Avast's solutions make it possible for us to identify and protect against new phishing methods as they arise.

If an antivirus is doing its job, you never really have to think about it. It should be running in the background, protecting your devices from all types of attacks. But if that’s the case, how do you know it’s doing a good job? That’s where independent tests like those run by ISO-certified IT security testing lab AV-Comparatives come in. 

AV-Comparatives is an independent testing lab that evaluates and rates anti-virus software, internet security suites, and other cybersecurity products based on their performance, protection, and usability. The organisation is ISO- certified and recognised as a reliable and independent source of information by end users, consumers, and the cybersecurity industry as a whole. 

A recent test, which took place in February 2023 and was commissioned by Gen™, examined how the performance of several antivirus products and browsers stack up, specifically when it comes to protecting individuals against phishing attacks. And although Gen commissioned the test, the brand selection, testing methodology, and verification of results are in the hands of AV-Comparatives. In the future, we hope that more testing institutions will begin testing against phishing without tests needing to be commissioned by singular organizations. 

Avast Free Antivirus stands out in phishing detection 

To highlight the importance of this functionality, AV-Comparatives put several antivirus solutions to the test. In the antivirus category, Avast Free Antivirus, Kaspersky Standard, McAfee Total Protection, and Trend Micro Internet Security stood out. In this test, Avast Free Antivirus successfully achieved a block rate of 97%.  With this, Avast is among the top three brands. 

Which browsers were included in the test? 
 
Antivirus products aren’t the only solutions that can protect individuals against phishing attacks — browsers play an important role as well. AV-Comparatives also included a group of popular browsers in their anti-phishing protection test. 

Among the browsers tested, Avast Secure Browser significantly stood out with a detection rate of 96%. This was followed by Opera (78%), Mozilla Firefox (77%), Microsoft Edge (71%), which showed better phishing protection than Google Chrome, which achieved only a 49% block rate. “This highlights the need for users to consider alternative browsers with more robust phishing protection or additional third-party software,” said AV-Comparatives in a press announcement. 

False alarms – which occur when a browser blocks a legitimate website — can also be an issue with anti-phishing protection. A number of the tested products and browsers showed some false alarms, with most achieving a false alarm rate of zero. 

To put false alarm detection on the spot, AV-Comparatives tested against 250 valid phishing URLs and an equal number of clean URLs. 

Combating phishing in an ever-evolving digital landscape 

Avast's solutions make it possible for us to identify and protect against new phishing methods as they arise. We're glad to be recognized for our efforts by AV-Comparatives, which remains a leading and revered antivirus testing institution. 

Want to know more about Avast’s performance in this test? Read through the full results of the test.