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The Best Antivirus Protection for 2020
Tempo: Jan. 7, 2020Malware, Spyware, and Adware Protection
"I don't need antivirus," you say. "I just use the computer for email and Facebook and cat videos. I don't keep anything important on it."
You may feel differently when your cat videos start stuttering and lagging because bitcoin miner malware is gobbling up all your PC's resources.
Your friends and correspondents may object when a Trojan takes over your email and social media and starts disseminating dangerous links.
And if a disk-encrypting ransomware attack hits your "do-nothing" computer, you really will do nothing with it. Antivirus protection is a necessity.
We call it antivirus, but in truth it's unlikely you'll get hit with an actual computer virus. Malware these days is about making money, and there's no
easy way to cash in on spreading a virus. Ransomware and data-stealing Trojans are much more common, as are bots that let the bot-herder rent out your
computer for nefarious purposes. Modern antivirus utilities handle Trojans, rootkits, spyware, adware, ransomware, and more.
Best Antivirus Protection
Bitdefender Antivirus Plus
Pros: Multi-layered ransomware protection. Active Do Not Track. Password manager. Banking protection.
Offers a virtual private network, or VPN. Many security-centered bonus features.
Cons: Unlimited VPN access requires separate subscription. With all real-time protection disabled,
ransomware-specific features missed one uncommon sample.
Pros: Perfect and near-perfect scores from independent testing labs. Perfect score in r phishing protection test. Good scores in
malware-blocking and malicious URL blocking tests. Full-scale phone and live chat support.
Cons: Bonus scans significantly overlap each other.
McAfee AntiVirus Plus
Pros: Protection for every Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS device in your household. Good scores in hands-on tests.
Excellent score in antiphishing test. Includes Ransom Guard ransomware protection, PC Boost, and many bonus features.
Cons: Ransom Guard missed several real-world ransomware samples. PC Boost web speedup still works only in Chrome.
Very slow full scan on Windows. Mac edition less feature-rich than Windows or Android. Still fewer features for iOS.
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