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Emsisoft - Product and Re-seller Portal Review

Review by:  Jennifer Griffiths 
Video & Testing by: Philip Griffiths

Introduction :

Some anti-virus programs weigh our computers down, pop up every time we blink our eyes, and tell us repeatedly that if we act now we can save money on our subscription renewal. *Whether we need it or not*  Some cause more problems than they are worth.  For instance, I can think of one that locked several of my customers out of their computers all together.  They thought they were saving money with the free one and it ended up costing them more to get the issue sorted than it would be to buy a proper and reputable program.  These programs ultimately make users wonder why they should bother at all.  

So, today I will look at Emsisoft and put it to the test.  I am keen to find out if it will be a game changer or just another penalty flag.  This and more in this week's Tech For Tech review!  

Manufacturer statement:

“Emsisoft Anti-Malware is a complete antivirus and antimalware protection for Windows machines. It is simple to navigate, uses minimum computer resources and works silently on the background. Emsisoft Anti-Malware protects against all types of malware, ransomware, and virus threats, and also cleans up computers from potentially unwanted programs (PUPs). The software was rated Top Product by AV Comparatives in 2015 and 2016.”

About Emisisoft:

“Emsisoft is a software vendor with focus on fighting cyber threats with its flagship application Emsisoft Anti-Malware. The company was found in Austria in 2003 and provided complimentary Anti-Trojan software tool. Since then, the software evolved to an antimalware software and later to a complete Anti-Malware and Antivirus protection. The company consist of over 40 highly qualified people from around the world covering 24 hours of fighting malware and supporting its users and partners. Emsisoft has been certified by Microsoft, VirusBulletin, AV-Comparatives, AV-Test and many other independent testing organisations.”

Packaging:

 

none, it is a digital download 
 

Installation:

 

The Prgoram its self is simply, download and follow the instructions to install.

Here is the link to the reseller program: https://www.emsisoft.com/en/partner/reseller/.  There is no partnership fee or minimum sales commitment. We offer from 30% up to 65% partner discounts.

 

Testing:

 

This time, we decided to use the computer in the office as it would give a more accurate view of the product rather than some brand new build that has little use.  Our daily duties include research for TFT reviews, emails, downloading various programs as well as drivers for customers, running check-in software, social media, on-line bookings for call-out customers, and writing our reviews here for you to name a few.  

 

The PC Specs are:

 

i7-4790K 4.00GHz CPU

16 GB RAM

120 GB SSD

4 x HDDs of various sizes

Windows 10 Pro

Usage:  

When you open up the program, you immediately see a nice, clean, user friendly User Interface.  What a refreshing change!  Some of the programs out there even have me, a tech, scratching my head wondering where they have hidden things that should be blatantly obvious to anyone.  Everything you need is at your fingertips here.  The use of colours is nice too.  *very easy on the eyes*  The Overview tab tells you when the last update was done and if the software is up to date, how many days are left on the license.  Support if needed can be sent from an email, you can ask the community, or submit a file for analysis.  The Scan box allows for you to click on it, and you can choose which scan you wish to use and even make a custom one to your liking.  There is a section to show what and how many items are in Quarantine, and your Logs will show the activity and dates of each action taken.  All of this is accessible from the that you see when you first open the program.  It is clearly marked and has easy to read fonts.  

How It Did:

It ran very quietly and did not seem to slow me down in the least. Bear in mind this is a high performance PC and results will vary, of course.  The following will show a comparison of the resources it used compared to our regular program, Bullguard:

Emisisoft Resource Use

CPU - 0.1 - 0.3%

Memory/Ram Combined usage 280-410MB

Bullguard  Resource Usage

CPU - 0.4% - 0.7%

Memory Combined 150-350MB

If you want numbers on how well the detection rates are you can easily see them here, But in basics it got full marks . But thats not what we are testing, we are testing it to see how easy it is to use for a Tech and a residential customer.

