Microsoft Security Essentials

Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) is an antivirus software (AV) product that provides protection against different types of malicious software, such as computer viruses, spyware, rootkits, and trojan horses. Prior to version 4.5, MSE ran on Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7, but not on Windows 8 and later versions, which have built-in AV components known as Windows Defender. MSE 4.5 and later versions do not run on Windows XP. The license agreement allows home users and small businesses to install and use the product free-of-charge. It replaces Windows Live OneCare, a discontinued commercial subscription-based AV service, and the free Windows Defender, which only protected users from spyware until Windows 8.

Microsoft Security Essentials
Developer(s)Microsoft
Initial release29 September 2009 (2009-09-29)
Stable release
4.10.209.0[1] / 30 November 2016 (2016-11-30)[2]
Operating systemWindows 7 (built-in as Windows Defender in Windows 8 or later)[3]
PlatformIA-32 and x64
Size
Available in33 languages[4]
List of languages
English, Bulgarian, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Serbian (Latin), Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese
TypeAntivirus and network intrusion detection system
LicenseFreeware[5]
Websitewww.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5201

Built upon the same scanning engine and virus definitions as other Microsoft antivirus products, it provides real-time protection, constantly monitoring activities on the computer, scanning new files as they are created or downloaded, and disabling detected threats. It lacks the OneCare personal firewall and the Forefront Endpoint Protection centralized management features.

Microsoft's announcement of its own AV software on 18 November 2008, was met with mixed reactions from the AV industry. Symantec, McAfee and Kaspersky Lab—three competing independent software vendors—dismissed it as an unworthy competitor, but AVG Technologies and Avast Software appreciated its potential to expand the consumers' choice of AV software. AVG, McAfee, Sophos and Trend Micro claimed that the integration of the product into Microsoft Windows would be a violation of competition law.

The product received generally positive reviews praising its user interface, low resource usage and freeware license. It secured AV-TEST certification in October 2009, having demonstrated its ability to eliminate all widely encountered malware. It lost that certification in October 2012; in June 2013, MSE achieved the lowest possible protection score, zero. However, Microsoft significantly improved this product during the couple of years preceding February 2018, when MSE achieved AV-TEST's "Top Product" award after detecting 80% of the samples used during its test. According to a March 2012 report by anti-malware specialist OPSWAT, MSE was the most popular AV product in North America and the second most popular in the world, which has resulted in the appearance of several rogue antivirus programs that try to impersonate it.

Features

Microsoft Security Essentials automatically checks and downloads the latest virus definitions from Microsoft Update which is updated three times a day.[6] Users may alternatively download the updates manually from the Microsoft Security Portal website.[7] On 30 September 2011, a faulty definition update caused the product to incorrectly tag Google Chrome as malware. The issue was resolved within three hours.[8][9] MSE originally ran on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7,[3] although versions 4.5 and later do not run on Windows XP[10] and Microsoft stopped producing automatic definition updates for Windows XP on 14 July 2015 (however, manual definition updates are still available for Windows XP users who run older versions of MSE).[11][7]

MSE is built upon the same foundation as other Microsoft security products; they all use the same anti-malware engine known as Microsoft Malware Protection Engine (MSMPENG) and virus definitions.[12][13] It does not have the personal firewall component of OneCare and the centralized management features of Forefront Endpoint Protection.[14]

MSE provides real-time protection, constantly monitoring activities on the computer, scanning new files as they are created or downloaded from the Internet.[15] It quarantines detected threats and prompts for user input on how to deal with them. If no response is received within ten minutes, suspected threats are handled according to the default actions defined in the application's settings. Depending on those settings, it may also create System Restore checkpoints before removing the detected malware.[15] As a part of real-time protection, MSE reports all suspicious behaviors of monitored programs to Microsoft Active Protection Service (MAPS, formerly Microsoft SpyNet) by default.[16] If the report matches a newly discovered malware threat with an unreleased virus definition, the new definition will be downloaded to remove the threat.[17]

Hardware requirements for the product depend on the operating system; on a computer running Windows Vista or Windows 7, it requires a 1 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM, a computer monitor with a display resolution of at least 800 × 600 pixels, 200 MB of free hard disk space and a stable Internet connection.[3]

