Microsoft's OneCare finishes last in anti-virus testing

AV-Comparatives.org comprises a group of IT graduate students who have
published formal analyses of anti-virus tools since 2004. Led by Andreas
Clementi, the project tester and a graduate student at the University of
Innsbruck, this group tests various anti-viruses and then publishes its report.
And the latest quarterly report placed Microsoft's OneCare anti-virus solution
at the fag end of its list.

In each of the three categories-viruses, macros, worms and scripts;
backdoors, trojans, and other malware; and a third category, combining the
results of the first two-OneCare received the worst score out of 17 products
tested, according to AV-Comparatives.org.

Microsoft also ranked third from the bottom in detection of polymorphic
viruses, which included worms like W32/Insane.A, which can produce varied copies
of itself, defeating a static signature file. Microsoft's OneCare was launched
in May 2006. In January, the software package was updated with improved backup
and language options, as well as integrated spyware and virus detection.

Microsoft officials said they would examine the results of the tests to
develop improvements. “We recently learned that AV-Comparatives conducted tests
on Windows Live OneCare and the service did not pass their testing criteria,” a
Microsoft spokesperson said.