Rate virus protection programs

Less impressive is the slight negative effect Avast has on software launch times, and its slightly popup-heavy attitude. Review and where to download: Avast Free Antivirus. Microsoft Defender formerly Windows Defender was generally seen as a bit of a joke in the not-too-distant past.

It performed terribly by most measures and was a good advert for why you should really pay for antivirus. But as we explain further up this article, Microsoft Defender has come on leaps and bounds and can now legitimately be mentioned in the same company as Bitdefender, Norton and Kaspersky. As well as very solid virus protection, Defender has extra bits and bobs like a ransomware shield, webcam protection, privacy tools and even basic parental controls and cloud backup.

And the best bit No need to download a thing, just find it in your menu and get protected straight away. Read more and see how to use: Microsoft Defender review. The paid-for version of Kaspersky's Windows security software frequently tops charts of best virus prevention solutions and AV-TEST once again gave it full marks across the board in its latest round of testing. As you would expect, Kaspersky Free is a scaled down version of the full program - a tool that we really like more on which below.

The free version ditches additional features such as privacy protection and safe payment sandboxes to concentrate on powerful, no-frills and - most importantly - free protection for your PC. The result is a tremendously easy to use and navigate bit of software that does an effective job of keeping you protected from viruses. Using the nuts and bolts real-world scanning engine of the paid-for suite, Kaspersky Free is fiendishly hard for viruses and trojan horses to break down.

And we love that it doesn't constantly pester you with nudges to upgrade to the full version. But, ironically, we will just for a moment, because Kasperksy Anti-Virus isn't expensive to buy and yet affords much better protection to your PC or PCs. Review and where to download: Kaspersky Free. Marketing itself as "business-grade security", Sophos Home does a little more than most free antivirus software, and actually seems better suited to families.

You get standard virus protection and anti-malware protection, along with browser tools like anti-phishing and, most importantly, content control. Combined with central management of up to 10 PCs, this means you can effectively lock down your kids' browsing options. Although Sophos Home has always had desktop notifications, there was no premium version of the software for it to encourage an upgrade to. That changed in February with the launch of Sophos Home Premium. Review and where to download: Sophos Home.

Each entry in this list has been carefully chosen for its business features, such as remote installation and central management. The best business antivirus software will have enterprise-level protection against threats, but that doesn't mean they have to cost a lot of money, either. The price per installation can sometimes be cheaper than even our recommended best antivirus packages. Avast Business Antivirus Pro An excellent business antivirus suite, giving you various tools such as virus protection, Firewall, email protection, anti-spam and the ability to sandbox applications for complete security.

Avast Business Antivirus Pro as opposed to the standard Avast Business Antivirus also includes Sharepoint and Exchange protection, as well as a number of tools for your servers. Bitdefender products are loved by the independent testing labs, highly rated for malware detection, removal, performance and usability. Most of the features work automatically — anti-malware, firewall, web advisor, URL filtering — but you can also customise the product to control user actions.

Symantec Endpoint Protection Symantec's first benefit is the company's Insight file reputation technology, an effective way to detect and block even the very latest undiscovered threats.

Other layers of protection include virus protection, behaviour monitoring, intrusion protection, a firewall, and the 'Power Eraser' to remove stubborn threats and repair your system. Avira Antivirus for Endpoint This is Avira's main small business product. It takes all the core features you'd expect — antivirus, baseline network protection, web filtering — and extends them with file server protection and optimisation, along with application whitelisting and blacklisting.

The desktop side of the package has all the usual quality Kaspersky modules — antivirus, antispam, a firewall, more — but the mobile security technologies are even more impressive. Mike began his career as a lead software developer in the engineering world, where his creations were used by big-name companies from Rolls Royce to British Nuclear Fuels and British Aerospace.

He now covers VPNs, antivirus and all things security for TechRadar, although he still has a secret love of quirky open-source and freeware apps which find brand new ways to solve common problems. North America. If you're looking for the best possible protection for your online devices in , then you've come to the right place - we've tested all of the best antivirus providers out there to come up with a definitive list of the absolute greatest.

View Deal. Bitdefender Antivirus. Maximum devices covered: Stand out features: Safepay banking protection, privacy tools, multi-layered anti-ransomware, VPN.

Reasons to avoid - Room for improvement on detection. Norton AntiVirus. Stand out features: Intelligent firewall, PC maintenance features, bundled backup tool with online storage.

Reasons to avoid - Mixed results from the testing labs. Kaspersky Anti-Virus. Stand out features: Highly configurable virus scans, anti-ransomware, drive-by cryptomining infection prevention.

Reasons to avoid - Not a huge amount of features. Trend Micro Antivirus. Plus, it was one of the few programs that stopped me from accessing every phishing scheme I used during testing. Some of these threats were made to look like legitimate login pages for Facebook, PayPal, Instagram, and Twitter, so I feel very confident in recommending Kaspersky Internet Security for home use.

This basic antivirus program also includes webcam monitoring, along with safe browsing tools that both tag and block malicious websites from being accessed and ensure banking and shopping accounts are accessed from a legitimate website. To give you even more security, all of Kaspersky's antivirus programs include an in-browser keyboard.

This lets you enter usernames and passwords, or other sensitive information, into text fields without worrying that a keylogger will capture it. Kaspersky has gotten a pretty bad wrap because of the accusations made a few years back about possible filtering of information, gathered from Kaspersky users' computers, to the Russian government, As a precaution, the U.

But for most users, Kaspersky is just fine to use. Kaspersky features excellent malware protection without using a lot of system resources or causing slowdown on your computer. Bottom line: If you aren't looking to spend any money on a third-party antivirus option for your computer or phone, Avira is one of the absolute best options to try.

