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AV-Comparatives Releases 2025 Consumer Summary Report

AV-Comparatives, the internationally recognized independent authority in cybersecurity testing, has published its 2025 Consumer Summary Report, delivering a comprehensive assessment of leading security products on the Windows platform. The report synthesizes a full year of rigorous, scientific evaluations to help consumers identify effective and reliable cybersecurity solutions.

The Consumer Summary Report consolidates findings from AV-Comparatives’ 2025 Consumer Main Test Series, which evaluated 19 widely used security products. Testing covered critical dimensions including real-world protection against live internet threats, malware detection capabilities, defense against advanced attacks, system performance impact, and false positive rates. All tests were conducted under realistic conditions using transparent, reproducible methodologies to ensure fairness, accuracy, and reliability.

Key Findings

Top-Rated Products of 2025
Products demonstrating consistently outstanding performance across all test categories were awarded AV-Comparatives’ prestigious Top-Rated Product Award. The 2025 recipients are:
• Avast Free Antivirus
• AVG AntiVirus Free
• Bitdefender Total Security
• ESET HOME Security Essential
• G DATA Total Security
• Kaspersky Premium
• Norton Antivirus Plus

Category Awards
To recognize excellence in specific areas, AV-Comparatives awarded Gold, Silver, and Bronze distinctions in each test category:

• Real-World Protection: Gold – Norton; Silver – Bitdefender; Bronze – Avira, Kaspersky, McAfee
• Malware Protection: Gold – Kaspersky; Silver – G DATA; Bronze – Bitdefender
• Performance (Low System Impact): Gold – Avast and AVG; Silver – Norton; Bronze – McAfee
• Advanced Threat Protection: Gold – Bitdefender and ESET
• False Positives (lowest rate): Gold – Kaspersky; Silver – Total Defense; Bronze – Bitdefender

These awards reflect not only superior protection but also strong usability and system efficiency—essential qualities for everyday users.

User Experience Evaluation
Beyond technical benchmarks, the report includes a structured assessment of each product’s user interface, covering installation, configuration options, alert clarity, and overall ease of use. This ensures that recommendations balance robust security with practical, user-friendly design.

Source: AV-Comparatives