Emsisoft Anti-Malware’s VB100 June 2025 Certification: Precision Without Compromise

For over 25 years, Virus Bulletin’s rigorous testing protocol has distinguished genuine protection from marketing fluff through a straightforward premise: can a product accurately identify real malware without flagging legitimate files?Conducted in full compliance with AMTSO (Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization) guidelines, these tests adhere to globally recognized methodologies that ensure fairness and transparency.

The June 2025 evaluation maintained this tradition with a carefully curated collection of 2,069 active malware samples, averaging just 17 days old. These were actual threats pulled from Virus Bulletin’s monitoring of live campaigns. The clean set was equally impressive, comprising 100,000 legitimate files that represented a wide range of applications, from business to personal documents.

Key thresholds:

• 75% minimum detection rate for certification
• 0.05% maximum false positive allowance

What makes VB100 uniquely valuable is its surgical focus on static file scanning. While modern security involves many layers, this test isolates and evaluates the foundational capability that everything else builds upon, the ability to identify malicious files accurately. It’s the cybersecurity equivalent of testing a building’s foundation before admiring its facade.

Inside the June 2025 test

This year’s evaluation introduced subtle but significant refinements to Virus Bulletin’s methodology while preserving its core rigor. The testing platform migrated fully to Windows 11 Pro (build 10.0.26100).

More interesting was the new process launch testing component, which evaluates how products handle suspended malicious processes. A technique increasingly used by sophisticated attackers to bypass traditional scanning.

Infostealers dominated the sample set at 34%, followed by ransomware (20%) and various backdoor utilities. Each sample underwent multiple integrity checks, with about 4% rejected for failing verification.

Emsisoft’s performance breakdown

Emsisoft’s results in this demanding evaluation reveal a product engineered for both precision and consistency. The 98.99% detection rate becomes even more impressive when examining what was caught, including 100% of document-based malware and 97.3% of script-based threats. These numbers reflect careful tuning to address the full spectrum of file-based attacks.

• 0 false positives across 100,000 clean files
• 98.99% malware detected

Read the full report here.

The traditional signature engine handled the bulk of detections with remarkable speed (under 1ms per sample), while AI-driven static analysis proved particularly effective against polymorphic threats. This combination delivered both coverage and efficiency.

When viewed alongside competitor results, Emsisoft Anti-Malware stands out due to its performance. The product not only surpassed the 93.1% industry average detection rate but did so while maintaining perfect false positive results. A balance that only 12 of 32 tested products achieved.

Key enhancements:

• January 2025 heuristic update improved .NET injector detection by 17%
• Cloud-assisted analysis provides real-time threat intelligence updates

While VB100 tests only static capabilities, Emsisoft’s full product suite extends protection further. The behavioral monitor, though not evaluated in this test, provides critical runtime defense against fileless attacks and script-based threats. This layered approach ensures that when novel malware slips past static scans, additional protection mechanisms stand ready.

Conclusion

VB100’s June 2025 results affirm that Emsisoft Anti-Malware delivers consistently excellent fundamental protection. While no single test tells the whole story, previous VB100 passes demonstrate Emsisoft’s commitment to maintaining core protection quality even as new features are added.