Best PC Security Software

[24oz]

I use Eset Nod32 and MalwareBytes no problems in 6 years.

 

[rajangel]

Comodo here, sandbox is my savior.

 

[Guest]

This article sucks! Its just a big commercial. Just use MSE. Its free, lightweight, and works well. I have been running it on four computers that are always online, being used every day for hours a day by half a dozen people for years and zero problems of any kind. Some people just love to burn money. Probably a lot of placebo effect or fan boy also.

 

[XGrabMyY]

The only thing in this obvious sponsored article that is worth a damn is Bitdefender. The rest is bloatware, and will do more harm to system performance than help.That said if you are a private user and not in an enterprise setting or don't have less educated family accessing your PC you will be more than fine with MS Security Essentials.

 

[edogawa]

Look guys, everyone has a different opinions and preferences, so use what you feel most comfortable with.My preferences are Malwarebytes with either Norton 360 or Bitdefender. I have not had an infection on my personal computers since the days of Windows XP, and I am a heavy internet users, so those are my picks.

 

[pjmelect]

I agree Tom must have been paid to recommend Norton and McAfee, the software has not improved, its just that computers have become more powerful over the years and can now run the software without significantly slowing down. The only thing that has improved is the uninstall program. Apart from the performance issue my other objection to Norton and McAfee is that the computer becomes controlled by the anti-virus program and not by you.I use Microsoft Security Essentials because it is hassle free, few false positives, light on system resources, free and leaves you in control of the computer.

 

[Drejeck]

Had NOD32 for years, never got infected since the first day.I'm gonna give a shot at Bitdefender. Just curious to see how good it is. I manage parental control and access via router which restricts everyone.

 

[Captain Caveman]

I have used norton, bitdefender, kis, mcafee, various free options on various laptops, workstations and gaming rigs over the years, for what it counts for me norton comes out on top

 

[RCguitarist]

I was turned onto Avast about a year ago and love it. Lightweight load on my system and great protection. I use that plus MS security essentials. I feel that I am well protected.

 

[Haravikk]

I've been using the free version of Avast! for a few months now on all my machines (Macs and PCs) and I'm pretty happy with it. The Windows version does a lot more to push the premium version of the product, but you can shut off most of those messages, at which point the protection is offers is just fine IMO, combined with Windows Firewall if you think you need one enabled (i.e - if your router won't do it, or you don't trust your wireless network enough).

 

[Pherule]

The best way to prevent viruses is a good HIPS defense. Try Online Armor. Takes a few days to get it to learn your rules and to stop asking you to allow/deny, but now viruses have to ask permission to run, even if they try to run in stealth mode in the background. Stack this with a good AV and Malwarebytes, and you're good to go.

 

[alancarru]

Sorry as an IT Professional and having tried and tested all brands of 'Security Solutions' and testing them each year, we are currently using Kaspersky IS having used McAfee (Mcrapee) previously, which let us down drastically on the Malware front. For home use: #1 BitDefender TS, #2 Norton 360 and #3 Kaspersky Pure should be your only considerations. Try reading more that one article before making a decision and those that say anything bad about Norton's recent products clearly don't know what they are taking about. Anyone calling themselves an 'IT Professional' and then claiming that 'Norton is a bad product' because they used it some years ago is talking nonsense and is clearly not an IT Professional. Personally for home use I use Norton 360 (which is not Norton Anti-Virus, but the full software suite) and I've never had any problems at all and I browse a lot of let's say 'sites where if you're not protected adequately then you're certainly going to end up with a lot of nasties on your computer'!!! Oh year I work for a government organisation and my Professional Qualifications include: CompTIA (A+, Network+ and Security+), CCNA, CCNP and MSCE - so I can certainly say I'm an 'IT Professional' unlike some of those making previous comments, unless you can call yourself an 'IT Professional' these days for having some self learnt knowledge/experience. Final words - just because I've listed the above three products at this moment in time, doesn't mean that in 12 months that this will be the same. Things constantly change on the security front and security software packages can live or die on their next release so when you're about to renew always read as many reviews as you can before making the decision on whether to renew your existing product or change to another. That being said the about 3 listed products have been in the top 5 for the last 3+ years - so that's a good sign.

 

[egilbe]

I can't count the number of companies I've seen that were using Norton and got hit with the crypto-locker virus. I've seen grown men cry after realizing their company was going to be shut down while got rid of the virus and rolled back everything to before the virus struck. Education is better than any crappy antivirus.

 

[falchard]

I think those are the only anti-virus used in the test if you read the article. I think its clear to see they were all crap and BitDefender stood atop them all. Is MSE and ESET the best antivirus still? Most likely.

