Toughest Test Yet: 11 of 14 Pass AV-Comparatives EPR Test 2026

In its seventh year, AV-Comparatives' EPR Test measures resilience against AI-built attack tooling

INNSBRUCK, Austria, Sept. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- In September 2025, Anthropic disrupted a state-linked group that had used its own Claude Code AI model to automate up to 90 percent of a multi-stage espionage campaign against roughly 30 organisations, including several government agencies. Independent breach research puts the average enterprise breach lifecycle, from intrusion to containment, at around 241 days. Reports like these keep multiplying. AV-Comparatives' Endpoint Prevention and Response (EPR) Test, now in its seventh year, is an established enterprise reference that evolves with attackers and defenders. This year's testing began in May 2026, evaluating 14 leading enterprise security products against 50 multi-stage attack scenarios, several built using AI-assisted development techniques.

In brief:

• 11 of 14 tested products earned Certified Leader status, AV-Comparatives' highest distinction.
• Since AV-Comparatives introduced the EPR Test, the certification bar has risen from 90 percent to 92 percent.
• All 11 Certified Leaders delivered strong, reliable protection, clearing AV-Comparatives' toughest EPR bar yet.

What did the test actually simulate?

Each scenario ran a full attack chain the way a real intruder would operate: phishing entry, privilege escalation, lateral movement and data theft. AV-Comparatives built the underlying attack tooling using AI-assisted development techniques, modelled on the MITRE ATT&CK Matrix for Enterprise, an independent industry reference for real attacker behaviour.

Which vendors achieved Certified Leader status?

Bitdefender, Broadcom, Check Point, Elastic, ESET, Fortinet, G Data, Palo Alto Networks, TrendAI, VIPRE and WithSecure all met the 92 percent combined threshold. The three that fell short are not named individually, according to AV-Comparatives' methodology.

"Attackers are now catching up on something defenders have used for far longer," said Andreas Clementi, CEO of AV-Comparatives. "Machine learning has shaped endpoint protection for two decades, long before today's AI wave. Our EPR Test reflects that: we used AI-assisted techniques to build this year's attack tooling and drew on current threat intelligence. All 11 Certified Leaders show that strong protection against attacks utilizing AI-born tooling already exists."

Is this based on an established framework? Yes. The pass/fail mechanics are AV-Comparatives' own methodology, but the underlying attack scenarios follow the MITRE ATT&CK Matrix for Enterprise.

The full report, including the CyberRisk Quadrant and per-product breakdowns, are available at
https://av-comparatives.org/endpoint-prevention-response-epr-test-2026/

About AV-Comparatives

AV-Comparatives is the leading independent cybersecurity testing organization, evaluating security solutions that have evolved far beyond traditional antivirus software. Our systematic testing assesses modern endpoint protection, threat detection, and mobile security across PC, Mac, Android, and IoT devices. Using one of the world's most relevant and sophisticated threat collections, we create real-world testing environments for comprehensive evaluation. Test results are freely accessible worldwide, and AV-Comparatives certification provides a globally recognized seal of approval for proven cybersecurity performance.

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Toughest Test Yet: 11 of 14 Pass AV-Comparatives EPR Test 2026

SINGAPORE, Sept. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB) today launched Chinese Companies' New Playbook for Going Global, a joint report with IE University's China Observatory examining how Chinese companies are rethinking their globalization strategies in an increasingly fragmented global economy.

Led by CKGSB's Professor of Economics and Associate Dean Li Wei, the report argues that Chinese corporate globalization is entering a third phase — "capability export." Rather than simply shipping products or building overseas sales channels, companies are increasingly taking the operating capabilities abroad – including technical standards, product development, supply-chain organization, service, branding, and business models—while adapting them to local markets.

For companies pursuing global growth, localization is becoming critical. Li Haitao, Dean and Dean's Distinguished Chair Professor of Finance at CKGSB, writes: "The next generation of winners will be those that understand local politics, respect local rules, invest in local capabilities and build trust with local stakeholders."

The report identifies two emerging models of Chinese overseas expansion. "Chain style globalization" sees large companies expand alongside suppliers and partners, extending industrial ecosystems overseas, whereas "swarm-style globalization" describes how smaller firms expand in quick succession supported by China's infrastructure such as industrial clusters, cross-border platforms, logistics networks and overseas warehouses.

The report's field research in Southeast Asia cautions against treating overseas markets as extensions of China. Price, speed and scale do not automatically translate into success: companies must navigate fragmented demand, regulatory complexity, local-content requirements, incomplete supply chains and cultural differences.

For multinationals and Southeast Asian businesses, the shift creates new competitive pressures and opportunities for partnership as Chinese companies seek local expertise, talent and networks to build deeper roots in overseas markets.

On cross-border acquisitions, Bin Ma, IE University's Professor and Academic Director of China Observatory, highlights the importance of people who bridge organizational, cultural and institutional divides. "Boundary spanners, or experienced executives dispatched from the acquiring company to work within the newly acquired organization, are likely to be among the most important yet often overlooked sources of competitive advantage," he writes.

José Félix Valdivieso, Chairman of China Observatory at IE University, highlights the cultural dimension of capability export: "Chinese companies must increasingly export knowledge, entrepreneurial spirit, organizational capabilities and management systems."

The full report is available on CKGSB's website.

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CKGSB-IE University Report Reveals New Models of Chinese Companies Going Global