best antivirus software
Most people who’ve spent time around a computer can provide a basic definition of antivirus. Put simply, it protects your computer against viruses. While that’s still true, antiviruses as we know them today are better described as antimalware.
Malware is an umbrella term for malicious software. Viruses are on the list, but antiviruses have grown over the years to accommodate a more diversified set of threats, not all of which live on your desktop.
Many antiviruses now come as premium security suites, including protection for multiple machines, operating systems and mobile devices. Increased security measures like identity theft protection and file encryption are commonplace, as well.
Antiviruses aren’t as reactive as they used to be. They’re look for malware before it can infect your machine. One typical way that is accomplished is by using behavior monitoring and machine learning.
The best antiviruses can identify threats that aren’t known by learning the behavior of previously encountered malware and applying it to new software. That enables them to detect and remove new malware from your machine, even if the database of known malware doesn’t include it.
That learning extends to your browser, where there’s a treasure trove of malware just waiting for you to download it. Browsers have gotten better about built-in security, especially Google Chrome, but a dedicated antivirus can sweep out attacks that they may not detect.
Before moving on to our list, let’s define the common malware you may encounter and how to figure out if you’ve already been infected.
Common Malware Types & Attacks
There are many forms of malware and we couldn’t possibly cover each here. Crafty programmers are writing new malware for new exploits every day. Still, there are broad archetypes you should be aware of.
- Adware
One of the most common types of malware, adware is built to run under the radar of those not looking for it. In most cases, your search engine will be changed, more ads will appear on websites you visit and, in some cases, there will be ads on your desktop.
Usually, you get adware as a bundled addition to free software. Many users click through installers without a second thought and that’s how it creeps in. Make sure you are vigilant with installers and uncheck any boxes that ask to install additional software.
The tricky thing is that it isn’t illegal or always malicious. In many cases, the user opts in to a “secure” browser designed to bring in ad dollars for whoever wrote the software. Even if the software is difficult to remove, it’s not trying to steal anything from you. The most important thing to protect yourself against this type of malware is to pay attention to installers.
- Bots and Botnets
Bots are malicious. They’re designed to infiltrate your computer, allowing the hacker to carry out actions on your machine remotely. Bots can replace themselves like worms and spread to other machines like viruses.
It’s not like The Matrix, where a hacker pulls up a command prompt and sends you a message, though. If your computer has a bot, it is likely part of a botnet, slave machines that are most commonly used for DDoS attacks.
All the bots in a botnet call on the host machines to perform an action at once, usually to crash a web server and take down a site. What’s scary about botnets is that you may be part of one without any significant indication, especially if you have been using a malafide service like Hola VPN.
- Keylogger
A self-explanatory, but nasty, malware, keyloggers store all keystrokes made on the host machine. Most antiviruses can detect keyloggers as they’re an actively running process, but there are other ways to protect yourself.
You can use an on-screen keyboard when entering sensitive data, but we recommend using a password manager from our best password manager list. Not only will you not touch your keyboard, but you’ll save time logging in to websites.
- Ransomware
Ransomware encrypts data on your machines and holds it hostage until you pay a ransom. Your documents, media and more will be scrambled until you come up with the cash to get it back.
Unlike other malware, you’ll know if it’s on your machine. The attacker will notify you with instructions for how to send payment and unlock your data. Usually, you’ll need to pay using cryptocurrency so the attacker can stay anonymous.
Other ransomware is more crafty. Scareware, for example, will pose as an antivirus claiming it has detected innumerable issues on your machine. Lock screen viruses will load a fake website, usually a mock government or credit card agency, and demand payment before you can enter your machine.
No matter what form it comes in, do not pay the ransom. The person already went out of their way to screw up your computer, so they probably won’t give the files back. The best way to remove ransomware is to roll back to a system restore point in Windows and run a UEFI scan.
You can also bypass the whole issue and format your hard drive, but you need to have it backed up for that. Check out our overview of the best cloud storage and best online backup providers to figure out how to best do that.
- Rootkit
A rootkit is similar to a bot, but, unlike botnets, more interested in infecting a single machine. The set of software tools gives an unauthorized user access to the remote machine, enabling them to execute files and change system configurations.
Because rootkits are so deep-seated, they’re difficult to detect and remove. It takes time to gain that level of access, though, so most antiviruses should detect and remove rootkits as they’re gaining user permissions.
In the event you already have a rootkit and it isn’t removable using a desktop scan, the best option is running a UEFI scan to snuff it out before your operating system loads.
- Spyware
Spyware is tricky because it isn’t illegal or malicious. It’s software designed to spy on you, gathering data about your browsing choices, purchase decisions and more. In most cases, it’s a way to sell information to marketers. A recent example, Red Shell, ran through many PC games, causing controversy in the gaming community.
