Virus security software reviews


















If you want full-on identity protection, Norton offers three bundles with varying degrees of LifeLock service and even more online storage. Their subscription prices run well into the triple digits, but still cost less than if you were to buy the identity protection, password manager, cloud-backup storage and antivirus software separately. Unlike some of the other best antivirus software makers, Norton doesn't offer a file shredder, file encryption or secure web browser with any of its products.

Yet every other digital-protection service you could possibly ask for is included with at least some of its bundles. Read our full Norton Deluxe review. McAfee's malware detection has improved greatly in the past couple of years, but it's still not quite top-of-the-line.

To get parental controls or one of the best password managers in the business, you'll have to spring for McAfee Total Protection or its sibling McAfee LiveSafe, which comes pre-installed on many new PCs.

The multi-device licenses of those two security suites also come with an identity-protection service. But none of the McAfee products have a secure browser or webcam protection, which you often get with other premium antivirus programs. Read our full McAfee Internet Security review. Trend Micro offers very good protection, but its malware-detection engine creates a heavy system load during scans and returns a fair number of false-positive results.

Parental controls, a system optimizer and a file shredder are bundled into the mid-range Trend Micro Internet Security. Trend Micro Maximum Security adds a password manager, a secure browser and file encryption, while the new Trend Micro Premium Security adds a VPN and dark-web monitoring of personal data. However, none of Trend Micro's programs include a two-way firewall or webcam protection, standard with other brands' midrange offerings.

Nor does the premium product have the cloud storage or backup software that some of the best antivirus brands add as enticements to their flagship packages. Read our full Trend Micro Maximum Security review. ESET is one of the biggest antivirus names in Europe, with a very small system-performance load and fast scans. Its malware-detection rate used to be kind of meh, but has improved markedly in recent lab tests. However, there's no VPN client, backup software or file shredder. ESET's pricing is per device, which is optimal for users who might have more than a few devices to protect.

But if your device count gets into double digits, ESET's costs can add up. Sophos Home Premium does its job economically, offering reasonable protection from malware at an affordable price. Because it's spun off from Sophos' enterprise software for business clients, Sophos Home Premium lacks many of the bells and whistles other security suites offer, such as a password manager, identity theft protection service or VPN service.

What Sophos Home Premium does have is the essentials: ransomware rollbacks, webcam defenses and protection against keyloggers, malicious websites and boot-sector and fileless malware. It also has a web-filter system for parents and an online management console from which you can tweak most of the settings. Some people might demand more from an antivirus suite, but anyone who would rather buy only what they need will appreciate Sophos Home Premium's just-the-basics approach.

Read our full Sophos Home Premium review. A good paid antivirus suite is a digital-protection jackknife, often bundling in parental controls, identity theft protection, a password manager, backup software, cloud storage, a firewall, a system optimizer and software for Mac, Android and iOS as well as Windows.

But what if you just want Windows antivirus software without all of those pricey extras? And what if you can't afford to pay for antivirus software? One of the best free antivirus programs might be exactly what you need. Free antivirus software used to be a step down from the paid software and involved trade-offs. The protection wasn't as good and you'd either have to put up with ads filling your screen or with constant nags to upgrade to a paid program. That's all changed.

One of the best antivirus makers, Kaspersky, offers a free version with the same excellent malware protections as its paid offerings. Its top rival, Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition, has been officially discontinued, although Tom's Guide readers can still download it with this link. A merger between the biggest names in free antivirus, Avast and AVG, created a combined malware-detection engine that's much better than the sum of its parts.

Meanwhile, Microsoft's built-in antivirus software, Windows Defender, aka Microsoft Defender Antivirus, has gone from being a joke to being one of the best antivirus programs out there, free or paid. You can now get free antivirus protection that's as good as anything you pay for. So here are the best free antivirus programs based on their protection, system impact, ease of use and extra features.

Kaspersky Security Cloud Free 2. Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition 3. Windows Defender Antivirus 4. Avast Free Antivirus 5. Kaspersky Security Cloud Free Antivirus may be the best free antivirus program we've ever seen.

It has excellent malware protection, a decent set of extra functions and features, and a system-performance impact so small that our computer actually sped up after we installed the program. Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition has been officially discontinued, and we're not sure how long Tom's Guide readers can still download it. It's the best "set it and forget it" free antivirus option. It's now one of the best antivirus programs altogether. You don't have to install or download it — it's already on your PC.

