Coroprate antivirus

Well, those features mentioned above are all pretty basic and aren't up the standard of those offered by most of the security suites above. And it probably goes without saying that Defender is only available on Windows PCs - forget protecting your Mac or smartphone - and some features only play nice if you use Edge as your browser. In truth, Avira is probably best known for its Avira Free antivirus option which is among the best out there - see further down this page , but its premium packages should not be sniffed at — especially when you consider the incredible price you can now pay for its Antivirus Pro package.

The interface is smart and the various features — including the free but limited to 1GB monthly VPN — are now better integrated within the UI overall. The caveat here is that the ratings of the antivirus engine from independent test labs are only middling at best — but the app does provide a decent enough level of protection. Upgrading to the Internet Security or Prime plan adds further features like a full password manager, and the Pro version of Software Updater which provides automatic updates for your apps , plus Prime gives you the unlimited usage version of the VPN and mobile app support.

A real bargain. McAfee takes an interesting approach with its security range, as all the offerings are variants of its core Total Protection product, with the main difference being more devices are supported at higher tiers.

McAfee Total Protection Single Device is the entry-level antivirus product, and as the name suggests, it covers one device.

There are also a ton of features on offer, particularly for a baseline product, and even if not all of them are of the highest quality, you get a lot for your money. That includes an intelligent firewall, an integrated TunnelBear -powered VPN with unlimited data, a quality spam filter, secure file vault, and some PC speed-up options. The main stumbling block here is that the antivirus engine itself is not the best out there — although some results from independent test labs come out better than others — but this has to be something of a concern.

Further up the Webroot range, SecureAnywhere Internet Security Plus expands coverage from Windows and Mac PCs to mobile devices, also providing a password manager courtesy of LastPass and covering up to five devices rather than three.

And at the top of the tree is Internet Security Complete which introduces an automatic backup tool with 25GB of secure cloud storage and additional online privacy features.

SecureAnywhere AntiVirus gives you everything you need, really, although Internet Security Plus is our top pick for the most rounded package. Sophos Home Premium covers up to an impressive 10 devices Windows and Mac computers.

Sophos provides capable virus protection, and worked well in passing our own anti-ransomware tests. For the antivirus software on offer — and given the 10 device ceiling — Sophos Home Premium could work out as a great value proposition for those who want to protect multiple computers.

Just note that Sophos no longer offers a long-term free version to new users. You'll see on the website you can download it for free, but that's just a trial version rather than an all-singing all-dancing free antivirus package. We've tested all of the biggest names in internet security, we've found that the very best antivirus software in is Bitdefender.

It's a superb bit of software - from its entry-level Bitdefender Antivirus Plus and its cast-iron malware defenses, excellent threat detection and genuinely value-adding extra features, right up to its all-singing, all-dancing Total Security that adds an array of maintenance tools and can be used to protect your family's computers, tablets and phones.

An antivirus app sits on your device like a guard dog, watching over the entire system and sniffing out any intruders malware , or indeed anything suspicious. In short, it offers real-time defenses against viruses or other threats, which if detected are immediately dealt with, preventing them from carrying out their destructive payload.

As well as this automated protection, you can run manual virus scans whenever you wish. Think of these as the fingerprints of malware, and if something is spotted coming onto your system that has a matching fingerprint, the antivirus leaps into action, quarantining the offender. For more details on this topic, see our full breakdown of exactly how antivirus software works.

The obvious answer is staring you in the face Consult our rankings in this article, which is based on our expert knowledge and thorough, continually updated reviews of the top antivirus players.

That said, obviously you also have to bear in mind your own particular needs. Or at the other end of the scale, maybe you have a large family with a ton of devices to protect, and you need a package to cater for that. Or maybe you want a VPN service as well as antivirus, so a bundled package will save you a lot of money on subscription fees.

In short, our recommendations are here as firm guidance, but modify these appropriately based on your individual requirements. For more thoughts on this, check out our article exploring how to choose the best antivirus. The good news is that the best antivirus products are getting cheaper and cheaper to purchase, and free products are getting more and more effective A good free antivirus — like the ones we recommend on this page below — is a perfectly reasonable option for protecting your PC, with Microsoft Defender now the best we've ever seen it.

That said, premium antivirus programs offer extra features above and beyond the fundamentals. A robust system of parental controls could be a huge win for those with kids, for example. Or a dedicated anti-ransomware layer of protection that only comes with the paid-for product could help catch one of the most dreaded infections and halt it in its tracks.

For more on this, read our full piece on whether free antivirus is enough to protect you. Or just keep scrolling as we reveal today's best free antivirus software providers Paying for a premium service means you get more features like spam filters, parental controls, system scans and advanced firewalls. This makes them more suitable for power users, those who want a bit of extra security and anyone who needs their system to run as smoothly as possible.

It also means you avoid annoying pop-ups that try and tempt you to upgrade to the full version. In fact, these days you can get top quality protection absolutely free, with just about every single major vendor out there offering a free antivirus.

