The 7 best free antivirus software products for Windows 10
You don’t need to go out and buy the most expensive software to protect your computer from viruses. Sometimes the best antivirus software is free and can outperform the most well-known brands. You need to find antivirus software that will protect your computer from the latest viruses out there. If you use your desktop, laptop, or tablet for casual web browsing, online banking, school, social media, running a website, or to run your business you need to protect your computer and data from harmful viruses, malware, and other malicious activity.
We’ve examined and compiled a list of the top free antivirus software for Windows 10 that can help you browse safer and remain virus-free.
Windows Defender
Windows Defender is basically Microsoft Security, which is a free antivirus software Microsoft began offering to Windows 7 users and now comes with all Windows 10 machines. This program is already up and running on new Windows 10 machines and scans programs and downloads and presents a user interface to see detailed scans. This software is not a one-size-fits-all solution, and not the best free antivirus software, but should be thought of as a stepping stone before you layer up your security.
AV-TEST rated Windows Defender just 3.5 out of 6 stars out of a recent test and comparison with other antivirus software earlier this year even though it caught 99% of widespread and prevalent malware. This doesn’t mean Windows Defender is bad, it just means it is moderate relative to other top-performing antivirus programs in its class.
Sophos Home
This is an excellent antivirus for anti-phishing and malicious URL blocking. Sophos offers a simple interface and offers strong remote monitoring and management and works with both Windows and Mac systems. Sophos has historically targeted business users and has recently released Sophos Home for the everyday consumer. In June 2016, AV-TEST gave Sophos Mobile Security a perfect score and rated it the best antivirus software for Android after passing a test where over 3,000 samples were detected. Sophos also offers a cloud control panel to manage all your devices from a single compact interface.
Panda Free Antivirus
This antivirus software offers excellent protection from viruses but also includes USB and process monitoring. USB protection prevents apps from automatically running when you plug in a USB device. Panda analyzes the USB file contents for malware before it even gets a chance to reach your machine. Process monitoring offers a simple interface with easy to read scan results. The interface displays how many processes were executed, medium and high threat level files, and blocked files. These two features make Panda Free Antivirus a unique program as many others do not offer a USB contents scan.
Avast! Pro
One of the older and more established products is Avast! Pro, which was one of the first free antivirus software programs offered in 2001. This software offers a range of useful functions, good detection ratings, and 24/7 phone support. One of the bonus features of this product is that it will analyze your computer’s applications for updates. Attackers typically know that users do not maintain their software regularly for the latest versions so they tend to attack previous versions. Through this feature, you are reminded to keep your applications up to date to improve security.
AVG Antivirus
AVG is another well-known company that has been offering free antivirus for several years. AVG’s Zen application displays the status of each device you have the software installed on since it is available for PC, Android, and Mac systems so managing your antivirus across each device is a useful feature. You can perform manual and scheduled antivirus scans with LinkScanner that checks for malicious sites known for malicious content. AVG also scans for apps that attempt to steal personal information. AVG also includes an email scanner that checks for malicious attachments.
Bitdefender Antivirus
This software constantly scans and destroys malware to protect against identity theft. The safety features in Bitdefender are easy to use and track. When AV-TEST used over 20,000 malware samples against it, Bitdefender detected them all to prevent the spread of malicious programs. Zero-day malware is difficult to detect since it is unknown, however; Bitdefender analyzes files that are similar to others known to contain malicious content in case they contain malicious content as well. This feature makes Bitdefender one of the stronger antivirus protection available.
Avira
Avira is another company that has been around for a while, 30 years to be exact. This product is free for personal use and offers great protection against malicious attacks. When surfing the web, Avira will protect you by preventing you from visiting sites known for malware before it can even get to your computer. Avira’s URL blocking scored 99% on recent tests which surpassed McAfee Antivirus Plus and Symantec Norton Security Premium (both paid programs). The browser protection will mark search results with color-coded icons. A pull down bar at the top of a page in the browser displays the report on the safety of the site and displays the ad count and other trackers it discovered and blocked.
Originally published at www.mywot.com.
