* In a message originally to Paul Heldt, Denis S. Kotov said:
 DK> I ask applications all readers of this conference, but the
 DK> text taking place was below written on my native language
 DK> and was translated with the help of the program -
 DK> interpreter. The text was not edited because of shortage of
 DK> time and desire sooner to answer. Once again forgive.
There is nothing to forgive.  Your translation is perfectly readable by 
anyone who wants to understand it, and it is a good message.
 DK> The question from Paul Heldt (letter was dated 24.12.1997).
 DK> It(he) was interested By various anti-virus programs, in
 DK> particular Dr. Solomon,
Dr. Solomon is ranked #1 in the latest University of Tampere test, with 100%, 
but this does not correspond with my own tests.
UT uses a handful of viruses found in Joe Wells' Wild List for its tests, but 
I conduct my tests against >11,000 verified viruses which have been found in 
the wild.
Dr. Solomon has been #1 in my tests only once, about 2 years ago, at almost 
the same time it was ranked #1 against Joe Wells' Wild List by Virus 
Bulletin. Currently it ranks equal #3 in detection with F-Prot.
 DK>       The anti-virus program, distributed in Russia,
 DK> considers Dr. Web.
 DK>       Second on prevalence considers one of most first
 DK> Russian (soviet) antiviruses is Aidstest (V-Hunter).
V-Hunter is, according to its programmer, Russia-specific.  I never looked at 
it seriously as a "world" scanner.
Dr. Web might be big in Russia but it is not popular in the West.  It lagged 
so far behind in virus detection for so long that I quit testing it, but it 
seems to have improved a lot lately, and it's probably worth another look.
 DK>       Closes the list of the most widespread antiviruses
 DK> the program
 DK> AntiViral Toolkit Pro by Eugene Kaspersky (AVP).
AVP was #1 in my tests for most of 1997.
 DK> At present I consider(count)
 DK> This antivirus by one of most best. First, it(he) is good
 DK> for enormous
 DK> The amount of viruses, defined by him,(it,) - with the last
 DK> addition is 11783!
11783 is not "enormous" if you believe that Dr Solomon can detect >16,000, 
but here's where virus detection claims start to smell like bullshit, and 
IMO, even though Dr. Solomon is a very good AV program, it has a strong smell 
of bullshit!
There are "Confusion Engines" which will easily create 50 minor variants of a 
virus.  If "Scanner A" detects all 50 of these variants with ONE definition 
but "Scanner B" has to use 50 definitions, or if "Scanner A" refers to the 50 
variants as a "family" and "Scanner B" calls each variant an individual 
virus, does "Scanner B" detect 49 more VIRUSES than "Scanner A" ?  NO WAY!
AVP, with its claimed 11783, detects more of my virus test set than Dr. 
Solomon detects with its claimed >16,000.  ThunderBYTE, with its claimed 
6487, detects more of my virus test bed than Dr. Solomon detects with its 
claimed >16,000.
Dr. Solomon's staff continually ram the UT "independent review" down 
everyone's throat in alt.comp.virus, but it's snake oil.  If Dr. Solomon's 
policy is to ensure that it always detects 100% of Joe Wells' Wild List, even 
at the expense of detecting other viruses, then Dr. Solomon can never be 
anything but #1 in any "independent test" which is based solely on this List. 
Can you smell the bullshit ?
 DK> Secondly, it(he) correctly treats the majority of viruses,
 DK> and frequently treats that Dr. Web cannot cure.
I don't often test disinfection, as I'm a firm believer in the "Delete and 
Replace" method, but in my last disinfection test, more than a year ago, AVP 
was so far in front of ALL the other AV programs that it made them look sick.
 DK>       But these three anti-virus programs are specific for
 DK> Russian
 DK> Conditions. They Specially mainly on viruses, having or
 DK> Having circulation in territory of Russia and countries of
 DK> Commonwealth, of Independent, The states. Small percent of
 DK> the market of anti-virus programs in Russia Borrow(occupy)
 DK> programs, developed in territory of Europe and Joint
 DK> Staffs(states) of America. It of Symantec (Norton)
 DK> Antivirus and Dr. Solomon. But these The programs are less
 DK> effective in comparison with set forth above.
Unlike Dr Web and V-Hunter, AVP is a true "international" anti-virus program, 
and in my tests it is a little ahead of Dr. Solomon and a LONG way ahead of 
Norton in virus detection.
 DK>       In conclusion of my small story I would like to tell,
 DK> that most
 DK> The best way of struggle with viruses is to have in the
 DK> instruction all these
 DK> Anti-virus programs.
In my opinion only AVP, AVScan, Dr. Solomon, F-Prot, IBMAV, Sweep, and TBAV 
(alphabetically) are worth the money you pay for them.  The rest are a waste 
of money.
No scanner is perfect all the time, so, as you say, it is wise to have more 
than one.
My personal recommendations are (in order of merit);
1. AVP
2. TBAV
3. Dr. Solomon or F-Prot. (Perhaps in Russia, Dr. Web.)
If you can afford only one scanner, buy AVP!
 DK>       If you are interested by(with) the additional
 DK> information on these, and other Russian antiviruses you can
 DK> visit official WWW of the server of corporations The
 DK> developers.
 DK> Http: // www.avp.ru
 DK> Http: // www.dials.ccas.ru
AVP is also on http://www.antivirus.com.au and ftp.antivirus.com.au for 
download.  There's nothing fancy on the sites, just the downloads.
LuKE
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