As Which don't have the expertise or capability of a proper check on the actual capability of the anti virus they must either be looking at other factors or employed a specialist company to do it.
As the two main independent testing organisations really pan it for protection I must assume that they were looking at easy of use etc.
This may help
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/security/364093/report-no-need-to-pay-for-antivirus | Quote |
Which? set up five computers with a variety of protection, between wholly unprotected and fully secured with the latest, paid for antivirus and firewall.
Over a month, the PCs were used to visit a variety of webpages, from reputable ones such as Amazon to malware-riddled bit-torrent sites. None of the machines became infected. |
If this is the extent of their testing it isn't really very good
Just found this
http://conversation.which.co.uk/technology/windows8-anti-virus-security-software-tops-table-microsof... | Quote |
Stay safe and save money
This means that lazy people like me don’t have to worry about installing extra antivirus programs. And if you’re already good at keeping your computer safe, you no longer need to turn to pricey third party software. Yes, Windows 8 beat out all the paid-for software as well. If you don’t want to upgrade to Windows 8, Microsoft Security Essentials is a good bet and happens to be free too.
The security software built into Windows 8 has the right mix of keeping your computer safe from digital attacks, while also being very easy to use. It comes with lots of other handy features, such as parental controls to keep innocent eyes from seeing sites they shouldn’t. You can even manage the time your kids spend online to ensure the computer isn’t used after lights out.
It has great protection against malware, even blocking the download of malware in a zipped file. Many other packages don’t even look into zip files. Other standout features include being integrated with Outlook 2013 and auto-scanning when you insert a USB stick. It also has a strong two-way firewall that lets you set different levels of security for different scenarios, eg in a café vs at home. All of this is packaged together as part of the Windows 8 operating system. |
which tends to indicate that they only looked at features and not how effective it was.
Note that the person doing the tests is Jessica Moreton, Senior Technology Researcher with this cv
| Quote |
| Jessica is part of the Tech team and looks after the tablet, ebook and security software tests. She joined Which? in September 2010, and after having worked in a range of departments as part of the grad scheme, she was finally lured back to team Tech to write about exciting new gadgets. Jessica studied English Literature at the University of Warwick and is keen on books, education and dance. You'll find her writing about a mixture of these topics. |
I am sorry but that doesn't fill me with any confidence about her ability to do proper tests
