 47 False Alarms
False alarm found in some parts of Detected as Supposed prevalence
AddTime package Heur.AdvML.C
AntiDuplicate package Heur.AdvML.C
AnVir package Trojan.Gen.2
Avira package Trojan Horse  
Bastian package Heur.AdvML.C
ComfortUpdater package Heur.AdvML.C
Dexpot package Heur.AdvML.C  
DivX package Backdoor.Graybird
DVDregion package Suspicious.Epi.3  
Easybuch package Suspicious.Epi.3
Encryption package Heur.AdvML.A
FEAR package Suspicious.Epi.3  
FileWorks package Trojan.Gen.2
FileZilla package Suspicious.Epi.3  
FineReader package Suspicious.Epi.3
Forte package Trojan.Gen.2
iNetTimer package Suspicious.Epi.3  
Jose package Trojan.Gen.9  
Logik package Suspicious.Epi.3
Macomfort package Download Insight
MagicSkin package Heur.AdvML.B
MaxPasswords package Heur.AdvML.C  
Mediacoder package Suspicious.Epi.3  
MODupRemover package Trojan.Gen.9
NetClientManager package Heur.AdvML.C
OOSoftware package Heur.AdvML.B
PaperOffice package Heur.AdvML.C  
PEbuilder package Suspicious.Epi.3
Perfekt package Suspicious.Epi.3
PowerVideo package Suspicious.Epi.3
Quiz package Heur.AdvML.C  
RegDefrag package Download Insight
Spryzip package Trojan.Gen.2  
StartTime package Suspicious.Epi.3  
Stormcloud package Suspicious.Epi.3  
SubmitTwo package Download Insight
Syslog package Heur.AdvML.B
SysReport package Trojan.Gen.6
TakeABreak package Download Insight
TextScan package Heur.AdvML.C  
TKKG package Download Insight
TrueCafe package Download Insight
UpdateHelper package Trojan Horse
Webcam package Heur.AdvML.C
WinAmp package Heur.AdvML.B
XTreme package Heur.AdvML.C  
Zoner package Trojan.Dropper

 

k7 59 False Alarms
False alarm found in some parts of Detected as Supposed prevalence
3DMark package Trojan ( 0046628d1 )
3DTTT package NetWorm ( 700000151 )
Abbrevation package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )
AddTime package Trojan ( 0001140e1 )
Adobe package Backdoor ( 004a942a1 )
Alzip package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )
AntiCheat package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )  
Avanquest package Trojan ( 004ce0ea1 )
AVCutty package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )
Bigiba package Trojan ( 004ffa261 )
Bitdefender package Trojan ( 7000000f1 )
BlueTooth package Trojan ( 001a5abb1 )
Borland package Trojan ( 7000000f1 )
Camou package Trojan-Downloader ( 004f2a781 )
CDDVDburning package Trojan ( 005257651 )
CSE package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )
Delphi package Trojan ( 7000000f1
Deskhedron package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )
Dino package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )
EM package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )
Emco package Trojan ( 7000000f1 )
F1 package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )
Global package Trojan ( 004906d41 )  
GranParadiso package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )
GXTranscoder package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )
HDDLife package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )
HP package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )
HTML package Riskware ( 0040eff71
IcyTower package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )  
iDump package Riskware ( 00000a851 )
IuWork package Trojan ( 004d22751 )
Lenovo package Riskware ( f15000051 )
Lezioni package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )
Logger package Virus ( 7000000b1 )
Macomfort package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )  
Macromedia package Trojan-Downloader ( 0017bc961 )  
MakeInstantPlayer package Trojan ( 004d394f1 )
MakeMulti package Trojan ( 004de92c1
Mixxx package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )
MouseOMeter package Riskware ( f15000051 )
MultiBrowser package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )
Need4Speed package Trojan ( 0047648f1 )
Opanda package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )
OpenOffice package Trojan ( 003b1b581 )  
PCWizard package Trojan ( 003cca981 )
PEiD package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )
PhotoUpz package Trojan ( 0053b4521 )
PPMate package Trojan ( 0053b4521 )
Qlogix package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )
StationRipper package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )
Tiscali package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )  
TrueCafe package Trojan ( 7000000f1 )
UBCD package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )
Vistart package Trojan ( 003d23081 )  
Wavosaur package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )
WB package Trojan ( 004bc6de1 )
Weather package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )  
WinAmp package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )  
WinRAR package Riskware ( 0040eff71 )

Copyright and Disclaimer

This publication is Copyright © 2018 by AV-Comparatives ®. Any use of the results, etc. in whole or in part, is ONLY permitted after the explicit written agreement of the management board of AV-Comparatives prior to any publication. AV-Comparatives and its testers cannot be held liable for any damage or loss, which might occur as result of, or in connection with, the use of the information provided in this paper. We take every possible care to ensure the correctness of the basic data, but a liability for the correctness of the test results cannot be taken by any representative of AV-Comparatives. We do not give any guarantee of the correctness, completeness, or suitability for a specific purpose of any of the information/content provided at any given time. No one else involved in creating, producing or delivering test results shall be liable for any indirect, special or consequential damage, or loss of profits, arising out of, or related to, the use or inability to use, the services provided by the website, test documents or any related data.

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AV-Comparatives
(October 2018)