A New Age of Android Antivirus Testing

The team at MRG Effitas has been undertaking Android antivirus testing for many years. When we first started putting Android AVs to the test, we faced a lot of challenges. After much research and development, we devised a series of tests and a methodology that truly assessed the performance and efficacy of the AV products in real-life scenarios.

Behind the scenes, we have continued to streamline the process of sample collection and worked to improve the test bench and the report itself. We encountered the occasional glitch along the way and have had a few hiccups here and there, but these have been ironed out, usually with the help of the participating AV brands during the dispute process!

And all of that was fine. The MRG Effitas 360° Android Antivirus Test report became a thing, expected by many each quarter.

As time progressed, so did the AV engines. By mid-2021, it became apparent that many of the AV vendors had done a really good job at improving their products, to the point where they were consistently scoring perfect or near-perfect scores and regularly achieved the coveted MRG Effitas 360° certification badge.

And this is all great news, as now security-conscious users have a great variety of effective AV products to choose from.

But nothing stays the same and the time has come for a change.

We have now revised the Android antivirus testing methodology. We have kept the best features of the existing testing process, but now offer consumers greater detail and insight into how the top-performing products work.

We still use the freshest real-life malware samples where possible, along with realistic testing methods, but we have enhanced our processes, methodology and our report to help security-conscious users to understand the differences between the 100% scoring products and ensure that they use their chosen AV in the most efficient way.

You can check out our new format report here and we hope that the new and improved Android 360° test reports will be used by many to get the best from their antivirus protection products.