Avira offers a great paid premium antivirus that we've covered above, but the company's free option is also worth a mention in our list. While it may not have the same features and options, it's quite comprehensive when it comes to antivirus protection. It offers a free VPN, anti-scam technology, and is completely ad-free still.

One thing that sets Avira's free antivirus apart from the competition is that it also has counterparts for mobile devices. You can install it on Android and iOS devices with ease. The company does not sell user data as part of the free program, so be sure to download it today and give it a try! Avira is one of the best free antivirus solutions, in addition to protecting your Windows PC you can also add some protection for your phone.

Bottom line: Microsoft Defender comes pre-installed on your computer, which means you don't need to do anything to get it going. It may not have the biggest feature set, but it's free and designed for Windows users. For a simple to use and free option Windows Defender is now a great bit of kit. This comes bundled free with Windows 10, which might make it sound basic, but in reality it's not a really powerful antivirus solution.

Turned on as standard this will be working in the background — without using much processing power — to keep viruses at bay. Windows Defender is also good for zero-day attacks and ransomware protections. By default Microsoft will upload suspect items from your machine to get an online analysis which you can opt out of if you don't want that. Daily updates should be enough to keep you secure locally with malware signatures constantly monitored and updated.

We particularly like the sandbox feature which will place any rogue code into a safe section so that it can be executed without affecting the rest of the system. The tamper protection, which stops malicious apps from changing settings, is also a really useful feature. Emails are screened and this will even stop fileless-malware from being injected into the RAM thanks to a memory integrity feature. Microsoft Defender Antivirus comes already up and running with computers running Windows It includes a firewall and parental controls.

Bottom line: Simple yet very effective protection that you can leave running without having to do anything yourself. If you want an antivirus software you can install and leave to do its thing then Trend Micro is a great option.

Yes, it's not the most customizable, but that's because it just works and works well. This has some superb antivirus defenses while remaining very user friendly. Antivirus defenses go beyond realtime behaviour monitoring with anti-ransomware which it calls Folder Shield.

Unlike older versions of this software the resources consumed have dropped a lot and this runs without you noticing it as much when in the background. In the case of the Trend Micro Internet Security you get a rather unique feature that specifically protects you on social networks. Go for the full Trend Micro Maximum Security and you can expect Mac and mobile protection as well as Windows with 10 devices covered in total.

You also get a password manager and secure file vault thrown in for good measure. Trend Micro is one of the few program tests that earned a perfect protection score. It includes tools that protect financial and personal information. Bottom line : A very lightweight software that won't use up system resources while still offering great protection. If you want all out speed from an antivirus software that doesn't lean heavily on your machine's resources then this is a top option.

Webroot offers an installation that takes, at 15MB, just seconds. This starts as it means to go on as the lightweight software runs rapidly on any machine. Despite the speed there are no compromises on security. You get solid malware protection, very fast virus scans and even a smart firewall monitoring system.

There's also a real time anti-phishing features, identity theft protection and plenty more. Depending on the level you go for this can protect both Windows and Mac as well as mobile devices with up to five devices covered and a password manager included.

The tip top tier also offers a 25GB cloud based backup tool as well as more online privacy features. All that's topped off with a sweet day percent money-back guarantee, so this is well worth a try. 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.

Your financial situation is unique and the products and services we review may not be right for your circumstances. We do not offer financial advice, advisory or brokerage services, nor do we recommend or advise individuals or to buy or sell particular stocks or securities. Performance information may have changed since the time of publication.

Past performance is not indicative of future results. Forbes Advisor adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. To the best of our knowledge, all content is accurate as of the date posted, though offers contained herein may no longer be available.

Jacob Roach. Rob Watts. Was this article helpful? Share your feedback. Send feedback to the editorial team. Rate this Article. Thank You for your feedback! Something went wrong. 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? In a statement sent to CNET, the company said, "Kaspersky Lab has no ties to any government, and the company has never, nor will ever, engage in cyber offensive activities.

Kaspersky Lab maintains that no public evidence of any wrongdoing has been presented by the US government, and that the US government's actions against Kaspersky Lab were unconstitutional. In Kaspersky's favor, it continues to earn top scores and awards for virus and malware detection and endpoint protection from independent testing labs. And it's reasonably priced. In the end, even though no one has ever publicly produced a "smoking gun" linking the company to Russian intrigue, we think any of the options listed above are a safer bet.

And if you are a US government employee or work with the federal government, you'll want to steer clear of Kaspersky internet security products -- and perhaps use one of the antivirus software products mentioned here instead. Picking the best antivirus software for Windows means finding one that keeps your PC safe, doesn't take up a lot of system resources, is easy to use and stays out of the way till you need it.

Here's what to look for. Antivirus software runs virus scans for known viruses and malware, of course, and can offer real-time protection. And it watches for shady websites and suspicious links to keep you out of trouble.

It can also offer ransomware protection and monitor unexpected behavior that may be a sign of new and not-yet-identified viruses and malware. You want antivirus software that can successfully identify these unknown online threats without flagging too many false positives. Light on system resources. You don't want antivirus software that taxes your PC's resources. If after you install the program, websites open slowly, apps download or open sluggishly or file copies take longer than expected, you may want to try another service.

The good news is, all our picks offer a free trial to let you try out the antivirus program, so if your system feels sluggish after installation, you may want to keep looking. Cost and discounts. Don't just pay the sticker price for antivirus protection. Before you buy, check for discounts on a company's website. Another way to save: The prices we list above are for 10 devices -- if the company offered that package -- but you can trim your cost with antivirus packages if you need to cover three or five devices.

You may also find discounts on an app's Amazon page. To be effective, antivirus software needs to monitor what's going on with your PC, check in with company servers about unusual behavior and should provide sound banking protection. The companies say they anonymize this technical data as much as possible to protect your privacy.