Development

On 18 November 2008, Microsoft announced plans for a free consumer security product, codenamed Morro.[18] This development marked a change in Microsoft's consumer AV marketing strategy: instead of offering a subscription-based security product with a host of other tools, such as backup and a personal firewall, Morro would offer free AV protection with a smaller impact on system resources.[19] Amy Barzdukas, senior director of product management for the Online Services and Windows Division at Microsoft, announced that Morro would not directly compete with other commercial AV software; rather it was focused on the 50 to 60 percent of PC users who did not have or would not pay for AV protection.[20] By 17 June 2009, the official name of Morro was revealed: Microsoft Security Essentials.[21]

On 23 June 2009, Microsoft released a public beta to 75,000 users in the United States, Israel, China and Brazil. Anticipated to be available in 20 markets and 10 languages, the product was scheduled for release before the end of 2009;[22] the final build was released on 29 September 2009.[23]

Version 2.0

Almost a year after the initial release, Microsoft quietly released the second version. It entered the technical preview stage on 19 July 2010,[24][25] and the final build was released on 16 December 2010. It includes Network Inspection System (NIS), a network intrusion detection system that works on Windows Vista and Windows 7, as well as a new anti-malware engine that employs heuristics in malware detection. Version 2.0 integrates with Internet Explorer to protect users against web-based threats.[26][27] NIS requires a separate set of definition updates.[7]

Version 4.0

Sixteen months after the release of version 2.0, Microsoft skipped version 3.0 and released Microsoft Security Essentials 4.0. A public beta program started on 18 November 2011, when Microsoft sent out invitations to potential participants without announcing a version number.[28][29] The first beta version was released on 29 November 2011,[30][31] and the final build on 24 April 2012.[16] Microsoft subsequently initiated a pre-release program that provides volunteers with the latest beta version and accepts feedback.[32]

Version 4.5

On 21 February 2014, version 4.5 entered beta stage.[33] On the same day, Microsoft announced that starting with this version, Windows XP would not be supported.[10] Older versions would continue to receive automatic virus definition updates until 14 July 2015 (afterwards the users of older versions may continue to manually update definitions using Microsoft's site).[11][7]

Version 4.10

The latest version of 4.10 was released on 29 November 2016. It was version 4.10.209.0 for Windows Vista and Windows 7. This update fixes a bug that was introduced earlier in version 4.10.205.0 which removed the "Scan with Microsoft Security Essentials" entry from the right-click context menu on files and folders.

Discontinuation
See also: Windows Defender

Support for MSE has officially ended for Windows Vista[34] and Windows XP.[35] Older versions still function on those systems; however, the latest definition updates are no longer compatible. Although support for Windows 7[36] ended on 14 January 2020 Microsoft will continue to update virus definitions for existing users until 2023.[37]

Microsoft Security Essentials does not run on Windows 8 and later, which has its own security subsystem, Windows Defender. On 13 September 2011, at the Build conference in Anaheim, California, Microsoft unveiled the developer preview of Windows 8, which had a security component capable of preventing an infected USB flash memory from compromising the system during the boot process.[38][39] On 15 September, Windows 8 developer's blog confirmed that Windows Defender in Windows 8 would take over the role of virus protection. In an included video, Jason Garms of Microsoft showed how Windows Defender is registered with Action Center as an AV and spyware protection tool, and how it blocks drive-by malware.[40] On 3 March 2012, Softpedia reviewed the consumer preview of Windows 8 and noted the similarity in appearance of Windows Defender and Microsoft Security Essentials 4.0 Beta. According to Softpedia, Windows 8 Setup requires Microsoft Security Essentials to be uninstalled before upgrading from Windows 7.[41]

Licensing

The product's license agreement allows home users to download, install and use it on an unlimited number of computers in their households free of charge, as long as each computer has a legitimately licensed copy of Microsoft Windows.[5] Since October 2010, small businesses have also been allowed to install the product on up to 10 devices,[42] but use in academic institutions and governmental locations is forbidden, as is reverse-engineering, decompiling or disassembling the product or working around its designed limitations.[5]

