MicroWorld eScan Anti-Virus with Cloud Security
MicroWorld eScan Anti-Virus with Cloud Security
The product’s main window features five large panels on a world-map background. There’s plenty of extra space, because eScan’s security suite products use the same user interface, but adds more panels. The panels represent five components: file antivirus, mail antivirus, antispam, firewall, and cloud protection. Each offers some simple stats, such as the number of email messages scanned or the number dangerous objects found. And clicking each panel opens a page that lets you make configuration changes or view logged activity for the corresponding component.
The user interface is a bit dated, and some parts can be difficult to read. In particular, the firewall popup notifications and virus alerts are hard on the eyes, with small print on a pale-blue background.
You can choose to install eScan with or without its Rescue Mode; you can also add Rescue Mode later. Rescue Mode is an alternate operating system that you can boot into if ransomware or other malware makes Windows unbootable or unusable. You’ll definitely want to install Rescue Mode, and you’ll probably want to turn on antispam and email antivirus, both of which are turned off by default.
Good Lab Results
Not all of the independent antivirus labs that I follow include eScan in their testing, but those that do generally give it good marks. Virus Bulletin included eScan in all of its latest 12 tests and awarded it VB100 certification in 11 of those. ICSA Labs certifies eScan for virus detection.
Germany-based AV-Test Institute assigns antivirus products up to six points in each of three categories: effective protection against malware; low impact on system performance; and low incidence of false positives that interfere with usability. eScan earned 5 points for protection, 5 for performance, and 6 for usability, for a total of 16 points. Note, though, that Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2015 and Kaspersky Anti-Virus (2015)both managed a perfect 18 points.
MicroWorld eScan Anti-Virus with Cloud Security Lab Tests Chart
AV-Comparatives tests security products in a variety of different ways. Products that pass earn a Standard rating; those that excel can earn Advanced or Advanced+. eScan would have had an Advanced+ rating in four distinct tests, but false positives (good files identified as bad) knocked it down to Advanced in two of those tests.
Lab results for eScan are good overall. However, the very best products, such as Bitdefender and Kaspersky, earn top marks across the board.
See How We Interpret Antivirus Lab Tests
Good Malware Blocking
I don’t have the staff and resources that the independent labs do, but I like to get a hands-on experience with each antivirus product’s malware blocking abilities. eScan turned in a good performance in my tests.
As soon as I opened the folder containing my current collection of malware samples, eScan started wiping them out. In a very short time it eliminated almost 80 percent of those samples. It also caught several of the remaining samples when I launched them. One way or another, it detected 86 percent of the samples, the same as Baidu Antivirus 2015. With 8.4 points for malware blocking, eScan has the best score among the admittedly small number of products tested using my current malware collection. Tested using my previous collection, Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus (2015) detected them all and earned a perfect 10 points.
MicroWorld eScan Anti-Virus with Cloud Security Malware Blocking Chart
Next, I tried launching a collection of newly-discovered malware-hosting URLs supplied by MRG-Effitas. I kept at it until I had recorded eScan’s reaction to 100 of these very fresh targets. Its Web protection blocked access to 26 percent of the samples, and the regular antivirus component wiped out another 12 percent during download, for a total protection rate of 38 percent, which is just a hair below the current average. With 85 percent protection, McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2015 hold the top score in this test.
See How We Test Malware Blocking
I also tested eScan’s ability to detect and block phishing websites—fraudulent sites that attempt to steal your login credentials for bank sites and other sensitive websites. When site after site slipped past eScan, I double-checked the documentation. It turns out that this product’s phishing protection is strictly related to phishing emails.MicroWorld reserves actual phishing protection for its suite products.
