Even though it’s called antivirus, it’s unlikely that you’ll contract a real computer virus. Nowadays, malware is all about making money, and spreading viruses is not an easy way to do so. Data theft and ransomware Trojans and bots that allow the bot-herder to rent out your computer for malicious purposes are much more prevalent.
Trojans, rootkits, spyware, adware, ransomware, and other threats are all handled by modern antivirus software. In addition to the numerous free antivirus programs that protect your sites from Cyber Threats, PCMag has reviewed over 40 different commercial antivirus programs. Out of that wide range, we’ve selected a few products as Editors’ Choices and given others a four-star rating.
One of the solutions in this article should solve the malware issue if you have it.
The best free antivirus utilities also provide more protection than Windows does, in addition to the commercial products that go beyond what Windows’ built-in antivirus can provide. But lately, Microsoft Windows Defender Security Center has been getting better and better, earning some excellent ratings from outside testing facilities. It received excellent marks in both the lab and our hands-on malware protection test, which was enough to raise its rating to 3.5 stars. Naturally, it isn’t listed in this compilation of commercial antivirus software.
We Listen to the Antivirus Testing Labs
We treat the findings of unbiased antivirus testing labs seriously. It is sort of a vote of confidence when a company’s product appears in the results. It indicates that the lab regarded the product as important and that the business thought the testing was cost-effective. Of course, getting good test results is also essential.
We keep track of SE Labs, AV-Test Institute, MRG-Effitas, and AV-Comparatives because they all frequently publish thorough reports. We’ve developed a system for adding up their results to produce a score between 0 and 10.
How We Test Malware, Spyware, and Adware Defenses
In order to get a better understanding of how each product operates, we also put each one through our own in-depth malware protection test. It is possible for a product to receive up to 10 points for malware protection, depending on how well it prevents malware installation.
We must use the same set of samples for months to conduct our malware protection test. We test each product using a large collection of extremely new malware-hosting URLs provided by MRG-Effitas, noting what percentage of them it blocked, to determine how well it handles brand-new malware. Both blocking access to the malicious URL and eradicating the malware during download earn products equal points.
Some products receive top marks from independent labs but perform poorly in our in-depth tests.
We defer to the labs in these situations because they have access to much more resources for their testing. Wish to learn more? You can read on for a thorough explanation of the procedure we use to test security software.
What’s the Best Antivirus for Malware Protection?
Antivirus software sets itself apart by offering more advanced features than just real-time malware protection and on-demand scanning. Some use a red-yellow-green colour coding system to rank URLs that you visit or that appear in search results. Some actively prevent processes on your system from connecting to phishing pages or URLs known to host malware.
The software has bugs, and these bugs can occasionally compromise your security. Users who exercise caution keep Windows and all programs patched, addressing any bugs as quickly as possible. Some antivirus programs offer vulnerability scans that can check to see if all required patches are installed and even apply any that are missing.
Spyware can take many different shapes, from undetectable programs that record every keystroke you make to Trojans that pose as legitimate programs in order to steal your personal information. Any antivirus should be able to handle spyware in addition to all other malware, but some have particular components for spyware defense.
You anticipate an antivirus to detect and remove malicious software while leaving the good programs alone. What about programs that it cannot categorize as good or bad—the unknowns? Theoretically, behavior-based detection can shield you from malware so that untrained researchers have never seen it. This, however, isn’t always a pure blessing. Many innocent behaviors carried out by trustworthy programs are frequently flagged by behavioral detection systems.
Another solution to the issue of unknown programs is allow-listing. Only well-known good programs are permitted to run under this kind of security system. We forbid the unknown. Although not appropriate in every circumstance, this mode has its uses. Unknown programs can run with limited access to your system thanks to sandboxing, which prevents them from causing long-term damage. Your defenses against malware are strengthened by these various additional layers.
Read also How to protect your Kodi from Maleware.
What’s the Best Antivirus for Ransomware Protection and Firewalls?
Although they are not typical antivirus features, firewalls and spam filtering are included as extras in some of our top products. In actuality, some of these antivirus programs offer more features than some programs marketed as security suites.
Secure browsers for financial transactions, secure file deletion, erasing computer and browsing history, credit monitoring, a virtual keyboard to thwart keyloggers, cross-platform security, and other extras are among the extras you’ll find. Sandboxing, vulnerability scanning, and application whitelisting have also already been mentioned.
More and more antivirus programs are adding modules made especially for ransomware defense. Some function by preventing unauthorized changes to files that are protected. Others keep an eye out for malware-related suspicious behaviors. Some even try to undo the harm. Any additional protection is advantageous given the spread of this scourge.
Beyond Antivirus: Install a VPN
Your antivirus program works in the background to ward off even the remotest possibility of malware infection, but it is only capable of protecting your computer. You run the risk of having your data compromised in transit when you connect to the wild and woolly internet. The best way to protect your data in transit is to only use HTTPS-encrypted websites, but you should also install a Virtual Private Network, or VPN, for maximum security.