MSE requires no registration or personal information to be submitted during installation;[43] however, the validity of the operating system's license is verified during and after installation using the Windows Genuine Advantage system. If said license is found to be invalid, the software will notify the user and will cease to operate after a period of time.[5]

Reception

Industry response

The announcement and debut of Microsoft Security Essentials was met with mixed responses from the AV industry. Symantec, McAfee and Kaspersky Lab, three competing vendors, claimed it to be inferior to their own software.[44] Jens Meggers, Symantec's vice president of engineering for Norton products, dismissed it as "very average – nothing outstanding".[45] Tom Powledge of Symantec urged his customers to be mindful of what protection they chose, bearing in mind that OneCare offered "substandard protection" and an "inferior user experience".[46] Joris Evers, director of worldwide public relations for McAfee stated "with OneCare's market share of less than 2%, we understand Microsoft's decision to shift attention to their core business."[47] Justin Priestley of Kaspersky stated that Microsoft "continued to hold a very low market share in the consumer market, and we don't expect the exit of OneCare to change the playing field drastically."[47]

Avast Software said that it had an ambivalent view towards the product. Vincent Steckler, Avast Software CEO wrote in a blog post "MSE is not the silver bullet but it is also not the bad sequel to One Care [sic] that some claim."[48] A representative of AVG Technologies stated, "We view this as a positive step for the AV landscape. AVG has believed in the right to free antivirus software for the past eight years."[47] However, AVG raised the issue of distributing the software product and said, "Microsoft will have to do more than simply make the product available,"[47] adding that integration of Microsoft Security Essentials with Microsoft Windows would be a violation of competition law.[49] McAfee, Sophos and later Trend Micro affirmed that an antitrust lawsuit would surely have followed if Microsoft had bundled the product with Windows.[50][51]

The announcement of Microsoft Security Essentials affected the stocks of AV vendors. On 19 November 2008, after Microsoft announced codename Morro, Symantec and McAfee shares fell 9.44 and 6.62 percent respectively.[20] On 10 June 2009, after announcing an upcoming beta version, Microsoft shares rose 2.1 percent, while Symantec and McAfee fell 0.5 and 1.3 percent respectively. Daniel Ives, an analyst with FBR Capital Markets, said that Microsoft Security Essentials would be a "long-term competitive threat", although near-term impact would be negligible.[52]

Reviews and awards

The public beta version received several reviews, citing its low resource usage, straightforward user interface and price point.[53][54][55] Brian Krebs of The Washington Post reported that a quick scan on a Windows 7 computer took about 10 minutes and a full scan about 45 minutes.[15] Ars Technica reviewed it positively, citing its organized interface, low resource usage, and its status as freeware.[56]

Nick Mediati of PCWorld noted MSE's "clear-cut" and "cleanly designed" tabbed user interface. He did, however, find some of the settings to be cryptic and confusing, defaulting to "recommended action", with the only explanation of what that action is to be found in the help file. He was also initially confused because the user interface failed to mention that Microsoft Security Essentials automatically updates itself, rather than having to be manually updated via the Update tab;[54] an explanation of this feature was included in the final release.[57]

Neil Rubenking of PC Magazine successfully installed the beta version on 12 malware-infected systems and commented on its small installation package (about 7 MB, depending on the operating system) and speedy installation. But the initial virus definition update took between 5 and 15 minutes, and the full installation occupied about 110 MB of disk space. Rubenking noted that the beta version sets Windows Update into fully automatic mode, although it can be turned off again through Windows Control Panel. Some full scans took more than an hour on infected systems; a scan on a clean system took 35 minutes.[53] An on-demand scan test Rubenking conducted in June 2009 with the beta version found 89 percent of all malware samples: 30 percent of the commercial keyloggers, 67 percent of rootkits, but only half of the scareware samples. The product's real-time protection found 83 percent of all malware and blocked the majority of it: 40 percent of the commercial keyloggers and 78 percent of the rootkits were found.[53]

Results of AV-TEST antivirus software tests on Microsoft Security Essentials, between June 2010 to June 2013 in three categories: Protection, repair and usability.