Simple Firewall
Most vendors reserve firewall protection for their security suite products, but MicroWorld generously includes it in the standalone antivirus. When I tested the product using port scans and other Web-based tests, it correctly stealthed all ports against outside attack, and also actively identified a couple of the port scan tests.
eScan’s firewall also aims to manage programs that attempt Internet or network access, but in its default Limited Filter configuration this feature is rather limited. It monitors inbound traffic and manages it based on predefined rules. If you want full program control, you need to switch it to Interactive Filter. In this mode, when the firewall detects an unknown program attempting network access, it asks you whether to allow or block it, with the option to remember your answer in the form of a rule. Top-notch firewalls like what you get with Symantec Norton Security or Kaspersky Internet Security (2015) automatically assign permissions for known programs and monitor the behavior of unknowns, making their own decisions.
Of course, a firewall can’t control Internet access by a program if it doesn’t detect that access. Leak test programs exercise sneaky techniques used by malware to get online without being detected. I tried a handful of leak tests; eScan detected just one of them.
When I hit the test system with two dozen exploits generated by theCORE Impact penetration tool, the firewall didn’t stop any of them at the network level. However, the antivirus component eliminated the executable payload for a third of the exploits, identifying half of those by name. Norton’s firewall identified and blocked all of the exploits.
At least this firewall won’t cave to direct attack by malware. It doesn’t expose any significant setttings in the Registry, and I couldn’t kill off its processes. Its essential Windows services are also protected; when I tried to disable them I got nothing but “Access Denied.”
This simple firewall does its job, though it’s not on par with the very best. And don’t forget, this product is an antivirus, so anything the firewall does for you is all gravy.
Disappointing Antispam
The antispam component in eScan doesn’t attempt integration with email clients. By default, it filters your incoming POP3 email and marks spam messages by adding “[SPAM]” to the subject. You can choose a variety of other ways to mark the spam messages; most users won’t. Defining a message rule to divert spam into its own folder is not difficult. eScan also scans incoming messages and attachments for malware
eScan uses what it calls a Non-Intrusive Learning Pattern algorithm to identify spam. It also uses a number of other techniques; for example, by default it marks email using the Chinese or Korean character set as spam. In testing, though, a lot of Chinese-language spam still made it to the Inbox. You can configure the spam filter to treat messages containing specific phrases as spam. There are a number of other advanced settings, but I didn’t touch them. Most users will ignore them; they just want spam filtered out and good mail left alone.
MicroWorld eScan Anti-Virus with Cloud Security Antispam Chart
In testing, eScan significantly slowed the process of downloading email. It took three times as long to download 1,000 messages with eScan watching for spam as with no spam filter. I also found that I had to turn off the notification system, which wanted to pop up a notification for every found spam message. With all that time spent examining and classifying mail, you might expect impressive accuracy. You’d be disappointed.
The spam filter discarded 7.9 percent of valid personal messages, throwing them in with the spam. That’s pretty bad; what if one of those messages was the job offer you were waiting for? It also let 28.6 percent of undeniable spam messages into the inbox. The best spam filters don’t discard any valid mail, and don’t miss nearly as much spam. For example, McAfee only missed 4.4 percent of spam, and Norton only missed 7 percent. It’s a good thing spam filtering isn’t an essential antivirus feature.
Bonus Tools
Clicking the Tools link at the bottom of the main window brings up a page of bonus tools. eScan checks to make sure you’ve installed all essential Windows updates; if you don’t, it helps you get them installed. It automatically checks every inserted USB drive for malware, and can optionally “vaccinate” any USB drive, making it impossible for malware to launch from the drive using AutoPlay.
Sometimes when malware has screwed up Windows, you can fix things by booting into Safe Mode. The usual problem with Safe Mode is that users have a hard time invoking it. eScan takes Safe Mode protection in the opposite direction, allowing you to require a password before Safe Mode can be used. I’m not sure how useful this is, but nobody says you have to turn it on.
A Decent Choice
MicroWorld eScan Anti-Virus with Cloud Security gets good scores from the independent labs, and it did well in my hands-on malware-blocking test (but not in my malicious URL blocking test). It includes antispam and firewall, components that most vendors reserve for their security suite products. However, the antispam proved ineffective in testing, and the dated user interface can be hard to read. Most users will be better off choosing Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus (2015), Kaspersky Anti-Virus (2015), or Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2015, all three of which have earned our Editors’ Choice.
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