AV-Comparatives recognizes ESET consumer products with gold medals in cybersecurity awards

BRATISLAVA, February 6, 2020 – ESET, a global leader in cybersecurity, has been recognized with gold and bronze awards in the AV-Comparatives Summary Report 2019. AV-Comparatives, a leading independent testing organization, uses one of the largest sample collections worldwide to create a real-world environment for highly accurate testing. Their Summary Report 2019 provides commentary on the consumer antivirus products tested over the course of the year, and highlights the high-scoring products from the different tests that took place over the 12 months.

The report looked at consumer Windows products from 16 different vendors, with excellent results for ESET, taking awards in three categories: Overall Performance (Low System Impact), Enhanced Real-World Test (Advanced Threat Protection), and the False Positive Test.

Overall Performance (Low System Impact)

ESET was awarded a gold medal in the Low System Impact category, which assesses each product’s impact on system speed and performance. ESET has consistently achieved great results in this category, improving on its silver award in the same category in 2018.

Enhanced Real-World Test (Advanced Threat Protection)

ESET took a gold medal in the Advanced Threat Protection category, which is a new category for 2019 and 2020. This test addresses a program’s ability to protect against advanced targeted and fileless attacks. ESET was also one of only two vendors to block all 15 targeted attacks in the testing process.

False Positive Test

ESET was awarded a bronze medal in the False Positive Test. As the report notes, false positives can cause as much trouble as a real infection, and avoiding them is a crucial element of any antivirus product. AV-Comparatives carried out extensive false-positive testing as part of the Malware protection tests and the Real-World Protection Test.

Commenting on the results, Jiří Kropáč, head of threat detection labs at ESET, said: “ESET’s recognition from AV-Comparatives is testament to our dedication to our customers and our promise to always deliver the best in IT security solutions. Ensuring consumers are equipped with cutting-edge protection against the latest threats is extremely important to us. We are honored to receive these awards and to be recognized as a key player in making technology safer for everyone.”

Read AV-Comparative’s Summary Report 2019 for more information.

About Version 2 Digital

Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About ESET
For 30 years, ESET® has been developing industry-leading IT security software and services for businesses and consumers worldwide. With solutions ranging from endpoint security to encryption and two-factor authentication, ESET’s high-performing, easy-to-use products give individuals and businesses the peace of mind to enjoy the full potential of their technology. ESET unobtrusively protects and monitors 24/7, updating defenses in real time to keep users safe and businesses running without interruption. Evolving threats require an evolving IT security company. Backed by R&D facilities worldwide, ESET became the first IT security company to earn 100 Virus Bulletin VB100 awards, identifying every single “in-the-wild” malware without interruption since 2003.

ESET launches Version 3.0 of Secure Authentication

Bratislava – ESET, a global leader in cybersecurity, has launched Version 3.0 of ESET Secure Authentication (ESA), a multifactor authentication solution that allows businesses of all sizes to secure mobile devices, prevent data breaches, and meet compliance requirements. This new version of the solution brings a range of updates, including the introduction of the Identity Connector and support for biometric authentication.

The Identity Connector gives customers the option to employ ESA to protect any service or application that uses a third-party identity provider, via the SAML authentication protocol integration. This significantly extends integration capabilities, now allowing customers to use ESA to protect access to a wide range of services and environments, such as email, VPN, Office 365 or Dropbox.

Version 3.0 also introduces support for native biometric authentication in ESA mobile apps, meaning users can now use integrated fingerprint scanners and facial recognition when approving authentication requests.

The new Notification Center gives users the option to configure their own notifications, so they can be proactively informed without the need to be logged in. The update also provides major performance improvements, bringing customers a robust solution to cover larger deployments.

Vladimír Maťovčík, senior product manager at ESET, states: “Business security solutions need to be reliable, be easy to use and cause minimal impact to a company’s processes. With an increasing need for organizations to protect a range of devices and environments, ESET Secure Authentication provides a simple, effective mobile-based solution that secures data and cloud access without affecting employee productivity.”

“The introduction of the Identity Connector increases the solution’s level of security, whilst the improved performance and addition of support of iOS and Android biometrics makes the experience even smoother for users.” 

For further information on ESET Secure Authentication, click here.  

About Version 2 Digital

Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About ESET
For 30 years, ESET® has been developing industry-leading IT security software and services for businesses and consumers worldwide. With solutions ranging from endpoint security to encryption and two-factor authentication, ESET’s high-performing, easy-to-use products give individuals and businesses the peace of mind to enjoy the full potential of their technology. ESET unobtrusively protects and monitors 24/7, updating defenses in real time to keep users safe and businesses running without interruption. Evolving threats require an evolving IT security company. Backed by R&D facilities worldwide, ESET became the first IT security company to earn 100 Virus Bulletin VB100 awards, identifying every single “in-the-wild” malware without interruption since 2003.

Amid student protests, Winnti Group targets Hong Kong universities, ESET discovers

BRATISLAVA, MONTREAL – ESET researchers have recently discovered a new campaign by the Winnti group. This time, Hong Kong universities were the desired target. ESET’s machine-learning engine detected a unique, malicious sample on multiple computers belonging to two Hong Kong universities. In addition to the two confirmed compromised universities, ESET has indications that at least three additional universities may have been affected. The attackers were interested in stealing information from the victims’ machines. This campaign of the Winnti Group was taking place as widespread civic protests swept Hong Kong, including the territory’s universities.

The latest research into Winnti Group, previously responsible for high-profile supply-chain attacks against the video game and software development industry as well as attacks against healthcare and education sectors, confirms that the group is still using its flagship ShadowPad backdoors. However, in the campaign against Hong Kong universities, ShadowPad’s launcher was replaced with a new and simpler version detected by ESET products as Win32/Shadowpad.C.

“Both ShadowPad and Winnti, found at these universities in November 2019, contain campaign identifiers and command & control URLs matching the name of the universities, which indicates a targeted attack,” says Mathieu Tartare, leading ESET researcher into the Winnti Group.

“ShadowPad is a multi-modular backdoor and, by default, every keystroke is recorded using the Keylogger module. The use of this module by default indicates that the attackers are interested in stealing information from the victims’ machines. In contrast, the variants we described in our earlier whitepaper didn’t even have that module embedded,” elaborates Tartare on the discovery.

For more technical details about the latest discovery into the Winnti Group, read the blog post Winnti Group targeting universities in Hong Kong on WeLiveSecurity.com. ESET researchers recently published a whitepaper updating our understanding of the arsenal of the Winnti Group as well. Make sure to follow ESET research on Twitter for the latest news from ESET Research. 



About Version 2 Limited

Version 2 Limited is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company develops and distributes IT products for Internet and IP-based networks, including communication systems, Internet software, security, network, and media products. Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 Limited offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.


About ESET

Founded in 1992, ESET is a global provider of security software for enterprises and consumers. ESET’s award-winning, antivirus software system, NOD32, provides real-time protection from known and unknown viruses, spyware, rootkits and other malware. ESET NOD32 offers the smallest, fastest and most advanced protection available, with more Virus Bulletin 100 Awards than any other antivirus product. ESET was named to Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 five years running, and has an extensive partner network, including corporations like Canon, Dell and Microsoft. ESET has offices in Bratislava, SK; Bristol, U.K.; Buenos Aires, AR; Prague, CZ; San Diego, USA; and is represented worldwide in more than 100 countries.