On 7 January 2010, Microsoft Security Essentials won the Best Free Software award from PC Advisor.[58] In December the same year, it secured the Bronze award from AV-Comparatives for proactive detection of 55 percent of new or unknown malware, the Silver award for low false-positives (six occurrences) and the Bronze award for overall performance.[59]

In October 2009, AV-TEST conducted a series of trials on the final build of the product in which it detected and caught 98.44 percent of 545,034 computer viruses, computer worms and software Trojan horses as well as 90.95 percent of 14,222 spyware and adware samples. It also detected and eliminated all 25 tested rootkits, generating no false-positives.[60] Between June 2010 to January 2013, AV-TEST tested Microsoft Security Essentials 14 times; in 11 out of 14 cases, MSE secured AV-TEST certification of outperforming AV industry average ratings.[61][lower-alpha 1] Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 was tested and certified in March 2011. The product achieved a protection score of 2.5 out of 6, a repair score of 3.5 out of 6 and a usability score of 5.5 out of 6. Report details show that although version 2.0 was able to find all malware samples of the WildList (widespread malware), it was not able to stop all Internet-based attacks because it lacks personal firewall and anti-spam capabilities.[62] In an April 2012 test, version 2.1 achieved scores of 3.0, 5.5 and 5.0 for protection, repair and usability.[63] Version 4.0 for Windows 7 SP1 (x64) was tested in June 2012 and achieved scores of 2.5, 5.5 and 5.5 for protection, repair and usability.[64] In October 2012, the product lost its AV-TEST certification when Microsoft Security Essentials 4.1 achieved scores of 1.5, 3.5 and 5.5 for its protection, repair and usability.[65][66]

In AV-TEST's 2011 annual review, Microsoft Security Essentials came last in protection, seventh in repair and fifth in usability.[67] In the 2012 review, it came last in protection and best in usability; however, having lost its certificate, it was not qualified for the usability award.[68] In June 2013, MSE achieved the lowest possible protection score, zero.[69]

Microsoft has drastically improved MSE's detection over time and in the very latest tests done by AV-TEST during February 2018 MSE has achieved 100% detection of all malware samples in both the "Protection against 0-day malware attacks, inclusive of web and e-mail threats (Real-World Testing)" and "Detection of widespread and prevalent malware discovered in the last 4 weeks (the AV-TEST reference set)" categories, earning it AV-TESTS's "Top Product" award.[70]

Market share

On 29 September 2010, a year after its initial release, Microsoft announced that MSE had more than 30 million users.[71] The Security Industry Market Share Analysis report of June 2011, published by OPSWAT, describes it as one of the most popular AV products in the world,[72] with 10.66 percent of the global market[72]: 5  and 15.68 percent of the North American market.[72]: 4  The same report shows Microsoft as the number one AV vendor in North America with 17.07 percent market share,[72]: 3  and the number four AV vendor worldwide.[72]: 2 

John Dunn of PCWorld, who analyzed the report, noted that the tendency to use free AV software is something new: "After all, free antivirus suites have been around for years but have tended to be seen as the poor relations to paid software." He named Microsoft Security Essentials as an influence on PC users to adopt free AV software.[73]

A September 2011 OPSWAT report found that MSE had further increased its market share to become the second most popular AV product in the world, and remained the most popular in North America.[74] OPSWAT reported in March 2012 that the product had maintained its position, and that Microsoft's market share had improved by 2 percent worldwide and 3 percent in North America.[75] Seth Rosenblatt of CNET News commented on how the product's share rose from 7.27 in 2010 to 10.08 in 2012, stating that "use of the lightweight security suite exploded last year".[76]

Impersonation by malware

The popularity of Microsoft Security Essentials has led to the appearance of malware abusing its name. In February 2010, a rogue security package calling itself "Security Essentials 2010" appeared on the internet. Designated TrojanDownloader:Win32/Fakeinit by Microsoft, it bears no visual resemblance to the Microsoft product.[77][78] It reappeared in November 2010, this time calling itself "Security Essentials 2011".[79] A more dangerous rogue software appeared in August 2010. Designated Rogue:Win32/FakePAV or Unknown Win32/Trojan, it closely resembles Microsoft Security Essentials and uses sophisticated social engineering to deceive users and infect their systems, under the guise of five different fictional anti-malware products. It also terminates and prevents the launch of 156 different programs, including Registry Editor, Windows Command Prompt, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Safari, and Google Chrome.[80][81][82]

