Ultimate Defender I - Antivirus
Van T. Do
TekWarrior Editor-In Chief

We all know the importance of a good antivirus. One of the most important security measures you need. In this review I will tell you the real winner, and you may be surprised. I like to present to you, the first annual Ultimate Defender award, in the category of antiviruses. As the battle for antivirus supremacy rages on, I have personally benchmarked McAfee VirusScan 5.0, Norton Antivirus 2001, Kaspersky(AVP) 3.5.133.0, RAV Desktop 8, Protector Plus 7.00A11, Grisoft AVG, and Inoculate IT 5 PE. (could not get my hands on Sophos AV, F-Prot, and F-Secure, may be added in the future, had problems with Pc-Cillin 2000)

And the Top 7 are:
7. Protector Plus 7
6. RAV Desktop 8
5. Grisoft AVG
4. Norton Antivirus 2001
3. Inoculate IT
2. McAfee VirusScan 5.0

1. Kaspersky(AVP) 3.5.133.0 !!!!

How did we make our decision? First off, we compiled a complex list of viruses, from ancient viruses, to some viruses and trojans fresh off from a hacker. "Norton AV 2001 #4? What?" you say. I was quite surprised myself, as NAV has been highly recommended by many tech sites, and magazines (ZDNET, CNET, etc). "Norton Antivirus 2001 has the best detection rate of any antivirus." I laugh in the face of those reviewers. In the Hot Trojan test, Norton surprisingly detected none of the trojans, even a version of SubSeven. I am sad to say Norton has also did really poor in the Packed Death test as well, well known viruses packed in different formats. Though Norton did well on the Straight Out test (original viruses). Norton is a good antivirus, and maybe the test was too hard ... however, that was not the conclusion because one AV aced all the benchmarks, AVP!!!!, with 100% detection of every single malicious code, every single trojan, and every measly virus. All AVs did pretty good on the Straight Out test, well if they didn't, they didn't deserve to be sold. McAfee VirusScan despite having a little bloated RealTime Scanner, it did pretty well on the Hot Trojan test. Inoculate IT PE, did satisfactory in the Hot Trojan, and overall did well for being free. I'll just group Protector Plus 7, RAV Desktop 8, and Grisoft AV into one category : Poor. They all did terrible in the Hot Trojan test. Thats all I have to say.

Winner: Kaspersky(AVP) 3.5
The most solid and quick antivirus I have ever tried. This is now my main antivirus. AVP's detection is not just amazing, but it's support team is exceptional quick, and responsive. AVP also has the best virus dats, most files only between 10-25k, with updates EVERY SINGLE DAY, of about 50 new viruses a day. Which would explain them getting all the new viruses. After using AVP for a week, I would just like to say I am extremely impressed. The Ultimate Defender I award is awarded to the people at Kaspersky Labs for an exceptional, and fantastic job at creating the best antivirus product I have seen in years.