Which Antivirus to Choose
A good antivirus is indispensable, as it minimizes the risk of infection and saves you hours of research and procedures to clean up the mess caused by an attack, not to mention the losses and damage it can cause!
Malware, phishing scams, ransomware, DDoS – these are just a handful of the threats lurking on the Internet, and an antivirus is the ideal solution to combat malware and other techniques used by cybercriminals.
Before you start, you should know that there’s no such thing as the best antivirus for everyone, nor is there such a thing as an invulnerable antivirus. But rest assured, there are some excellent security software packages out there that may be right for you, depending on your hardware and operating system.
So the question is: How do I choose the best antivirus for me?
The most important criteria for choosing the right antivirus software.
Choosing the right antivirus!
When it comes to choosing the best security software for you personally, there are a number of things you should check before you decide:
1. Checking your system :
Make sure your system has enough processor power and RAM to run the antivirus software, so as not to turn your security into a nightmare.
2. Threat detection rates and real-time protection:
Despite the fact that signature-based solutions are not perfect, they are important, especially now that antivirus vendors are including more and more modules to complement their bases, so make sure that the security program you covet has a good detection rate and real-time protection security.
3. Script blocking and behavior blocker:
Now, most malware is zero-day, so other layers of security are needed to counter this vulnerability. It is of course possible to install more software to cover all weak points, but it will be much nicer to have a single piece of software that will protect you completely.
So make sure the antivirus you want to install has a decent Behavior Blocker to scan in the background all files that try to create, modify, delete or anything else on your system.
4. Malware removal:
Do a few Google searches to make sure your AV is capable of effectively removing and disinfecting all malware.
And if you choose a free antivirus, make sure you don’t have to pay for disinfection!
5. Protection against ransomware :
Make sure your antivirus suite has good protection against ransomware, although good behavior blockers should be effective, an extra layer of security is not superfluous to avoid the danger in question.
6. Other modules of interest include :
File Shredder, DNS Protection, Password Manager, Phishing Protection, Anti-Spam, Browser Protection.
Now let’s talk about firewalls:
A firewall really is a must-have for being connected to the Internet and, Windows’ built-in firewall is always a good option, but, if you’re considering paying for an Internet security suite, make sure it includes a decent firewall that’s worth disabling Windows’ own.
Some antivirus software can filter and analyze your Internet traffic to detect incoming threats before they reach your device, and many security software packages include great firewalls, such as Norton or Panda.
So don’t forget to do your research before using a new firewall!
Now let’s take a look at what not to do:
1. Don’t rely too much on comparative tests and other articles extolling the virtues of this or that antivirus, because even if some of them are accurate, they don’t take your system into account, so it’s important to do a bit of research on your own to get a personal feel for the product you’re interested in.
2. Don’t rely 100% on a single test and, if you’re not ready to do your own testing, look for recent tests that might represent your system.
3. Most of you already know this, but avoid using multiple software packages with the same objective, because two or more AV suites or software packages with the same objective – say, two firewalls – won’t give you any more protection, and there’s a good chance that this will end up in excessive CPU and RAM usage, or in software incompatibility that will result in disabled components and thus, on the contrary, a security hole!
If the one you like doesn’t have all the modules you want, don’t forget that you can combine several programs to obtain optimum protection and optimized working comfort!
Who do we recommend?
For those who don’t know where to start, here’s a short list of what I consider to be the most interesting complete (all-in-one) antivirus programs at the time of writing:
1. 
Panda’s antivirus will provide you with ultra-complete protection including antivirus, firewall, Wi-Fi protection against hackers, anti-malware, anti-ransomware, behavior blocker, script blocker, anti-phishing, password manager, file shredder, VPN, …
Simple to use and resource-efficient, it offers excellent real-time protection and high clean-up and restore capabilities!
Click here to see Panda’s AV offer!
2. 
Norton 360 antivirus provides comprehensive protection, including virus blocker, firewall, malware blocker, ransomware blocker, behavior blocker, phishing blocker, script blocker, password manager…
Easy to configure and use, it’s not too resource-hungry, offers excellent real-time protection and high cleanup and restore capabilities!
Click here to see the Norton 360 AV offer!
3. 
Emsisoft Anti-Malware provides comprehensive protection, including antivirus, anti-malware, anti-ransomware, behavior blocker, anti-PUP and more.
It’s intuitive to use and very resource-efficient, offering excellent real-time protection and high clean-up and restore capabilities, but is best used in combination with the Windows firewall!
Click here to see Emsisoft’s AV offer!
And without getting too paranoid, it’s a good idea to install the essential “Malwarebytes” anti-malware program as a complement to your antivirus!
Available as a free version for manual scanning once or twice a month, or as a pro version for even more real-time security!
Click here to see the Malwarebytes Anti-Malware offer!
You may also be interested in the following articles:
How to protect yourself from scams :
This article will show you the essential points to follow in order to avoid most of the various online frauds and scams!
See the article “How to protect yourself from scams”.
How to secure WordPress :
This article will take you through some simple but essential criteria to keep your WordPress Blog safe from hackers!
See the article “How to secure WordPress”.
WordPress Specialized Hosting :
This article will introduce you to a number of specialized WordPress hosting solutions capable of boosting the speed of WP blogs!
See “WordPress Specialized Hosting” article
Which autoresponder to choose :
This article will help you discover the most important points to consider when choosing an autoresponder!
See “Which autoresponder to choose” article