See also

References

Notes

  1. According to AV-TEST: "Jeder Unterpunkt der Hauptkategorien wird über den Testzeitraum monatlich bewertet. Die erreichte Leistung wird prozentual vom Industrie-Durchschnitt eingestuft. [...] Für den Privatanwenderbereich muss ein Produkt mindestens 10 der erreichbaren 18 Punkte erhalten sowie mindestens 1 Punkt in jeder Kategorie, um sich ein "AV-TEST CERTIFIED" zu verdienen." Translation: The performance level achieved is considered as a percentage of the industry average score. [...] Home-user products must achieve at least 10 of the 18 points available and at least 1 point in each category in order to earn an "AV-TEST CERTIFIED" seal of approval.[lower-alpha 2]

Citations

  1. "Microsoft Security Essentials 4.7.205.0 Prerelease". Softpedia. SoftNews SRL. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  2. "Download Microsoft Security Essentials Prerelease from Official Microsoft Download Center". Microsoft. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  3. "System requirements". microsoft.com. Microsoft. Archived from the original on 7 April 2013.
  4. "Microsoft Security Essentials". Download Center. Microsoft. 26 February 2013.
  5. "Microsoft Software License Terms". Microsoft. 26 May 2012.
  6. Mills, Elinor (18 June 2009). "Microsoft's free antimalware beta on the way". CNET. CBS Interactive.
  7. "Install the latest Microsoft Security Essentials definition updates". Malware Protection Center. Microsoft. 25 September 2017.
  8. Bott, Ed (30 September 2011). "Users report Microsoft Security Essentials removes Google Chrome". ZDNet. CBS Interactive.
  9. Metz, Cade (30 September 2011). "Microsoft Anti-Malware Tool Mistakenly Snuffs Google Chrome". Wired.
  10. Popa, Bogdan (21 February 2014). "Microsoft Removes Windows XP Support in Security Essentials Prerelease Builds". Softpedia. SoftNews. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  11. Yegulalp, Serdar (16 February 2014). "Microsoft extends XP anti-malware support until July 2015". InfoWorld. IDG. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  12. Tesar, David (29 September 2009). "Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) released". TechNet. Microsoft.
  13. "Microsoft Malware Protection Engine deployment information (Revision: 3.0)". Support. Microsoft. 9 July 2012.
  14. Thurrott, Paul (6 October 2010). "Microsoft Security Essentials Public Beta". Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows. Penton Media. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012.
  15. Krebs, Brian (24 June 2009). "Microsoft Debuts Free antivirus Software Beta". The Washington Post.
  16. Ilascu, Ionut (25 April 2012). "Microsoft Security Essentials 4.0 Quietly Released". Softpedia. SoftNews NET.
  17. Ditto-Ehlert, Kimborly A. (22 February 2011). "Microsoft SpyNet?". Forefront Endpoint Protection Blog. Microsoft. Archived from the original on 28 February 2012.
  18. "Microsoft Announces Plans for No-Cost Consumer Security Offering". News Center. Microsoft. 18 November 2008.
  19. "Microsoft to offer free security". BBC. 19 November 2008.
  20. Hoffman, Stefanie (19 November 2008). "Microsoft: Morro Won't Compete With Symantec, McAfee". CRN. UBM.
  21. Protalinski, Emil (17 June 2009). "Leaked: Microsoft Security Essentials (codename Morro)". Ars Technica. Condé Nast.
  22. Foley, Mary-Jo (23 June 2009). "Microsoft Security Essentials beta to be capped at 75,000, kicks off today". ZDNet. CBS Interactive.
  23. Mediati, Nick (28 June 2009). "Microsoft Security Essentials Launches Tuesday". PCWorld. IDG.
  24. LeBlanc, Brandon (20 July 2010). "Beta for Next Version of Microsoft Security Essentials Now Available". Blogging Windows. Microsoft.
  25. Whitney, Lance (21 July 2010). "Microsoft debuts beta of new Security Essentials". CNET. CBS Interactive.
  26. Whitney, Lance (17 December 2010). "Microsoft releases free Security Essentials 2.0". CNET. CBS Interactive.
  27. Gordon, Whitson (17 December 2010). "Microsoft Security Essentials 2 Released, Still The Best Antivirus". Lifehacker. Allure Media.