This product did so well here that I took it to the forum for feedback from our members that had tried it before and here is what one had to say:

 

 Brian Semrau 

I really like Emsisoft. In addition to running my own company, I work full time as a security engineer with specializations in NTFS forensics and endpoint security. As such, I've had the opportunity to test a lot of different AV products (including very pricey "enterprise" solutions). One of the biggest things that I look for is a strong heuristics engine (which Emsisoft calls their "Behavior Blocker"). My point of view is that any schmuck can make a signature based engine; but that only protects you *after* a threat has happened. By having a strong behavior blocker, you can stop threats that you haven't even seen yet. As such, I test AV solutions by running a multitude of known malware, along with legitimate files (to test false positives) and custom-built 0-days. Emsisoft has blown many of the expensive enterprise solutions out of the water with a ~80% success rate against my 0-days. The average success rate that I've seen with other AV solutions is 30-50%. They also haven't gotten rid of signatures completely (such as solutions like Cylance); which I consider a positive since I don't believe that we are at a point where we can just get rid of signatures yet - there still has to be a way of blacklisting something that might get past the heuristics.

Here's the con: management. This was the #1 reason why I haven't fully switched to Emsisoft at my full time job yet. With the enterprise management console, you are limited to 500 endpoints. We did end up switching to Emsisoft's server solution on our Windows servers (approximately 250) this past year. I have noticed that once you get a few hundred devices on the management console, stability can start to be a little bit of an issue and it requires the server to be rebooted every now and then. Not a huge deal, just something to be aware of (especially if you use that server with other applications as well).

 

Re seller Portal Tests:

Signing Up

In basics, you as the re seller, just follows the link to the re-seller partner, sign up with email address, like anything else.  https://www.emsisoft.com/partner/reseller/    

The local distributor will connect you to get access to the re-seller portal which is dependent on the country of residence.  Same conditions and prices no matter what country.  

There is no partnership fee.  You do get 30% to 65% partner discounts.  

Navigation

Again, like the product, the website has a nice clean and easy to navigate layout.  You can see the list of products listed and the price.  Everything is clearly marked.  You can manage licenses from here and even view your order history.  If you click on resources you can download things like brochures.  They have clearly thought of everything it seems and made it very easy to access.  

Renewals:

If you navigate to “Manage & renew active licenses”. Click the license you wish to renew, choose the desired term and you get redirected to a shopping cart where you can also change the number of devices assigned to the licenses.

 

You receive automated notifications about licenses expiring in 60 days. The software does the same for users 30 days prior to license expiration; we therefore advise you to approach your customers timely with an offer for renewal, you will not get any Revenue share if customers renew online.

Pricing:

Emsisoft Anti-Malware 1-PC/1-Year license:

10x units (50% off): $19.95 per unit,

20x units (55% off): $17.95 per unit,

50x units (60% off): $15.95 per unit,

100x units (65% off): $13.95 per unit,

*RRP $39.95 per unit.

3 User versions are also available, as well as 1,2 and 3 Year versions.

Suppliers:

 

www.emsisoft.com

 

Here is the link to the reseller program: https://www.emsisoft.com/en/partner/reseller/.  There is no partnership fee or minimum sales commitment. We offer from 30% up to 65% partner discounts.
 

Conclusion:

I am really struggling to find fault with the product.  It does what it promises and while it may take up a little more RAM than some other programs, you need to account for the fact of what it offers verses the competition.  I think then, you will come to the conclusion, as did I that it is worth the extra bit of RAM it uses.  The fact it ran quietly and was not a burden to me in any way, yet, it did its job, well...that just sealed the deal for me.  "It's a yes for me". 

In reference to the re-seller portal, it is not fancy it is basic and that is a good thing!  No one has time to pictures and a billion tabs.  Techs want it simple.  We want to point and click in an instant.  We want to be able access what we need in a timely manner.  We don't have all day to search for things.  If that's your way of thinking, you will not be disappointed here.  

Stand out point:  

The simple easy to use UI and Portal!

 

Pros:

  • Clean and Simple UI

  • Works efficiently yet quietly

  • Does not slow my computer down

  • When I read the logs I did not see false positives.
     

Cons:

  • No revenue share to speak of, but allows you to contact the customer before the product runs out.  

Scores:

 

Product User Friendly:   5

 

Product Performance:  4
 

Re-Seller Portal:  5
 

Value For Money:   5
 

They got a ........ Award for this product.

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