Endpoint Prevention & Response (EPR) Test 2026

Introduction

AV-Comparatives conducted the 2026 Endpoint Prevention and Response (EPR) Test between June and August 2026, with the report published in September 2026. The evaluation covered 50 targeted attack scenarios, each divided into three phases, across fourteen enterprise security solutions. In addition to technical performance, an operational impact model estimated the long-term deployment impact of each product based on a five-year scenario for 5,000 endpoints. Eleven vendors met the certification criteria, demonstrating strong performance across active and passive response phases while maintaining a low overall operational impact.

The 2026 scenarios reflected realistic attack chains, incorporating techniques such as phishing, lateral movement, data exfiltration, and abuse of legitimate system tools. AV-Comparatives also used AI-assisted development techniques to create testing tools and scenario variations, helping to reflect emerging attacker capabilities and attack patterns.

• Detailed Report

Tested Products

The following vendors earned Certified Leader status: Bitdefender, Broadcom, Check Point, Elastic, ESET, Fortinet, G Data, Palo Alto Networks, TrendAI, VIPRE and WithSecure. Their products demonstrated strong detection and response capabilities across the evaluated attack scenarios.

Copyright and Disclaimer

This publication is Copyright © 2026 by AV-Comparatives ®. Any use of the results, etc. in whole or in part, is ONLY permitted after the explicit written agreement of the management board of AV-Comparatives prior to any publication. AV-Comparatives and its testers cannot be held liable for any damage or loss, which might occur as result of, or in connection with, the use of the information provided in this paper. We take every possible care to ensure the correctness of the basic data, but a liability for the correctness of the test results cannot be taken by any representative of AV-Comparatives. We do not give any guarantee of the correctness, completeness, or suitability for a specific purpose of any of the information/content provided at any given time. No one else involved in creating, producing or delivering test results shall be liable for any indirect, special or consequential damage, or loss of profits, arising out of, or related to, the use or inability to use, the services provided by the website, test documents or any related data.

For more information about AV-Comparatives and the testing methodologies, please visit our website.

AV-Comparatives
(September 2026)