Avira Free Antivirus is today's best free security download If you're determined to get free antivirus, we strongly suggest that you go for our pick of best security downloads - Avira Free Antivirus. We've highlighted its long list of features below, together with information on how well it performs at independent testing labs.

A very impressive freebie. That's pretty good for a freebie, and why we have no qualms at all in naming it as our 1 best free antivirus download. As well as the essential security smarts, we also love the clean, friendly interface and the fact it has a track record of throwing up minimal false positives. In fact, the list of features reads more like a fully paid premium package. It throws in identity protection, a password manager, anti-scam protection to prevent phishing attempts, and even a PC cleaner to keep your system spick and span.

If there's one thing we'd change then it's the tad overeager badgering - although popups and advertisements are very common to free products, and that doesn;t prevent us from wholeheartedly recommending Avira Free Antivirus. Review and where to download: Avira Free Antivirus.

Avast and AVG haven't yet fully merged, despite the former formally acquiring the latter in mid The newly combined company says the two free antivirus products will remain separate, although there's apparently a joint AV package on the way soon.

Obviously, though, Avast now has a lot more data to work with, having expanded its effective userbase and, therefore, its threat detection network to a whopping million users. The latest edition of Avast's free antivirus - now branded Avast One Essential - adds an automatic gaming mode to mute popups and reduce system load when you're firing up a processor-hungry game, which is very handy indeed, and the interface has been given a clean new overhaul.

There's a password manager, too, which is an undeniably good addition to your security portfolio. It scores well on AV-TEST's widespread malware benchmark and continues a clean sweep against 0-day attacks — presumably that expanded detection network is really helping.

Less impressive is the slight negative effect Avast has on software launch times, and its slightly popup-heavy attitude. Review and where to download: Avast Free Antivirus.

Microsoft Defender formerly Windows Defender was generally seen as a bit of a joke in the not-too-distant past.

It performed terribly by most measures and was a good advert for why you should really pay for antivirus. But as we explain further up this article, Microsoft Defender has come on leaps and bounds and can now legitimately be mentioned in the same company as Bitdefender, Norton and Kaspersky.

As well as very solid virus protection, Defender has extra bits and bobs like a ransomware shield, webcam protection, privacy tools and even basic parental controls and cloud backup. And the best bit No need to download a thing, just find it in your menu and get protected straight away.

Read more and see how to use: Microsoft Defender review. The paid-for version of Kaspersky's Windows security software frequently tops charts of best virus prevention solutions and AV-TEST once again gave it full marks across the board in its latest round of testing. Managing the product and all of its activities is done entirely via a single console and agent. Businesses opting for this vendor will get a wide range of features.

Prevention, detection, and response features cover signature and cloud lookup, process monitoring and terminating, access blocking, rollback, and more. With it, business users get file, web, and email protection, a firewall, network attack blocker, ransomware and exploit prevention, vulnerability monitoring, Bluetooth configuration, and cloud discovery.

Controlling and monitoring the entire suite is accomplished via a clean and simple web console managing dashboard. In it, you can also manage camera use, detect compromised devices in the network, control password rules, remotely lock or erase data from lost devices, and filter undesired calls and messages. As mentioned above, Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud supports smartphones and tablets, and two licenses can be issued per each mobile user. Still not convinced?

Webroot Business Endpoint Protection will only take 2MB of your disk space and will carry out all of its operations quietly without encumbering your resources. The cloud-based console allows you to control all the deployments from one place, seamlessly and hassle-free. One of them is an intelligent outbound firewall that augments the built-in Windows firewall to protect users on and off the corporate network.

There is also the Evasion Shield which protects against file-based and fileless script attacks, in addition to blocking malicious behaviors from executing in JavaScript, PowerShell, and similar. Its endpoint protection covers Windows and Mac devices, as well as virtualization, terminal server, and Citrix environments. A day free trial is offered to anyone interested.

F-Secure SAFE offers a firewall, web filtering, protection against viruses, trojans, ransomware, keyloggers, spyware, and so on, helping you stay safe while conducting online business, financial services, or simply browsing. Through your F-Secure account and user-friendly management portal, you can even locate your lost or stolen mobile devices and manage them remotely.

The platform is highly efficient, but we did encounter some false positives during our testing, such as a perfectly legitimate software being flagged as malware on a few occasions. As usual in this business, a day free trial is available to any prospective buyer, who can use it on as many as 3 devices during this time.

We're recommending McAfee Total Protection as our top choice for business antivirus. That's thanks to its rich range of tools and features, excellent administrative controls, and competitive price points. Close behind it are the business antivirus suites from Bitdefender, Norton and Avast. In order to find the right antivirus software for your business, we've put the leg work in. We've assessed each app in this guide, trying them out for size ourselves before we give you the final verdict.

We know if one app's user interface is confusing, or if there's a distinct lack of features that could harm your business. We also understand what makes good antivirus software.

It's not the lowest price despite what your finance department might tell you , or the marketing promises on the website. It's how easy it is to operate, how responsive it is to updates, and how well it does its job, which is protecting you, and your business. One of the best known anti-virus providers out there, McAfee's reputation is far reaching.

