Ouch. The once highly recommended free antivirus software from Microsoft, MS Security Essentials has failed AV-Test’s virus detection tests. Zero day exploits as well as standard virus scanning. It has been verified by other independent testing companies, as well. Hopefully, Microsoft can get back on top, otherwise I’ll have to start recommending something else. MSE has been great for me so far, and has a very small footprint and integrates into the OS very well. Time to move on, or wait a month or so to see if they can rebound?

According to the testing firm, Security Essentials was only able to spot 64 percent of zero-day malware attacks during September and October. This is down from the previous testing period in which Microsoft’s antivirus was able to spot 69 percent of zero-day threats. Still, this is well below the industry average detection rate of 89 percent.