 

[falchard]

Most antivirus offer sufficient protection, no anti-virus will stop someone clicking on something they should not which is what causes the majority of malware issues.For what it is worth I would take Anti-Virus 2014 over Norton Anti-Virus. For those of you who don't get the joke, never install Anti-Virus 2014.

 

[wdmfiber]

I can't count the number of companies I've seen that were using Norton and got hit with the crypto-locker virus. I've seen grown men cry after realizing their company was going to be shut down while got rid of the virus and rolled back everything to before the virus struck. Education is better than any crappy antivirus.

When thou? All PC's were at risk last year when that virus was new and the anti-virus companies had no signature for it. But its nasty viruses like cryptolocker that are the reason for a Norton subscription or a well funded competitor(PAID subscription). You need the quick response of a team of software engineers; as sometimes every minute can count. $90 dollars is nothing compared to the mental pain & financial cost of crypto.http/www.symantec.com/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2013-091122-3112-99&tabid=2

 

[pjmelect]

Sorry as an IT Professional and having tried and tested all brands of 'Security Solutions' and testing them each year, we are currently using Kaspersky IS having used McAfee (Mcrapee) previously, which let us down drastically on the Malware front. For home use: #1 BitDefender TS, #2 Norton 360 and #3 Kaspersky Pure should be your only considerations. Try reading more that one article before making a decision and those that say anything bad about Norton's recent products clearly don't know what they are taking about. Anyone calling themselves an 'IT Professional' and then claiming that 'Norton is a bad product' because they used it some years ago is talking nonsense and is clearly not an IT Professional. Personally for home use I use Norton 360 (which is not Norton Anti-Virus, but the full software suite) and I've never had any problems at all and I browse a lot of let's say 'sites where if you're not protected adequately then you're certainly going to end up with a lot of nasties on your computer'!!! Oh year I work for a government organisation and my Professional Qualifications include: CompTIA (A+, Network+ and Security+), CCNA, CCNP and MSCE - so I can certainly say I'm an 'IT Professional' unlike some of those making previous comments, unless you can call yourself an 'IT Professional' these days for having some self learnt knowledge/experience. Final words - just because I've listed the above three products at this moment in time, doesn't mean that in 12 months that this will be the same. Things constantly change on the security front and security software packages can live or die on their next release so when you're about to renew always read as many reviews as you can before making the decision on whether to renew your existing product or change to another. That being said the about 3 listed products have been in the top 5 for the last 3+ years - so that's a good sign.

 

[rocknrollz]

I'd appreciate a [Sponsored] wording in the title so we know what articles are being sponsored and what aren't. Not that I don't understand the value of being sponsored, because without them sites like these would not exist. But a warning goes a long way in creating more trust with your user base. Just a thought.

 

[pjmelect]

Sorry as an IT Professional and having tried and tested all brands of 'Security Solutions' and testing them each year, we are currently using Kaspersky IS having used McAfee (Mcrapee) previously, which let us down drastically on the Malware front. For home use: #1 BitDefender TS, #2 Norton 360 and #3 Kaspersky Pure should be your only considerations. Try reading more that one article before making a decision and those that say anything bad about Norton's recent products clearly don't know what they are taking about. Anyone calling themselves an 'IT Professional' and then claiming that 'Norton is a bad product' because they used it some years ago is talking nonsense and is clearly not an IT Professional. Personally for home use I use Norton 360 (which is not Norton Anti-Virus, but the full software suite) and I've never had any problems at all and I browse a lot of let's say 'sites where if you're not protected adequately then you're certainly going to end up with a lot of nasties on your computer'!!! Oh year I work for a government organisation and my Professional Qualifications include: CompTIA (A+, Network+ and Security+), CCNA, CCNP and MSCE - so I can certainly say I'm an 'IT Professional' unlike some of those making previous comments, unless you can call yourself an 'IT Professional' these days for having some self learnt knowledge/experience. Final words - just because I've listed the above three products at this moment in time, doesn't mean that in 12 months that this will be the same. Things constantly change on the security front and security software packages can live or die on their next release so when you're about to renew always read as many reviews as you can before making the decision on whether to renew your existing product or change to another. That being said the about 3 listed products have been in the top 5 for the last 3+ years - so that's a good sign.

