There is never an end to the ways in which hackers can access your passwords and information, so you want an antivirus that has high detection rates, a user-friendly interface and extra features to secure your machine. The best antivirus program must combine protection with simple tools and extensions.
Windows Defender from Microsoft is simple and effective, available as a preinstalled product on all Windows computers and won’t consume your performance. Free-market lab tests say enough.
1. Avast
Avast antivirus keeps you safe from malware, ransomware and phishing attacks, and encrypts data when using public Wi-Fi, so hackers can’t access your personal information.
Upgrade to premium adds Wi-Fi Inspector, which automatically checks your home network for any vulnerable devices or threats, and Cleaner to speed up the operating system by removing slow-moving programs or files.
The privacy protection is decent on Avast with options for scam call and text blocking, password protection and privacy advisor features, and it monitors your credit cards, bank accounts, and personal information for theft or publication on the Dark Web. Some of these are missing in its free version and a few people also complained about its data-sharing policy.
2. AVG
AVG AntiVirus Free (AVGAF) is an antivirus program with 200+ million of users including 100 million of smartphone users. The antivirus provides full protection to PC, Mac and Android users and regularly gets good reviews from independent labs and AV Comparatives; with near-optimal malware detection scores.
Central to this is a simple user interface with well-known icons to scan, do other stuff, and to see key features. Real-time protection also uses machine learning to identify potential threats early before they can affect your computer.
AVG’s malware protection is incredibly good for free and its paid plans come loaded with tons of extras, many of which are superfluous and its brash upsells tend to sound like spam. Bitdefender, our Editors’ Choice winner, scores higher in four labs and has password manager, VPN access and dark web tracking – that’s an entire lot more for Bitdefender.
3. McAfee
The standalone version of McAfee’s antivirus software is appealing and the interface is slick, colorful and easy to navigate, unlike in older versions, which were confusing. That’s a huge upgrade from the previous, more equivocal versions.
This program has the ransomware protection, dark web surveillance, and text scam detection. It also monitors for data brokers and helps you ask for deletion if your personal data have been posted online. Not only are bank transactions tracked but also offers credit monitoring via one of the big bureaus and emergency security freezes when required.
McAfee consistently receives 100% in AV-Test malware detection tests because its heuristic scanning and online analysis engine can catch threats you don’t even know exist and disable disk wipers and hand-crafted ransomware samples — two capabilities we believe that are very important.
4. Norton
Norton shields computers and platforms of all sizes and is using AI to detect and remove malware.
The privacy monitoring also has some other capabilities like scanning apps for data broker activity and alerting users when links they click to phishing sites.
Its SONAR feature, based on threat recognition based on behavior, finds more malware and prevents it more effectively.
Norton too offers a pretty impressive number of parental controls, but doesn’t have laptop/smartphone anti-theft functionality, like Bitdefender. However, Norton does have a 60-day money back guarantee and the risk notifications help users identify any potential attacks on their devices immediately. Norton’s risk notifications are highly praised by reviewers as they notify you about threats immediately, so you can react to threats rapidly to protect devices.
5. ESET
ESET is the anti-malware company and has excellent troubleshooting tools. It also supports UEFI start-up code protection and script-based threats block. The first thing I liked most was that it stopped ransomware – finding and blocking ransomware before files encrypted – which wasn’t something other security suites could do.
Your device anti-theft can prove especially useful in case it gets lost so you can remotely locate it and delete files on it. Also liked its screen lock tool, which locks the computer against snatchers by forcing a password to unlock it.
I was pleasantly surprised to learn they have multiple plans and also give you a 30-day free trial, however the customer support was scattered and unreliable.