Spyware like that is put in by software developers intentionally, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes it’s a way to capture your screen, record sensitive login data or spy on webcams for peeping Toms.
Thankfully, it’s easy to detect and remove. Many modern antiviruses include webcam protection, as well, blocking access to all programs unless you allow it.
- Trojan
Like the Trojan horse, this type of malware represents itself as something useful, but holds a malicious payload inside. A trojan alone isn’t malware, though, just whatever is inside of it.
It’s one of the most common ways to deliver malware to a machine. It’s also one of the most dangerous because it’s used to deliver keyloggers, ransomware, rootkits and more. Trojans are among the first things antiviruses look for.
The best way to avoid a trojan is to not download anything questionable. You should look out for things like free PDF converters and fake antiviruses, especially. In more malicious cases, downloads pull double duty, installing a trojan and adware on your machine in the same executable.
- Virus
One of the earliest and most potent threats to computers, viruses have been around for a long time, at least long enough to coin the term “antivirus.” They look to reproduce as fast as possible, infecting your machine and any you contact.
The scariest aspect of viruses is how quickly they can spread and cause destruction. They’re used to steal or corrupt massive amounts of data, often slowing your machine to a crawl by eating system resources.
Thankfully, viruses are less common than they used to be as antiviruses have become more sophisticated. Other malware have taken their place, though, most notably ransomware and bots.
- Phishing
While not technically a form of malware, phishing is a powerful threat to cybersecurity. You’re contacted by email, phone or text by someone posing as a legitimate institution asking you to provide sensitive information. Usually, it’s a bank, insurance company or credit card agency.
The goal is to lure a user in to clicking an infected URL, typically a mock payment portal, and entering information such as a username and password. During our antivirus testing, we saw banks, PayPal and insurance agencies emulated.
Phishing webpages constantly change, often staying up for a day or less, gathering data and going offline. The first line of defense is respecting your spam folder and not handing out information without credentials. Make sure when you are entering sensitive information, you double-check the URL you’re on.
How to Identify Malware
Most malware is meant to live undetected on your machine for as long as possible. There are other schemes, such as ransomware, that make their presence known. Other than those, it’s up to you to know if you have malware.
Once you download an antivirus from our list and run a scan, you’ll know if there’s malware on your machine, but there are signs to look out for before that.
The first is sluggish performance. Malware chews through system resources quickly, often because the programs are hastily written without optimization. If your machine in running slower than normal, you may have malware.
Other forms of malware, such as bots, may show no signs of being on your machine. Because of that, it’s best to run a full scan with your antivirus often, even if you don’t notice system slowdowns or strange active processes.
Free Antiviruses: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
While paid solutions are almost always better, there are free antiviruses on the market. We think you shouldn’t go unprotected just because your wallet can’t support a full plan, but there are drawbacks to free offerings.
Let’s start with the good, though. The main selling point for free antiviruses is that, well, they’re free. Companies such as Avast, Malwarebytes and Norton have pushed free alternatives for protection. You download an installer and that’s it, no money spent.
Like anything that’s free, there are limitations, though. What you’re getting is a stripped-down version of the paid software and constant solicitations to upgrade. Companies claim that both paid and free versions are updated with new malware signatures, but they’re not always done at the same pace.
The difference is small, but paid antiviruses put up higher detection numbers than their free counterparts. Assuming that both applications are updated with the same malware signatures, we can guess that those updates roll out first to paid users and second to free ones.
Time is of the essence for antiviruses. Zero-day exploits are attacks carried out the same day the exploit becomes known. Those with free antiviruses are more vulnerable to them. Paid products usually use more sophisticated behavior monitoring to detect zero-day malware, while free ones rely on known malware signatures and rudimentary detection methods.
Whether it’s a more complex behavior monitoring system or faster malware signature update is irrelevant. On average, free antiviruses perform slightly worse than their paid counterparts. It’s a small margin, though, that paid solutions sometimes struggle to justify.
The gap is made up for in features focusing on usability or protection. On the list, you’re usually going to get parental control, ransomware protection and support options when you upgrade.
The features easily outclass the price. Scanning your machine for malware can clear remnants of it, but protection against identity theft, ransomware and mobile attacks are features you get with paid antiviruses.
In short, paid antiviruses are better than free ones. Detection rates are similar, but the extra protection features and more robust infrastructure make the upgrade justifiable. Still, free protection is better than no protection, so make sure you read through this guide for our recommendations on the best free antivirus software.
