Special Edition
Computer security testing comment and analysis from SE Labs

Well, 2020 was an interesting year! Some of the largest and newest security companies were bought and sold…

The world descended into chaos thanks to a biological virus (while digital viruses continue to wreak havoc)…

And SE Labs launched a new website and started using machine learning in its testing.

We appreciate some of these things are more important than others…

However, in the face of adversity we must all carry on and we are proud to announce our second annual report, in which we review the unprecedented year of 2020, announce our annual awards winners and discuss testing like hackers.

Posted on October 8th, 2020 by Simon PG Edwards and tagged 2020, anti-virus, cybersecurity, endpoint, hacking, review, security testing, standards, targeted attacks, test results

Bad guys help SE Labs keep its testing up to date

Latest endpoint protection reports now online for enterprise, small business and home users.

For the first time in our endpoint protection tests we’ve seen a strong overall performance from both well-established anti-malware brands and newer entrants to the market.

Vendors such as FireEye and Crowdstrike are well-known and respected brands in the security world, but they are relatively new compared to Symantec, McAfee and even Microsoft. Microsoft has not promoted its anti-malware software until quite recently.

Posted on August 10th, 2020 by Simon PG Edwards and tagged 2020, anti-virus, cybersecurity, endpoint, hacking, review, security testing, standards, targeted attacks, test results

The new website reflects the changes in the security industry over the last few years. We’ve listened hard to your feedback and watched as the industry’s needs have changed.

Clients, both security vendors and their customers, need increasingly customised analysis of products and their effectiveness. Which is the best? And what does ‘best’ really mean?

Posted on July 1st, 2020 by Simon PG Edwards and tagged 2020, cybersecurity, hacking, home users, investors, media, review, security testing, small businesses, standards, start-up, startup, targeted attacks, testing, website

A hacker mentality is keeping (computer) virus testing on track.

Latest endpoint protection reports now online for enterprise, small business and home users.

This is the first in our series of 2020 endpoint protection reports. And it is unique, for all the usual reasons but also a new one.

We would normally highlight the latest new threats that we’ve discovered on the internet and discuss how we test them against the security software you use in your business and at home in the most realistic ways possible. And we’ve done that. But these reports are different to any we’ve produced before, for another reason.

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Posted on May 11th, 2020 by Simon PG Edwards and tagged 2020, anti-virus, cybersecurity, endpoint, hacking, review, security testing, standards, targeted attacks, test results

World’s first in-depth, public test of security services vs. targeted attacks.

This email security test report is the product of two years of advanced threat research. We have worked with the security companies themselves and with their customers.  We have monitored what the bad guys have been doing and identified and replicated real-world email threats that affect everyone generally, and also specific types of businesses.

There is no report like this anywhere in the public domain. We are extremely proud to present the results here.

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Posted on April 3rd, 2020 by Simon PG Edwards and tagged 2020, cloud, email, hacking, internet, online security, phishing, review, security testing, standards, targeted attacks, test results

The current global health crisis will inevitably affect everyone’s productivity in the coming months. We, at SE Labs, are committed to working through the challenges that face us all but we want to be realistic about how effective we are going to be at delivering our testing programmes, the feedback processes and report publications over the next six months.

We will not compromise on the quality of the work, please be assured of that. However, we face imminent and major disruption and it is unlikely that we will be able to publish reports at our usual and reliable frequency.

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Posted on March 18th, 2020 by Simon PG Edwards and tagged 2020, startup, test results

Bad guys evolve; defenders evolve; testing (should) evolve

Latest endpoint protection reports now online for enterprise, small business and home users.

These reports represent the state-of-the-art in computer security endpoint testing. If you want to see how the very best security products handle a range of threats, from everyday (but nevertheless very harmful) malware to targeted attacks, this is a great place to start.

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Posted on December 23rd, 2019 by Simon PG Edwards and tagged 2019, anti-virus, cybersecurity, internet, security testing, test results

Building and launching a start-up company is a challenge in itself. Securing it when it is new, young and vulnerable is something else. It’s very necessary but also hard if you don’t know what you’re doing. And can you afford a consultant in the early days?

If your new business is IT-based and focused on security then you’re in a stronger position than, say, an organic make-up business or an ethical coffee brand.

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Posted on October 30th, 2019 by Simon PG Edwards and tagged certification, cybersecurity, online security, standards, startup

Testing anti-breach products needs the full chain of attack.

Kaspersky Lab should be congratulated, not only for engaging with this new and challenging test, but for submitting a product that performed so strongly against attacks that closely replicate advanced, nation-state level threats.

Its endpoint detection and response offering, Kaspersky Anti Targeted Attack Platform, is one of the very first to face our brand new Breach Response Test and it detected all of the attacks, while protecting against the vast majority of them.

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Posted on October 17th, 2019 by Simon PG Edwards and tagged 2019, breach response, hacking, kaspersky, security testing, targeted attacks, test results

Beefing up security advice with facts

Latest reports now online for enterprise, small business and home users.

At SE Labs we spend our time testing things that are supposed to protect you but we also understand that securing your business, or your home network, is never as simple as installing one or more security products.

The risks are many and varied, but the ways to mitigate them are often most successful with a good dose of common sense as well as the appropriate technology. You just need to think things through carefully and make sensible decisions.

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Posted on October 4th, 2019 by Simon PG Edwards and tagged 2019, anti-virus, internet, security testing, test results