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Older AV companies have an edge

by on17 May 2021


Age before beauty 

Older more established anti-virus companies are actually better than the new, more flashy upstarts, according to a new report.

MITRE cybersecurity product evaluations use adversarial attack techniques instead of basic malware samples, and is seen as one of the better tests of enterprise security products — particularly in light of dramatic recent attacks on SolarWinds and Colonial Pipeline.

But what the test reveals is that the first-generation antivirus vendors like Symantec, McAfee and Trend Micro which have been around the longest have fared in the MITRE tests than newer companies..

An eSecurity Planet article analysed the data and started to wonder why the old guard may have a built-in advantage over the hot upstarts:

It puts down the old-timer's success on the fact that many of the newer companies are using flasher marketing but lack the depth of experience.  The long history of the first generation AV companies gives the old guard a product depth that's tough to beat.

"Just one example: Symantec was prepared for last year's SolarWinds hack because it long ago faced attacks when hackers tried to disable endpoint agents, a primary vector for the Sunburst malware. In cybersecurity, experience still counts for something", the report said. 

 

Last modified on 17 May 2021
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