How to pick the best antivirus

If you have a computer or a laptop, it is critical to install a good antivirus on it. Without this application, all your precious files and data, including your email login details and online banking passwords, can fall into the wrong hands. And no, you can’t rely on Windows Defender, the free antivirus that comes with Windows, to do the job. According to Tom’s guide, a respected site, it is only better than nothing.

So, read this article to discover how you should pick a good antivirus. I won’t highlight a clear winner, even though I’ve got my own preferences. Nevertheless, I will do something much better. I will tell you what criteria really matter when it comes to computer security, and I will give you the URL of an independent site which runs comprehensive antivirus tests on a regular basis. This way, you will be able to pick the best antivirus that fulfills all your security-related needs.

If you are like me, you simply love the Internet! It offers a wealth of opportunities, allowing us to work online, do our research, keep up with friends and family, watch movies, play games, and so much more. Still, it has some dark areas as well, and a few of them have become even darker during the last few years.

Think ransomware, for example; people have created malware applications which encrypt your computer files, and then ask you money in exchange for the decryption key – which, by the way, may not work!

Spyware applications are able to monitor every key you press on your keyboard, can take screenshots of your desktop without you knowing about it, and are even able to record video using the built-in laptop webcam. Then, these evil apps send the gathered data to remote servers, where they are downloaded, and then used against you.

What about damaging scripts that run automatically the second you’ve accessed a specially crafted website page, infecting your computer, and then turning it into a remote-controlled machine that will execute any order it receives from the cybercriminals?

As you can see, the evil doers have become much smarter, and their arsenal is now much more diverse. Gone are the days when antivirus companies only had to deal with virus signatures/checksums, and that was pretty much it.

This is, in fact, the first criteria that should be taken into account when it comes to picking the best antivirus: choose a solution that offers a full protection. It’s a huge mistake to use a separate antivirus, an anti-spyware application, a dedicated firewall application, and so on. All these pieces of software will waste more memory and CPU power, not to mention that they can hinder each other’s activity. In fact, I guarantee that if you run two security solutions in parallel, on the same computer, you will have trouble.

So, go for a full antivirus solution which provides all the needed functionality. Choose a product that incorporates a firewall, has spam filtering abilities, offers ransomware protection, secure browsing, application sandboxing, and more.

Okay, I have told you that I won’t reveal my favorite security suite, but maybe you’re a non-techie, and you need a small push in the right direction. I have been using Bitdefender Antivirus for more than 10 years now, and it has never failed me.

Of course, you should always listen to the specialists’ advice, rather than your friends’ advice. Always choose one of the products that get the highest scores, even if they cost a bit more. So, what is the URL of the best website that runs extensive antivirus tests regularly? Meet AV-Comparatives, the clear market leader. They perform real-world protection tests, malware protection and removal tests, antivirus performance tests, heuristic tests, anti-phishing tests, false alarm/positive tests, mobile security reviews, parental control app reviews... I think that you have gotten the point.

So, do your research, study what AV-Comparatives has to say about your preferred antivirus application, and then confidently choose a winner. Good luck!