eScan bags yet another VB100 award

eScan, one of the leading providers of information security solutions for desktops and servers, bagged the August 2011 VB100 False Positive Award. Results are available at http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archive/test?id=165.

The VB100 award is a certification of products which meet the basic standards required to be recognised as legitimate and properly functioning anti-malware solutions.

To display a VB100 logo, a product must:
* Prove it can detect 100% of malware samples listed as 'In the Wild' by the WildList Organisation.
* Generate no false positives when scanning an extensive test set of clean samples.
* All this must be done with default, out-of-the-box settings in the VB lab environment. www.Virusbtn.com

When Mornay Viljoen, MD of eScan South Africa, was asked why this award is so important, he commented: “When choosing an anti-virus product, most consumers only look at detection rate and the reason for that is simple. In the South African market when a review is done by local print or online magazines, the key focus seems to be only price and detection. At eScan we focus on all the relevant points to be taken into account when choosing the best product for your needs. Although detection is the top factor everyone should look at, if you read international authorities on the subject, one cannot simply look at detection without looking at false positives. The fact is that the two go together, and by reflecting only one, the consumer is misled and cannot possibly make an informed choice. False alarms/positives can cause as much trouble as a real infection, because a “false positive” means that your AV is deleting files you or your computer uses.

“Can you imagine what would happen if a system file suddenly gets deleted or your new accounting package stops functioning? A lot of AV vendors scan so broadly so as to ensure they get a higher detection rate, but that usually also means they get higher false positive rates, which translates into a weaker than perceived product. We at eScan believe in accuracy and we prefer having both legs covered. A high detection rate and a low false positive rate, thereby truly supplying the consumer with a great product that's easy to use and affordable from home use through to corporate and enterprise levels.”

Viljoen added: “These awards along with the many others awarded to eScan simply prove that the product far out performs public expectation and that people now have an affordable advanced alternative to the other products in the market. Couple the aforementioned with our excellent support structures and our personalised approach to doing business, and no one can go wrong in choosing eScan as their preferred anti-virus and content security product. eScan South Africa is more than ever committed to ensuring eScan remains a product that is both value for money to the consumer and a product with a high profitability ratio for the channel. At least 90% of eScan users want to renew their product after their initial 12-month licence period, ensuring renewal income for our registered dealers. The built-in remote support feature enables the reseller to support their clients remotely, not only cutting out the travelling costs to and from clients, but also allowing resellers to fit in more clients instead of sitting in traffic.”