Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Fails Another Anti-Virus Test

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and its Windows operating system has been a longtime target of malware and other viruses that have been known to wreak havoc on networks around the world over the years. And the company has committed to locking down those holes and vulnerabilities, and monitoring them on end-user systems with its Security Essentials suite of software.

But results are in from a cybersecurity certification firm, and it reported that Security Essentials failed the certification test for a second consecutive time. In its review, independent German testing lab AV-Test, which conducts the international certification, revealed that 22 of the 25 programs that were tested passed the test, but Security Essentials came up short. The lab tested all programs across three areas: protection, reparability and usability of the whole computer based on the impact of the software. With lower numbers meaning better results, the lab stated that Security Essentials by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) scored a 1.5 (out of 6) in protection, a 3.0 on reparability and 5.5 on usability.

As one might expect, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has not taken the news quietly. In a blog post, the company defended its software and countered the methodology of the test.  Joe Blackbird, a program manager at the company’s Malware Protection Center (sounds impressive, doesn’t it?) wrote that his company’s tests showed that customers (end-users) are much safer with Security Essentials than the AV-Test results would indicate.

“Our review showed that 0.0033 percent of our Microsoft Security Essentials and Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection customers were impacted by malware samples not detected during the test. In addition, 94 percent of the malware samples not detected during the test didn’t impact our customers.” That means that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) reviewed its software’s effectiveness based on impact on customers – how many were affected by malware, and to what extent?