If you want an unlimited password manager or a hardened web browser, Avast Free Antivirus might be for you. Its malware protection is much better than it once was, although its performance impact is fairly heavy. Avast's stepsister AVG has the same malware-detection engine, but lacks Avast's full slate of useful extra features. But it does have a file shredder and system optimizer.

We have to mention one program that's not antivirus software, but which we recommend anyway: Malwarebytes Free. While antivirus tries to stop malware from infecting your machine, Malwarebytes functions as the cleanup crew, sweeping out less-harmful adware or potentially unwanted programs that the antivirus software ignores.

It works well alongside any antivirus program. Kaspersky doesn't talk much about its free antivirus product, and you might have a hard time finding the free Kaspersky software download page on the company's website.

That's too bad, because Kaspersky Security Cloud Free is the best free antivirus product we've ever tested. We've never seen such a combination of excellent protection and extra features in a free antivirus program. It's got a bright, comprehensible interface, a lot of customization potential and Kaspersky's unbeatable malware protection. The program also lets you schedule scans, and its performance impact was so small that it actually sped up our test machine a bit.

Kaspersky's useful extra features include a file shredder, an on-screen keyboard and an email scanner. The password manager and VPN service are fairly limited, however, unless you pay. Read our full Kaspersky Security Cloud Free review. Bitdefender has officially discontinued Antivirus Free Edition, and it will be supported only until June 30, We still love it and you can still get it , but proceed at your own risk.

Compared to premium paid antivirus programs that are big, heavy and loaded with extra bells and whistles, Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition is like a '60's sports car, stripped to the essentials but still providing plenty of power. And there are also some great extra features. My favorite feature is Home Network Security which gives you full control over all the devices connecting to your Wi-Fi network and it also reinforces your firewall against malware attacks. McAfee Total Protection is an excellent antivirus package that is particularly great at securing Wi-Fi networks.

The Family plan is one of the best value family antiviruses on the market, covering lots of devices for a low price. And all McAfee plans are protected by a day money-back guarantee. BullGuard includes extras like parental controls, a firewall, anti-phishing protection, identity theft protections, and cloud backup. In addition to optimizing and improving gameplay, BullGuard has helpful cybersecurity protections, like a firewall, anti-phishing protection, and identity theft protection.

Avira also has an excellent Safe Shopping browser extension which identified and blocked more phishing sites in my tests than most competitors. The extension is also very useful because it also blocks browser tracking, preventing companies from tracking your online activity and delivering ads based on your browsing habits.

One other cool thing about this extension is that it helps you find the best shopping deals online. Using the VPN, I was able to browse the web, stream video, and download files with minimal or no speed loss — which is pretty great for a bundled VPN.

Avira has a lightweight cloud-based antivirus engine with perfect detection rates as well as excellent web protection. Avira Prime also has a VPN, a password manager, a game booster, system tune-up, and more. Learn More — Avira Prime. Panda Dome Complete has a good malware scanner, an easy-to-use interface, and more additional features than most competitors.

Panda Dome Complete offers good malware protection and is one of the most feature-rich internet security suites on the market — although not all of its extra features are that good. Panda detected most of my test malware, and I was impressed with its intuitive interface and unique features like the Rescue Kit. Learn More — Panda Dome Complete. Kaspersky also has comprehensive parental controls, a good password manager, and a solid VPN — although the VPN is pretty limited.

While Kaspersky offers good protection, I think all of its plans are a little bit too expensive when compared to competitors with a similar amount of features. Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition is easy to set up and stays out of your way until you need it. And the protection this antivirus product offers is solid. Bitdefender antivirus software consistently earns top marks for its antivirus protection and usability from the respected AV-Test independent testing lab. The free antivirus version covers one Windows PC.

Malwarebytes does protect your PC from a virus or malware attack, scoring reasonably well in recent independent testing for guarding against malware threats. But that's not really what Malwarebytes is known for. If you find yourself in trouble, the go-to disinfectant for many is Malwarebytes.

To get the antivirus company's free antivirus version, download this trial version , which "downgrades" to a no-fee on-demand cleaner with fewer features that detects and removes viruses and malware when you run an on-demand antivirus scan after 14 days.

