Windows fails second virus test

Microsoft's Live OneCare security software has failed tests which check how well it spots and stops malicious programs designed to attack Windows.

Microsoft's Live OneCare program was the only failure among the 17 anti-virus programs which were tested by the AV Comparatives organization. Out of the 500,000 viruses the program was subjected to, OneCare was only able to spot 82.4% of them. This tests marks the second test that the OneCare software has recently failed. The viruses OneCare showed the worst performance on were the polymorphic viruses, which are viruses that often change their configuration in order to prevent security software from detecting and erasing them. "Microsoft OneCare performed very low in the test, and did not reach the minimum requirements for participation," wrote Andreas Clementi, senior tester at AV Comparatives, in the report about the tests. A spokesman from Microsoft said that Microsoft is trying to use these tests to improve Windows Live OneCare. In defense of the program, he went on to add that the program had been certified by ICSA Labs and the West Point Checkpoint system. Troubling news for sure.. if you're out there using OneCare, you might want to consider adding another security program to your arsenal. OneCare is obviously fairly efficient but even one virus getting through is one too many.