Did you know that independent bodies test all the anti-virus software on the market to test their performance? Avast is regularly tested by AV-Comparatives and AV-Test.

How do the organisations that test antivirus software work?

AV-Test and AV-Comparatives are two independent testing bodies which test antivirus software from all publishers under real conditions. To guarantee the objectivity of these tests, publishers cannot pay these bodies to influence the results.

In practice, these organisations install each antivirus on identical machines and send different types of virus to these devices (virus, trojan, ransomware, phishing, etc.) to see how the antivirus will behave. These tests are carried out both automatically and manually, so as to be able to test different situations and get as close as possible to the digital environment of an average user.

AV-Test carries out its tests every two months and scores antivirus products out of 6 (6/6 being the best possible score). 3 criteria are taken into account:
- The level of protection
- Performance: the ability of the antivirus to function without slowing down the machine
- Usability : the absence of untimely elements that hinder the user's use of the machine.

We are proud to announce that’Avast scored a perfect 6/6 on all three criteria in the latest AV-TEST!

AV-Comparatives carries out 4 types of quarterly tests:
- Real-World Protection Test This test is carried out in the mode that most closely resembles normal use of a machine by an average user.
- Malware Protection Test This test analyses how an antivirus behaves when faced with malware on a machine that is not connected to the Internet. It should be borne in mind that an antivirus normally needs an Internet connection to update itself. An antivirus that can detect and block malware without an Internet connection is therefore a very good antivirus!
- Performance Test The antivirus is subjected to a number of system resource-intensive operations (copying large files, transferring files unknown to the antivirus, etc.) in order to analyse the antivirus's ability to function without slowing down the machine while it performs these heavy operations.
- False Positive Test A false positive is a file mistakenly detected by the antivirus as being a virus. This test checks that the antivirus is not making a mistake and does not detect healthy files as being dangerous. False virus detection prevents the user from taking full advantage of these files because the antivirus blocks them.

Based on the results obtained in these 4 tests, AV-Comparatives is awarding the following prizes to the publishers:
- ADVANCED + for the antivirus solutions with the highest scores. These are the best-performing antivirus solutions according to AV-Comparatives
- ADVANCED for antivirus solutions that have achieved good results.
- STANDARD for antivirus products that meet AV-Comparatives' minimum test criteria.
- TESTED for solutions that have been tested by AV-comparatives but have partially or totally failed the test.

Avast has been awarded ADVANCED+ certification on the last 4 AV-Comparatives tests!

Why are these tests important?

The plethora of antivirus solutions for home users and companies can make it difficult to choose the right protection for your digital life or your personal data. for his company.

These test organisations use objective criteria to test the various antivirus solutions, so that you can make an informed choice about the antivirus solution that will protect your data.

These test bodies also promote transparency in the cyber security industry by testing the quality of the antivirus solutions on offer.

Finally, these tests enable antivirus software publishers to’constantly improve their antivirus software to protect you against an ever-growing number of threats.

What awards has Avast won?

Avast is systematically rewarded in all AV-Test and AV-Comparatives tests. Here are some of the awards Avast has received in recent months: