Read this article on 5 Best Antivirus Software

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In today’s age of information and technology data is extremely valuable and thus wanted by cyber criminals. Your PC, Mac, Android device or iPhone are always vulnerable to ransomware, malware, phishing scams and other cyberattacks. 

Malware like Adware and browser hijackers slow down your device. Adware shows ads constantly taking up your device resources, slowing it down and collecting your data without your permission.

Browser hijackers are pesky little software that modifies web browser settings without the user's permission and redirects the user to websites the user had not intended to visit.

If your device gets infected with viruses and malware its performance suffers and your personal information is at risk so it is best to use the best antivirus protection available.

You’ll need good antivirus software to keep your device protected at all times from cyberattacks. Below are the 5 best antivirus programs for PC, Android, Mac and Chromebook.

1. Norton AntiVirus

Norton is a veteran internet security solutions company that has been providing top virus protection for nearly 3 decades now. It is a  powerful antivirus and has a lot of features including real-time threat protection, a firewall, a password manager, a VPN service and more.

Operating Systems supported: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android

Features : 

1. A wide array of Scan options: Norton provides a lot of scan options including smart scan, quick scan, full system scan, custom scan and Norton insight.

2. Realtime threat protection: Norton provides real-time threat protection from threats like viruses, malware, spyware, ransomware etc.

3. Secure firewall: Its two-way firewall provides security from inbound and outbound internet traffic.

4. Password manager: Norton has a password manager that lets you generate,  store, manage and access your passwords safely.

5. Webcam protection: Norton protects your webcam by monitoring the applications that access your webcam and restricting access to untrusted applications.

6. Norton Secure VPN: Norton provides you with a VPN service to hide your IP address and encrypt your online activities to give you more privacy.

7. Dark web monitoring: Norton constantly monitors the dark web for stolen credit card data or any other stolen personal information.

8. Cloud storage: Norton provides cloud storage to store your data in case of hard drive failure, stolen devices or case of ransomware encrypting your drives.

9. Secure browser: The security solution provides you with a secure browser as well.

10. Ransomware protection: It protects your computer from ransomware attacks.

2. Bitdefender Antivirus 

If you want a powerful antivirus that works silently and doesn’t slow down your computer then Bitdefender would be the right choice for you. It is perhaps the best light antivirus available and it gets the job done. Bitdefender doesn’t interfere with your other applications, has an easy-to-use UI, and performs daily scans without affecting system performance.

Bitdefender provides security for devices on all major platforms like Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS.Currently, there are 5 Bitdefender security solutions available:- Small Office security, Family Pack, Total security, Internet security and Antivirus Plus. Bitdefender Small Office Security protects up to 10 devices. Bitdefender Family pack protects up to 15 devices. Bitdefender total security protects up to 5 devices. Bitdefender Internet Security and Antivirus Plus protect up to 3 devices.

Operating Systems supported: Windows, Mac, Android, iOS

Features:

1. Advanced Firewall: Bitdefender’s firewall blocks any unauthorized inbound and outbound connection attempts on local networks and the internet.

2. Advanced ransomware protection: Bitdefender has advanced ransomware protection. It prevents ransomware attacks and automatically restores files encrypted by ransomware without having to pay the ransom.

3. Oneclick optimizer: Bitdefender’s One click optimizer tool runs all known system optimization methods to free up disk space by deleting duplicate files, and old and broken files and gets your computer up to speed.

4. Secure web browser: It has a hardened secure web browser for safe online payments.

5. Password manager: Bitdefender has a multiplatform password manager that lets you manage and store all your online passwords.

6. VPN service: Bitdefender provides you with a VPN service with the free version allowing up to 200 MB per day.

7. Parental controls: Bitdefender lets you set parental control for your devices so you can monitor your kid's online activities, filter out inappropriate content and limit screen time. This feature is available for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices with certain limitations depending on the system.

8. Webcam and microphone protection: Bitdefender blocks any untrusted programs trying to access your device camera or microphone.

9. Anti-theft protection for Windows and Android: It has anti-theft protection for Windows and Android.

10. Anti-phishing protection: Bitdefender protects you from phishing scams.

11. Safepay: Bitdefender provides a secure, encrypted browser window for online banking and shopping.

12. Bitdefender Wi-Fi Security Advisor: Bitdefender Wi-Fi Security Advisor monitors the following networks: Home Wi-Fi, Office Wi-Fi, and Public Wi-Fi so you can safely access the web without any worry.

13. Vulnerability analysis: This feature scans for security holes and vulnerabilities in your system and warns you about them.

3. McAfee AntiVirus

While being a bit more expensive than others McAfee makes up for it by providing a plethora of features for its users including a strong firewall, a smart VPN  service, performance optimisation tools, a file shredder, a password manager and other features, making it a good antivirus to use.

Operating Systems supported: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS

1. Firewall and Wi-Fi network protection: McAfee’s firewall and Wi-Fi network protection lets you block hackers from accessing your home network by monitoring all incoming and outgoing network traffic.

2. Anti-phishing protection: McAfee provides antispam protection by filtering out emails that appear to be from unsafe sources or can be used for phishing scams.

3. Virtual private network (VPN): McAfee Smart VPN turns on automatically on insecure networks. The VPN uses the same encryption technology that banks use. It protects your identity online so you can surf the internet in peace.

4. Performance optimization: McAfee lets you optimize your PC by removing junk files, unneeded programs temporary files. It also removes unnecessary background processes and programs providing improved PC performance and faster startup.

