Why Buy Antivirus Software?

If you are running Windows, you need to install antivirus software. Yes, the security native to Windows improves with each new version. However, even Microsoft does not intend for you to get by with Windows Defender alone. Microsoft only includes some antivirus capabilities in its operating systems because it knows that some people will never install third-party virus protection. So, Microsoft provides a little something that is better than nothing but not as good as the best antivirus products. According to the well-respected independent test lab AV-Test, Windows Defender does not achieve the level of performance accomplished by the best antivirus software. We rank our antivirus reviews according to AV-Test's test results. Therefore, the best antivirus products are: Bitdefender Antivirus Plus, Kaspersky Anti-Virus and Norton AntiVirus.

Antivirus Software: What to Look For

The top antivirus software defends your personal computer from various malware attacks. No security software will always detect and block every threat because some malware attacks are brand new and have never been seen before in the wild. When a virus scanner encounters one of these so-called zero-day threats, it attempts to discern whether it descends from a known threat-family genealogy, which would make it guilty by association. Sometimes, however, there is nothing in a zero-day threat to reveal its sinister intent. So, in addition to considering how an antivirus software product keeps threats out, we must also consider how well a product discovers and removes a threat after it has already lodged itself within a system and exposed itself through its behavior.

The ability to block incoming threats and to remove threats that break through defenses are aspects of performance, which is the most important thing to look for in antivirus software. After you consider performance, you should then consider product features as well as the help and support that the publishers provide. Let's look at each of these factors.

Performance

The best way to arrive at how well a product performs is to read product test results from AV-Test, which considers three main performance criteria: protection, repair and usability. AV-Test has dozens of servers connected to hundreds of workstations. Using this test bed, AV-Test exposes antivirus software products to tens of millions of malicious threat samples and records the results for the world to see.

Features

After you know how well a product performs, consider its other features. All antivirus software is easy to install, so this is not something to worry about nowadays. But not every antivirus software product can block malware that attempts to arrive via web browsing. Sometimes you need the internet security version of a product, not just the antivirus version, to protect yourself against phishing attempts. Other features to consider prior to purchase are whether the product can detect threats in instant messages and email, and whether it can detect and scan an inserted USB drive.

Help & Support

The best antivirus software publishers extend their access to you by letting you reach their support departments via live chat, telephone and email on any day and at any hour. However, not every competitor is so generous in terms of help and support, so you should be aware of what you prefer in a support department prior to purchase.

Some of the brightest computer scientists on the planet have gone over to the dark side to cast their lots with the hacker underworld. Without third-party antivirus protection, you do not stand a chance against their organized onslaughts to steal your identity and subjugate your PC into a botnet available to do the master's bidding. Our reviews describe the best antivirus software's performance, features, and help and support. Don't rely on Windows Defender. Let us help you find something better.