We all (should) know that browsing the web and opening emails can present a security threat to our computers. Knowledgeable users take pride in practicing safe web browsing habits like not opening emails or attachments from unknown senders or downloading and installing applications from untrusted sources. However, even with these safe habits, even the most cautious users could still have their custom computer infected with a virus.
There are many anti-virus programs and companies out there, but they aren’t all the same. Some actively monitor your web traffic and activity and let you know if a website you’re visiting isn’t safe or if something you’re downloading is suspect. Others simply periodically scan your computer looking for malicious programs. The best ones do both.
There are other differences, too. Some anti-virus programs use up too many resources, and thus may reduce the performance of your custom PC more than a computer virus would! This is common with the big-name AV programs like Norton and McAfee.
There are free anti-virus (AV) utilities, and there are those with a yearly subscription. In general, the free and paid products will have about the same performance in terms of catching infections. The paid anti-virus programs, however, offer more features, like spam filters, and opening sensitive applications like banking in a separate desktop so other programs won’t be able to access the passwords. Also, paid AV programs will be better at warning you about possible dangers with newly-created malware, while the free ones would need to wait for the offending script to be added to their database of viruses.
So which are the best ones? For free antivirus programs I recommend AVG AntiVirus Free and Panda Free Antivirus. These two are great at protecting your PC from viruses, and will even beat all but the top paid antiviruses! You can’t get much better bang for your buck.
If you’re willing to pay for an anti-virus, you’ll get peace of mind and solid protection. Expect to pay around $20-$40 per year. In terms of paid AV solutions I recommend Kaspersky Antivirus, Bitdefender Antivirus Plus, or Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus. These each have stellar virus protection performance, as measured by independent labs. However, they all have unique special features. Kaspersky has an on-screen keyboard for entering passwords so that even hardware key loggers can’t capture your passwords. Bitdefender has a unique ransomware protection features. These types of attacks work by encrypting the files on your computer and demand a payment in bitcoin.
Whichever one you choose, installing an antivirus should be the first thing you do when you open up a new computer.
There are many anti-virus programs and companies out there, but they aren’t all the same. Some actively monitor your web traffic and activity and let you know if a website you’re visiting isn’t safe or if something you’re downloading is suspect. Others simply periodically scan your computer looking for malicious programs. The best ones do both.
There are other differences, too. Some anti-virus programs use up too many resources, and thus may reduce the performance of your custom PC more than a computer virus would! This is common with the big-name AV programs like Norton and McAfee.
There are free anti-virus (AV) utilities, and there are those with a yearly subscription. In general, the free and paid products will have about the same performance in terms of catching infections. The paid anti-virus programs, however, offer more features, like spam filters, and opening sensitive applications like banking in a separate desktop so other programs won’t be able to access the passwords. Also, paid AV programs will be better at warning you about possible dangers with newly-created malware, while the free ones would need to wait for the offending script to be added to their database of viruses.
So which are the best ones? For free antivirus programs I recommend AVG AntiVirus Free and Panda Free Antivirus. These two are great at protecting your PC from viruses, and will even beat all but the top paid antiviruses! You can’t get much better bang for your buck.
If you’re willing to pay for an anti-virus, you’ll get peace of mind and solid protection. Expect to pay around $20-$40 per year. In terms of paid AV solutions I recommend Kaspersky Antivirus, Bitdefender Antivirus Plus, or Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus. These each have stellar virus protection performance, as measured by independent labs. However, they all have unique special features. Kaspersky has an on-screen keyboard for entering passwords so that even hardware key loggers can’t capture your passwords. Bitdefender has a unique ransomware protection features. These types of attacks work by encrypting the files on your computer and demand a payment in bitcoin.
Whichever one you choose, installing an antivirus should be the first thing you do when you open up a new computer.