Viruses are fraudulent codes that enter your computer systems through malicious gateways, web links, spam, and other external sources. These codes are designed by cybercriminals or hackers with the purpose of posing a serious threat to your privacy. Viruses, Trojan horses, worms or any form of malware has the capability of multiplying itself and infesting various documents or applications present within your computer system. Malware not only has the potential to corrupt your system but also causes further implications for your hardware if not treated at the earliest. Hence, various software programs have been designed to facilitate the treatment of malware and eliminate them from our computer systems as soon as possible.
What is antivirus software?
Antivirus
soft wares are programs designed to detect and terminate any possible form of
malicious viruses within your hardware system. Antivirus soft wares are
developed to protect your personal computer or mobile phone from any kinds of
external threats that emerge out of malware. Antivirus soft wares scan the
files and other applications present within your system for certain patterns to
detect any suspicious file present within. It immediately notifies you about
the particular file and starts the process of terminating it from your device.
A lot of antivirus soft wares have been designed to implement the
above-mentioned functions. These soft wares come with a free or trial version
and later give the user the advantage of subscribing himself to the different
paid packages of the same. The packages differ in terms of price and capacity
to support the number of devices. Besides, they also render additional features
like firewall protection, database update, payment security, password manager,
free VPN, etc.
Choosing the right antivirus software for your system:
Viruses
have innumerable ways of harming your computer system and causing a breach of
your confidential information by providing unrestricted access to
cybercriminals onto your files. Leading security solution companies have
designed efficient antivirus programs to facilitate you with a smooth cyber
experience devoid of all security threats. Choosing one out of them is a
difficult process. It completely depends upon the scale of usage and preference
of the user. Some antivirus provides faster performance, hence they are ideally
suited for PCs, and some have easy-to-use features the beginners can operate
with. Some are developed with a variety of supplementary features like secure
payment processing, web browser protection, etc. and some are really
pocket-friendly with a decent pricing rate.
However,
to ease up your purchase decision, here is a list of criterion that can be
considered while picking the best antivirus software for your system:
• Pick your ideal AV software on the basis of its malware -detection rate:
An ideal AV software should have a malware detection rate of a minimum of 95%. At the same time, you need to make sure that your software doesn’t base its detection on false narratives. In that case, your AV program may flag the wrong websites confusing them with the malevolent ones.
Proven
lab tests on detection of malware by different AV programs have published their
results in favor of Kaspersky AV program, Bitdefender AV program and Norton
declaring them to be the best ones in the market when it comes to high malware
detection capability.
Source: Google
• Base your preferences as per the reliability of the programs:
It is always advised to shortlist the programs that are reliable in the long-run in providing protection of your data.
The
AV programs during their initial installation process should conduct a quick
security check to ensure the absence of any conflicting security software
within the system already. In a contradictory case, it may ask you to uninstall
the previous software for the smooth functioning of the latest program.
Some
malware codes are strong enough to axe the operation of the antivirus software.
Hence, it is important to consider that software which is capable of
safeguarding its features from being hampered by any form of malware.
Antivirus programs with obsolete techniques of
scanning malware codes should be abandoned from your shopping cart. Go for the
AV programs that run with an up-to-date technology of malware detection and
elimination. These soft wares should also arrange for their regular update as
and when necessary.
An
ideal AV software should schedule automatic security scans in the background
while you run other applications on the computer. In fact, it is better if the
AV software continues to function when the computer is at standby or not
engaged in performing any other task.
• Do not rely on the in-built software only:
Many PCs, especially Windows provide in-built security protection to the users. However, these programs are mere trial versions and may function for a period of 3 months at the most. Hence, looking around and shopping for potential soft wares is always the move of smart users.
• Look for effective web protection:
An AV program that allows you to have a carefree experience of internet surfing is a must-have. Consider purchasing those AV programs only that facilitate web protection and immediately scans suspicious emails coming to your account to detect possible threats. Such a useful feature is conferred to the users by almost every renowned AV program in the market.
Source: Google
• A paid version with supplementary features prevails in the long run:
A free version may effectively render security benefits to your system but a paid package of any trustworthy AV program comes with a vast array of additional features. E.g., Bitdefender antivirus program comes with a variety of add-ons like a password manager, file shredder, secure VPN, browser protection, etc. People do stay apprehensive about the rates of such AV programs, but a one-time investment a year for all-round protection of your device is worth everything.
• Pocket-friendly pricing policy:
A good investment is essential but at the same time it needs to be a sensible one. It is always not necessary that a program with the highest package rates will be the most superior one when it comes to anti-malware protection. Careful scrutiny is important and going for the one within affordable price range as well as an ample amount of features one personally requires is always more rational.
Source: Google
• Goodwill:
An AV program that has already established itself in the market will continue to provide quality services to retain customer faith. Hence, it is wiser to pick that AV software which has been reviewed positively by most customers. These soft wares are mostly tried and tested with positive results. They also tend to provide better and more efficient features compared to the lesser known ones. As per 2019, the most reviewed and reputed Antivirus solutions are the Kaspersky Total Security, Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2019, Norton Security 2019, and Comodo Endpoint Protection.