  28. Foley, Mary Jo (18 November 2011). "Microsoft seeks testers for limited beta of next-gen Security Essentials". ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
  29. Thomas, Orin (18 November 2011). "New Microsoft Security Essentials Beta program open". Windows IT Pro. Penton Media. Archived from the original on 21 May 2013.
  30. Bink, Steven (29 November 2011). "New Microsoft Security Essentials Beta now public". Bink.nu. Archived from the original on 15 June 2012.
  31. Perry, Douglas (2 December 2011). "Microsoft Skips 3, Releases Security Essentials 4 Beta". Tom's Hardware. Bestofmedia.
  32. "Homepage for the pre-release program". Connect. Microsoft. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  33. Popa, Bogdan (21 February 2014). "Microsoft Security Essentials 4.5.212.0 Pre-Release Available for Download". Softpedia. SoftNews. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  34. "Windows Vista support has ended". Windows Support. Microsoft. 12 April 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  35. "Windows XP support has ended". Windows Support. 7 June 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  36. "Microsoft Security Essentials Product Information". Microsoft Support. Microsoft. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  37. "What is Microsoft Security Essentials?". Windows Support. Microsoft. 14 January 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  38. Whitney, Lance (13 September 2011). "Windows 8 to offer built-in malware protection". CNET. CBS Interactive.
  39. Kingsley-Hughes, Adrian (13 September 2011). "Windows 8 will ship with built-in antivirus protection". ZDNet. CBS Interactive.
  40. Sinofsky, Steven. "Protecting you from malware". Building Windows 8. Microsoft. Archived from the original on 28 May 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  41. Arghire, Ionut (3 March 2012). "Windows 8 Consumer Preview: Windows Defender (MSE)". Softpedia. SoftNews Net SRL.
  42. Protalinski, Emil (17 October 2010). "Competitors declare MSE is not enough for small businesses". Ars Technica. Condé Nast.
  43. Bott, Ed (18 June 2009). "How good is Microsoft's free antivirus software?". ZDnet. CBS Interactive.
  44. Keizer, Gregg (29 September 2009). "Rivals mock Microsoft's free security software". Computerworld. IDG.
  45. Messmer, Ellen (1 October 2009). "Anti-malware test in hand, Symantec swats Microsoft Security Essentials". ITworld. IDG. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
  46. Schofield, Jack (27 November 2008). "Security 'hippos' dismiss Microsoft Morro launch". Guardian.co.uk. Guardian News and Media.
  47. Vamosi, Robert (19 November 2008). "Antivirus firms shrug at Microsoft's free security suite". CNET. CBS Interactive.
  48. Steckler, Vincent (2 October 2009). "And what about Microsoft Security Essentials—MSE?". Avast! Blog. Avast Software a.s.
  49. Schofield, Jack (11 June 2009). "Waiting for Morro: Microsoft's free anti-virus software". Guardian.co.uk. Guardian News and Media.
  50. Fried, Ina (18 November 2008). "Will Microsoft's antivirus move draw antitrust fire?". CNET. CBS Interactive.
  51. Bright, Peter (5 November 2010). "Trend Micro cries "antitrust" over Microsoft Security Essentials". Ars Technica. Condé Nast.
  52. Finkle, Jim (10 June 2009). "Update 3-Microsoft will soon unveil free anti-virus software". Reuters. Thomson Reuters.
  53. Rubenking, Neil J. (18 June 2009). "Microsoft Security Essentials beta". PC Magazine. Ziff Davis.
  54. Mediati, Nick (24 June 2009). "Microsoft Security Essentials: Basic, Automatic Protection". PCWorld. IDG.
  55. Angad, Ulhas M. (17 October 2009). "Microsoft Security Essentials Review". Satishsays.com. Satishsays Dot Com. Archived from the original on 29 February 2012.
  56. Protalinski, Emil (29 September 2009). "First look: Microsoft Security Essentials impresses". Ars Technica. Condé Nast.
  57. Ilascu, Ionut (1 October 2009). "Microsoft's Security Essentials Kit". Softpedia. SoftNews NET.