Its Total Protection software is a good example of why its offerings are so widely regarded. You may already know McAfee as home security software brand, but the business solution is boosted by an extensive range of protections for companies and their staff. Total Protection comes equipped with other tools to help employees stay safe. This includes actively seeking out ransomware and shutting it down before it can pose a problem, and sniffing out phishing scams that may appear in inboxes.

Of course, McAfee has all the thorough scan options you'd expect, and these can be set by an IT administrator. Individual users can also initiate a quick scan or a more thorough option that will permeate every corner of a computer to hunt down potential viruses.

McAfee's Total Protection package won't suit larger businesses — they should opt for its Endpoint Protection instead. But for smaller companies, it's a smart choice, offering a wide range of features and with a degree of flexibility that your employees will appreciate. It's worth noting that unlike the other solutions in this guide, McAfee Total Protection doesn't have a web portal for controlling your employees protection centrally, which is why we think it's best suited to smaller businesses.

Try McAfee. BitDefender's antivirus business solution is feature rich, with plenty of functionality to discover. This might not suit all businesses — not everyone wants or needs to be able to change every small aspect of their antivirus offering, after all. But, those that do will be more than happy to use the admin settings and custom features offered here. BitDefender GravityZone comes with a powerful central console that offers tool such as website and app blocking, and apply custom securities policies.

GravityZone can even treat users outside the company with a different set of rules, if you want it to. Although it has a rich suite of settings and customizable options, don't worry about this being a high maintenance program. GravityZone is a great product for anyone looking to set up their antivirus and leave it at that.

It runs well as a dependable background shield, without the need to be checked in on regularly. It offers the option for a one, two, or three year subscription, and naturally the price comes down the more time you commit to. If you have a large business, this is a better value prospect than some other antivirus solutions, thanks to its healthy discounts and initial offers.

On paper, BitDefender GravityZone pretty much has it all. This is a feature-rich offering, giving admins and IT staff all the freedom they want to customize setup. But, it also has the autonomy to run in the background and not need much intervention from individual users or admin staff beyond initial settings. The account console offers a powerful tool for controlling your employees' devices in one place, and some of the features can seriously mitigate the chance of your team succumbing to a virus in the first place.

Add to that the competitive price, especially if you're looking to protect multiple users, and it's definitely one to shortlist. Try BitDefender. Norton Small Business is a package that takes a mix and match approach, and the licences can be used to protect various devices, such as laptops, PCs or smartphones.

Norton also offers cloud access, and it's possible to wipe devices remotely should they fall into the wrong hands. This could be five different employees, or the same employee with five different devices, as you're paying by device rather than user. As with other providers, Norton offers discounts with the more cover you need.

While Norton Small Business may be too simplistic for larger businesses, it's a smart choice for smaller companies that want to have full control over the security of their employees' devices.

Not all of the features relate to all devices however — for instance, the remote wipe function only applies to Android devices, while some of the security precautions only apply to PCs and Macs.

If the features you need fit the devices your business runs, however, then Norton Small Business represents a good value choice. Try Norton. Avast's offering comes in two flavors: with or without a management console. This console offers a central point from which to manage the accounts for each device, and is a great way to stay on top of how well your team is protected, although for companies without an IT department, it isn't ideal.

Opt for the version without the console and your employees will be tasked with ensuring that their devices are virus-free themselves. Avast comes with some neat extra features too. We like the shredder function, which can permanently delete information that you don't want shared or seen.

Avast has had some questions to answer recently about how it shares user data , which may give some extra work to your company's legal team before any contracts are entered into. From our view, the brand is perfectly safe and reputable, though it has endured something of a PR black eye in recent months. Like the other packages we've rounded up, the exact pricing depends on how many devices you're looking to protect. Of course, the real savings can be made if you add more devices.

There's no free trial with this package, but should you decide that the service isn't for you, Avast offers a 30 day guarantee. There's no addition cost if you decide to take the management console, but be warned that this can't be added later, so make sure to pick the right one for your business when signing up. Avast Business Antivirus Pro Plus is a good choice for small businesses that are looking for a degree of flexibility, especially those that don't have an IT department, but want a business focused offering rather than a consumer one.

It doesn't have some of the bells and whistles of other packages — for example there's no VPN included here or password manager. But, for a straightforward antivirus package, it's a good bet. Try Avast. Businesses have slightly different needs to personal users when it comes to antivirus software. Whereas a home package might have a user base of one, it's a different story when it comes to juggling multiple business users on one license. You want to make sure that the business software you pick has strong admin features that allow total oversight over the protection of your business devices in one place.

This way, you can ensure that all your staff are protected, and don't have to rely on individuals to update their own security settings. This is especially important when it comes to remote workers, who may be using unsecured wi-fi connections or networks that are outside of your control. You can't always be standing over your employees checking what they're plugging into their laptop or PC.

That's why it's important to opt for a package that automatically scans any external devices the moment they are connected. This mitigates the danger from a USB stick or external drive that may be infected, even if your staff member doesn't realize it. When considering which solution to opt for, it's important to think outside the office.