In addition to the four antivirus apps we recommend above, a handful of other anti-malware tools are worth considering among the best antivirus protection if you find them at a better price or just prefer to use one over our picks above.

It feels like McAfee Antivirus has been around forever, first on its own in the '80s, then as part of Intel starting in , and then again on its own when Intel spun it off in And McAfee Total Protection has been around forever because quarter after quarter it creates solid, modern antivirus software that protects your PC.

In recent evaluations by AV-Test, it had high scores on both protection and performance. Maybe this antivirus provider is not as well known to consumers because of its focus on enterprise security, Trend Micro antivirus quietly brings its business expertise to the home with its Trend Micro Maximum Security tools.

Trend Micro's software earns high marks from AV-Test -- consistently scoring well for detecting zero-day attacks and widespread viruses and malware. And Trend Micro does a good job of not taxing system resources.

Free version? It earns high scores for usability and offers solid virus protection. The free antivirus version of Sophos Home gives you virus protection for three Windows PCs -- using the company's high-scoring anti-malware tool -- plus a day trial of the company's malware-removal tool.

Test after test, Avast Antivirus for Windows performs well for malware detection with options ranging from Avast free antivirus software to Avast Premium Security. And we've included its antivirus in our list of recommended security app options before. But Avast was in the news for several months for its non-antivirus business, so we looked at the company, specifically reports at the end of that Avast allegedly collected user data with its browser plug-ins and antivirus software and then sold data it collected through its Jumpshot subsidiary in early In response to the reports that his company gathered and sold the details of its customers' online activities, Avast CEO Ondrej Vlcek said in a statement that he understood that his company's actions raised questions of trust in his company.

To address that, Avast terminated Jumpshot data collection in January and closed its operations because the data collection business wasn't in line with Avast's privacy priorities.

These newer reports follow another in from Avast that its internal network was breached , possibly to insert malware into its CCleaner software, similar to an earlier CCleaner hack that occurred prior to Avast's acquiring the Windows utility.

Avast is now saying the right things about taking its customers' privacy seriously , but it only came to that point after reacting to investigative reporting that revealed the Jumpshot practices.

The CCleaner revelations, while concerning, were self-disclosed, which is important to building user trust. We hope Avast's more privacy-friendly policies mean that there will be no further Jumpshot-style activities and it returns to glory as one of the best antivirus software.

In the meantime, we'd recommend using one of the many other solid choices in this realm listed above. Because the company has been in the news the past few years, let's talk about Kaspersky Lab -- specifically about the federal ban that blocks US government agencies from using Kaspersky Antivirus products. Based in Moscow, Kaspersky Lab has for years produced some of the best antivirus software for business antivirus needs and home customers.

But in the US government prohibited Kaspersky security cloud software on federal government computers because of alleged ties between Kaspersky and the Russian government. But as with China-based Huawei , the question remains: If the federal government doesn't think the products are safe enough for its own devices, should consumers avoid them as well?

Before that, he worked at PCMag as a business analyst. Select Region. United States. United Kingdom. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team. Jacob Roach, Rob Watts.

Contributor, Editor. Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations. Read more. Small Business Guides. Featured Partners. Our ratings take into account a product's cost, features, ease of use, customer service and other category-specific attributes.

Firewall included Yes. Email security Yes. Ransomware protection Yes. Why We Picked It. Options for small and large businesses Removable device protection Offers on-premise deployment. Each seat includes desktop and mobile protection Automatic software updater included Password manager included for every user. Expensive Server protection limited to top two plans. Threat forecast and analysis tools Helpful insights into employee behavior Subscription includes server protection.

Centralized web dashboard Built-in behavior analysis Powered by machine learning. Who Should Use It: Businesses who need customizable security. Flexible plans that allow you to add features Patch management included. Lacking employee-focused features like a password manager.

Email security No. Plans for businesses of any size Ransomware rollback on Windows Automated endpoint discovery. Norton Antivirus. Who Should Use It: Small teams looking for an easy-to-use antivirus solution. Highly secure Tailored for small business use Cloud-based device management. Who Should Use It: Individual users looking for business-level protection.

Inexpensive Linkscanner protects you against malicious links Free email and phone support. NordVPN Vs. Information provided on Forbes Advisor is for educational purposes only.



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