  58. "Microsoft wins PC Advisor's Best Free Software award – PC Advisor Awards 2010: winners announced". PC Advisor. IDG. 7 January 2010.
  59. "Summary Report 2010" (PDF). av-comparatives.org. AV-Comparatives. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
  60. Whitney, Lance (2 October 2009). "Security Essentials fares well in AV-Test trial". CNET. CBS Interactive.
  61. "Home User: Microsoft". AV-TEST.org. AV-TEST. Archived from the original on 1 February 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  62. "AV-TEST Product Review and Certification Report – Q1/2011 Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0". AV-TEST.org. AV-TEST. March 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  63. "AV-TEST Product Review and Certification Report – Mar–Apr/2012 Microsoft Security Essentials 2.1". AV-TEST.org. AV-TEST. April 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  64. "AV-TEST Product Review and Certification Report – May-Jun/2012 Microsoft Security Essentials 4.0". AV-TEST.org. AV-TEST. June 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  65. Rubenking, Neil J. (28 November 2012). "Microsoft Fails AV-Test Certification". PC Magazine. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 30 November 2012.
  66. "AV-TEST Product Review and Certification Report – Sep-Oct/2012 Microsoft Security Essentials 4.0 & 4.1". AV-TEST.org. AV-TEST. June 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  67. "AV-TEST 2011 Awards". AV-TEST.org. AV-TEST. 2011. Archived from the original on 6 March 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  68. "AV-TEST 2012 Awards". AV-TEST.org. AV-TEST. 2012. Archived from the original on 23 May 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  69. "AV-TEST Product Review Report – May-Jun/2013 Microsoft Security Essentials 4.2". AV-TEST.org. AV-TEST. June 2013. Archived from the original on 4 August 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  70. "The best antivirus software for Windows Home User". AV-TEST.org. AV-TEST. 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  71. "Microsoft Security Essentials racks up 30 million users". TechRadar. Future. 29 September 2010.
  72. "Security Industry Market Share Analysis – June 2011" (PDF). OPSWAT. 6 June 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 January 2013.
  73. Dunn, John E. (7 June 2011). "Free Antivirus Programs Rise in Popularity, New Survey Shows". PCWorld. IDG.
  74. "Security Industry Market Share Analysis – September 2011" (PDF). OPSWAT. 22 November 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2011.
  75. "Security Industry Market Share Analysis – March 2012" (PDF). OPSWAT. 8 March 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 May 2012.
  76. Rossenblat, Seth (16 March 2012). "Microsoft's Essentials bet pays off". CNET. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 8 October 2014.
  77. Wood, David (24 February 2010). "If it calls itself "Security Essentials 2010", then it's possibly fake, innit?". Malware Protection Center Blog. Microsoft. Archived from the original on 13 April 2012.
  78. "Encyclopedia Entry: TrojanDownloader:Win32/Fakeinit". Malware Protection Center. Microsoft. 2 April 2009.
  79. O'Dea, Hamish (15 November 2010). "New Year, Same Old Rogues". Malware Protection Center Blog. Microsoft. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012.
  80. Foster, Eric (25 October 2010). "Fake Microsoft Security Essentials software on the loose. Don't be fooled by it!". Windows Security Blog. Microsoft. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013.
  81. O'Dea, Hamish (9 November 2010). "MSRT Tackles Fake Microsoft Security Essentials". Microsoft. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012.
  82. "Encyclopedia Entry: Rogue:Win32/FakePAV". Malware Protection Center. Microsoft. 9 November 2009.
  83. "Zertifizierte Sicherheit" [Certified Security]. AV-TEST.org (in German). AV-TEST. Archived from the original on 30 November 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2012.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.