Round One: Features
Antiviruses are more than protection for your PC. Basic plans are available, but the staple product has evolved from a utility tool into a premium security suite. Our first round will look at features that improve your security and experience without hoarding system resources or bogging down the user interface.
Virtual private networks and password managers will not be among the things we consider. Those tools have become common additions to antivirus suites, but perform worse than our best VPN picks and password managers. We’ll make an exception if the included VPN or password manager can go toe-to-toe with our top picks in those categories.
Instead, we’re looking at features such as a file shredder, parental control and a secure browser. Most antiviruses secure your current browser, but we’re looking for an additional application that protects online payments, blocks ads and keeps cookies cleared.
Outside of that, features are product specific. Bitdefender includes profiles for tuning scans, for example, and AVG includes a free trial of its TuneUp software to clear the waste on your machine. Features like these help make certain antiviruses stand out from the others and will be used as tiebreakers for products with similar feature sets.
Here are the things we’re looking for in this round:
- File shredder
- Parental control
- Secure browser
- Extra features
- AVG
- Bitdefender
- Kaspersky
- McAfee Total Protection
- Sophos Home
- AVG
- Bitdefender
- ESET NOD32
- Bitdefender
- F-Secure
- Kaspersky
- Trend Micro
The Best Free Antivirus
We have two picks for the best free antivirus that happen to come from the same company. Avast acquired AVG in 2016 for $1.3 billion. The two products share the Avast security infrastructure, but remain independent in terms of features.
Anyone who’s tried both will know that’s not entirely true, though. The interfaces have become more similar over the past two years, enough so that we’d say there’s little difference between them at all.
If we had to pick, and it’s really splitting hairs, we’d select AVG as the best free antivirus. We like it’s customization options during install and its settings more, overall. The real selling point is a 30-day trial of AVG TuneUp that cleaned over 12GB of garbage from our machine during testing.![]()
As we said above, paid antiviruses are more secure on average than their free counterparts. AVG and Avast are generous in their offerings, so much so that an upgrade to one of their premium-tier packages quickly outclasses the price.
The differences between AVG and Avast are small, so make sure you try both to get a feel for which one fits you.
The Best Antivirus for Android
Our guide has focused on desktop antiviruses, but we want to give a nod toward mobile devices, as well. We like Avast Mobile Security as the best antivirus for Android, which is free software that supports itself with non-intrusive ads.![]()
It goes beyond scans with a call blocker, firewall and device recovery tool that tracks where your phone is if it’s stolen and gives you remote control over wiping it.
If you have an Avast plan that supports Android, you’ll unlock premium features along with removing the ads. One feature is in-app locking where your device will require a PIN before opening apps. Malware won’t be able to access apps, such as mobile banking or PayPal, with it enabled.
The only drawback is that it’s Android-only. For iOS users, we recommend Bitdefender Mobile Security, an app available on iOS and Android. It’s paid, but a premium Bitdefender package includes it in the price.
Plenty of Room at the Top
Ranking antiviruses is difficult. There are a lot of excellent options, with some trading a little protection for ease of use and vice versa. While we only rank three providers per round, there are other options.
Two antiviruses we like a lot are Webroot and Norton, though they weren’t able to make the cut. Norton excels in its feature set and robust list of plans. You’re sure to find a plan that fits your needs with multi-OS support, LifeLock and Norton Core, a secure router to protect against threats targeted there. You can learn more about those features in our Norton Security review.![]()
It missed out in our rankings because there are other options that do what it does slightly better. It was a close contender in our pricing round, for example, but doesn’t have enough features to justify the premium over McAfee Total Protection.
Webroot performed well in our hands-on testing. The cloud-based approach to detection means you get a lightweight antivirus that operates in the background. Lab results are scarce, though, and without reliable data to go on, we can’t rank it in this guide. Be sure to check out our Webroot SecureAnywhere review for our full thoughts.
There’s plenty of room at the top when it comes to antiviruses, so don’t feel deterred from options like Norton or Webroot simply because they couldn’t make it onto our list.
Final Thoughts
There are many great options for antiviruses. Some are better than others in particular areas, such as features or protection, but any of the options presented here will serve you well.
Bitdefender stands apart with its robust feature list, excellent protection scores and support for multiple devices on different operating systems. The UI is among the best we’ve seen, as well, aided by Quick Actions for easy navigation. AVG gives Bitdefender a run for its money, though. Considering the low cost of AVG and its large list of features, it’s a good option as well. The interface is better than Bitdefender’s, at least in our testing, but protection results aren’t as good.
Overall, a lot of it comes down to personal preference, so make sure to let us know your favorite antivirus in the comments. As always, thanks for reading.
About john john
No comments