Sorry as an IT Professional and having tried and tested all brands of 'Security Solutions' and testing them each year, we are currently using Kaspersky IS having used McAfee (Mcrapee) previously, which let us down drastically on the Malware front. For home use: #1 BitDefender TS, #2 Norton 360 and #3 Kaspersky Pure should be your only considerations. Try reading more that one article before making a decision and those that say anything bad about Norton's recent products clearly don't know what they are taking about. Anyone calling themselves an 'IT Professional' and then claiming that 'Norton is a bad product' because they used it some years ago is talking nonsense and is clearly not an IT Professional. Personally for home use I use Norton 360 (which is not Norton Anti-Virus, but the full software suite) and I've never had any problems at all and I browse a lot of let's say 'sites where if you're not protected adequately then you're certainly going to end up with a lot of nasties on your computer'!!! Oh year I work for a government organisation and my Professional Qualifications include: CompTIA (A+, Network+ and Security+), CCNA, CCNP and MSCE - so I can certainly say I'm an 'IT Professional' unlike some of those making previous comments, unless you can call yourself an 'IT Professional' these days for having some self learnt knowledge/experience. Final words - just because I've listed the above three products at this moment in time, doesn't mean that in 12 months that this will be the same. Things constantly change on the security front and security software packages can live or die on their next release so when you're about to renew always read as many reviews as you can before making the decision on whether to renew your existing product or change to another. That being said the about 3 listed products have been in the top 5 for the last 3+ years - so that's a good sign.

Sorry as an IT Professional and having tried and tested all brands of 'Security Solutions' and testing them each year, we are currently using Kaspersky IS having used McAfee (Mcrapee) previously, which let us down drastically on the Malware front. For home use: #1 BitDefender TS, #2 Norton 360 and #3 Kaspersky Pure should be your only considerations. Try reading more that one article before making a decision and those that say anything bad about Norton's recent products clearly don't know what they are taking about. Anyone calling themselves an 'IT Professional' and then claiming that 'Norton is a bad product' because they used it some years ago is talking nonsense and is clearly not an IT Professional. Personally for home use I use Norton 360 (which is not Norton Anti-Virus, but the full software suite) and I've never had any problems at all and I browse a lot of let's say 'sites where if you're not protected adequately then you're certainly going to end up with a lot of nasties on your computer'!!! Oh year I work for a government organisation and my Professional Qualifications include: CompTIA (A+, Network+ and Security+), CCNA, CCNP and MSCE - so I can certainly say I'm an 'IT Professional' unlike some of those making previous comments, unless you can call yourself an 'IT Professional' these days for having some self learnt knowledge/experience. Final words - just because I've listed the above three products at this moment in time, doesn't mean that in 12 months that this will be the same. Things constantly change on the security front and security software packages can live or die on their next release so when you're about to renew always read as many reviews as you can before making the decision on whether to renew your existing product or change to another. That being said the about 3 listed products have been in the top 5 for the last 3+ years - so that's a good sign.

I am a IT professional and I have tried the latest versions of Norton and McAfee, It is the computers performance that has improved over the years not the performance of these programs. Although as an anti virus program they are effective, they are to intrusive and prone to false positives. Under no circumstances would I recommend these programs.

 

[pjmelect]

Sorry as an IT Professional and having tried and tested all brands of 'Security Solutions' and testing them each year, we are currently using Kaspersky IS having used McAfee (Mcrapee) previously, which let us down drastically on the Malware front. For home use: #1 BitDefender TS, #2 Norton 360 and #3 Kaspersky Pure should be your only considerations. Try reading more that one article before making a decision and those that say anything bad about Norton's recent products clearly don't know what they are taking about. Anyone calling themselves an 'IT Professional' and then claiming that 'Norton is a bad product' because they used it some years ago is talking nonsense and is clearly not an IT Professional. Personally for home use I use Norton 360 (which is not Norton Anti-Virus, but the full software suite) and I've never had any problems at all and I browse a lot of let's say 'sites where if you're not protected adequately then you're certainly going to end up with a lot of nasties on your computer'!!! Oh year I work for a government organisation and my Professional Qualifications include: CompTIA (A+, Network+ and Security+), CCNA, CCNP and MSCE - so I can certainly say I'm an 'IT Professional' unlike some of those making previous comments, unless you can call yourself an 'IT Professional' these days for having some self learnt knowledge/experience. Final words - just because I've listed the above three products at this moment in time, doesn't mean that in 12 months that this will be the same. Things constantly change on the security front and security software packages can live or die on their next release so when you're about to renew always read as many reviews as you can before making the decision on whether to renew your existing product or change to another. That being said the about 3 listed products have been in the top 5 for the last 3+ years - so that's a good sign.

I am a IT professional and I have tried the latest versions of Norton and McAfee, It is the computers performance that has improved over the years not the performance of these programs. Although as an anti virus program they are effective, they are to intrusive and prone to false positives. Under no circumstances would I recommend these programs.I think the target market for these programs is a naive computer user who knows no better and needs maximum protection and hand holding