5. Password manager: McAfee has a password manager that lets you securely store your passwords and generate strong passwords, storing and filling them where needed for a faster login using just a single password.

6. Parental controls: McAfee has a parental control feature that offers reliable protection for your children while they browse the web so that you can have peace of mind.

7. Identity theft protection: MacAfee has a pretty strong identity theft protection suite.

8. File shredder: There’s a file shredder if you want to quickly erase your files safely without recovery.

4. Avira

Operating Systems supported: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Chromebook

Avira has been rated Advanced + as per AV comparatives, the site’s highest rating. This antivirus software will protect you from all types of threats and is one of the top-rated antivirus that provide the best malware protection possible.

It contains many useful features a good antivirus should;  like real-time protection, a virus scanner, a quarantine folder for suspicious files, a software updater and a Firewall making it one of the best computer virus protection software money can buy.

Virus scanning:  Aviras web protection components protect you from online threats like malicious website viruses. It has a cloud-based antivirus engine. It compares your files to its online database and runs heuristic analysis. Due to its cloud-based virus scanner, it takes the load off of your system and your computer system doesn’t have to analyze your files on its own.

1. Multiple scan options: Avira provides a lot of scan options like Full system scan, Quick scan, Rootkit scan, Hard drive scan, Removable drives scan, Local drive scan, My Documents scan etc.

2. Web protection: Aviras browser protection extension works well to protect you against phishing sites, and block ads and online trackers. The extension is available for Google Chrome, Firefox and Opera.

3. Firewall:  Avira lets you use the Windows firewall through its easy-to-use user interface which makes things easier.

4. Quarantine: If Avira sees a file as a threat it encrypts it and sends it to the quarantine folder where it stays indefinitely until the user restores it or deletes it. You have to manually delete the files from the quarantine folder. Only restore a file if you are sure it is a false positive.

5. Virtual private network (VPN): There is Avira’s free VPN with a 500 MB per month cap. To get more data you’ll have to upgrade your plan.

6. Password Manager: Avira comes with a free extension called Password Manager. Automatically logs you into your online accounts, Generates strong, unique passwords and securely stores them.

 It also checks for weak or reused passwords in the pro versions. Apart from that, the password manager notifies you if an online account has been hacked. This password manager works on Google Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Opera.

7. Safe Shopping: Avira’s safe shopping extension lets you shop online securely. It enables you to avoid scam sites and being tracked. You can even compare product prices using the extension on browsers like Google Chrome, Opera, and Microsoft Edge.

8. File Shredder: You can safely erase all your data securely without it getting restored by someone else using Avira’s file shredder.

9. Performance optimisation tools: Avira's performance optimizer optimizes your PC performance by deleting old and unwanted junk files.

Avira also includes features like battery Saver and driver Updater in its software package. This plus all the important security features it has makes Avira one of the all-rounded PC safety solutions there is.

5. Avast

Operating Systems supported: Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS.

Avast is one of the premier antivirus solutions out there.  Although the premium options are much preferable, the free version is pretty great in terms of features compared to what other companies are providing in their free version. Avast has features like Virus scanning, a firewall, web protection, and a VPN service included in its Avast One program. The features are described in detail below:

1. Virus Scanning: It has a lot of scanning options such as:

• Smart Scan: A comprehensive scan that detects malware, out-of-date software, browser add-ons with poor reputations, network threats, and performance issues.

• Full Virus Scan: A predefined, in-depth scan of your system that checks your storage drives and memory for malware (including rootkits).

• Targeted Scan: Scans the folders you select when you initiate the scan.

• Boot-Time Scan: Scans your PC during the next system startup before any malware is launched. Running a Boot-Time Scan during startup improves the chances of detecting and removing malware before it can attack your PC.

• Custom scans: Scan your PC according to the parameters that you specified for your scan.

• Explorer Scan: Scans specific files or folders directly from your desktop via File Explorer.

2. Firewall: Avast provides a great firewall which monitors incoming and outgoing network traffic and blocks network attacks efficiently.

3. Virtual private network (VPN):  Avast One comes with Avast Secureline VPN. SecureLine VPN  provides decent download speeds and a sufficient amount of server locations(700 servers as of now) Avast free version has a VPN included although it is limited up to 5 GB/week. 

4. Web protection: Avast provides great protection against phishing attacks.

5. Ransomware protection: Avast provides anti-ransomware protection and lets you protect your personal photos and files from being encrypted by hackers.

6. Bank mode: It requires you to download a free Avast secure browser. It protects your passwords, credit card information, and other data.
7. Identity theft protection: Avast provides identity theft protection for its users and monitors the internet for stolen personal data.
8. Avast Rescue Disk: The Avast rescue disk feature lets you make a bootable antivirus program. Using it you can scan a hard drive without the need to start up the computer.
9. PC speedup tools: Avast provides PC optimizer tools like Junk Cleaner, PC speed-up tools to speed up your PC, driver updater, and software updater. Avast also provides an email shield, data shredder, webcam protection, and tracker prevention tools.

So these were the 5 most recommended antivirus with their features explained in detail. You can now choose the one that works for you best. You should also make it a habit to stop visiting unsafe websites, and downloading programs from untrusted sources that can potentially harm your computer.

Always use genuine software and keep your operating system and other software up to date. Remember that incorporating safe internet browsing habits and choosing a good antivirus will go a long way to improve your data security and give you the peace of mind you deserve. Remember, Safety is a habit!