Today’s virtual world is full of threats. That is why choosing an anti-virus software is a very important moment in protecting your computer, yourself and your data.

In the current digital world, no one is safe from all kinds of threats. In all seriousness, every time you connect to the Internet, you make yourself a target for attacks. But then what to do, how to be? The answer is prosaic. Just as in real life you need to be very careful about your security, you need to do the same in virtual life. To do this, you will need anti-virus software.

When choosing an antivirus program everyone is sure to have the following questions:

• Which antivirus should I choose: paid or free?
• Will the built-in anti-virus in my operating system be enough?
• Will free antivirus provide the maximum level of protection?

Paid antivirus

A lot of people, remembering the proverb about free cheese, try to protect their computer with paid antivirus software. When you pay money for antivirus, you get a virus protection module, a fraud protection module, and a firewall. Also, depending on the software developer, you may get network protection and account control, a feature to back up your data and create restore points. Also, companies are better at supporting the products they pay money for. It looks good, you’ll agree. But, you will have to pay quite a bit of money (about $100) per year for the whole protection package.

But it is worth noting that companies now offer a very flexible pricing policy for their products. Thus, in most cases, you can choose only the antivirus functionality you need. Additionally, the price of an anti-virus program depends on how many computers you want to install it on (the more computers you want to protect, the more expensive the license will cost). You can also often find today a loyalty program that allows you to save money by using an anti-virus for a certain brand for a long time. Today the best choice among paid anti-viruses are ESET Smart Security, Kaspersky Anti-Virus, Dr.Web.

Pros

• Comprehensive protection from all types of threats.
• One interface to access all features.
• Prompt security updates from all threats.

Cons

• The price for an annual subscription can be very high.
• Some antivirus software modules can consume a lot of computer resources.

Free antivirus software

If you want to qualitatively protect your computer from threats, you don’t always need to buy an expensive antivirus software license. So, your operating system right out of the box already has a basic set of protection against viruses. For example, Windows 10 already comes with a built-in antivirus – Windows Defender. In addition, you can easily find a lot of free antivirus programs on the Internet. And these programs do not necessarily have to be from some obscure companies. On the contrary, producers of expensive and powerful complex anti-virus packages also offer free solutions with basic functionality. Well, no one is stopping you from using several free antiviruses that can complement each other and provide comprehensive protection against all kinds of threats. Avast Free Antivirus, AVG AntiVirus Free, Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition are good choices among free antiviruses.

Pros of

• You can use several antivirus programs together for more comprehensive protection.
• No need to spend money for a license.
• You can try different programs for free.

Cons

• Basic level of protection and much less functionality compared to paid programs.
• Updates from the latest threats may not come out fast enough.

Windows 10 Security

A qualitative leap in terms of protecting the operating system from virus threats occurred with the release of Windows 8. Then for the first time in the operating system from Microsoft appeared a lot of features that were aimed at the safety of the user. Microsoft’s first antivirus, Microsoft Security Essentials, was also released, offering a basic level of protection out of the box. The successor to Microsoft Security Essentials is Windows Defender. It has incomparably more functionality than its predecessor. So, in addition to virus protection, the new antivirus program from Microsoft also offers protection against spyware and a firewall that monitors our security on the Internet.

In addition, Windows 8 and 10 also run anti-malware download and installation and account control, as well as the SmartScreen filter to protect against phishing attacks. All of this works in the background and only bothers the user when they need to take action. But statistics show that the built-in Defender may be enough only if you yourself also closely monitor the security of your computer. If you rely only on the built-in solution, it is better to give it all up and switch to another paid or free antivirus package.
Built-in anti-virus protection in Windows 10:

Pros

• Lack of built-in anti-virus and anti-spyware module.
• Lack of a wide selection of programs from third-party developers.

Cons

• Imperfect update system.
• Due to the popularity of Windows and the large number of attacks, built-in protection is not always able to cope with threats.

Mac security

There is a popular belief that Apple computers are much less threatened by virus attacks than their Windows competitors. Until recently, this was true. But the growing popularity of the Cupertino-based company’s products has made them more and more interesting to hackers. That is, the likelihood that you and your Mac may one day become a victim of a hacker attack is growing. Therefore, owners of Apple computers should also take care of the security of their devices. As for Mac malware, a lot of computers have recently fallen victim to an annoying adware virus that interfered with your work with constant pop-ups of all kinds of advertisements and interfered with your operating system settings. Of course, Apple reacted very quickly to the hackers’ attacks and patched up the holes in the defense. But the fact is that the operating system from the Cupertino giant has no built-in anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Although there is a firewall that protects users from attacks from the network.

Pros

• Low vulnerability of the software and the OS itself.
• There is a firewall.

Cons

• Lack of built-in antivirus and antispyware module.
• Lack of a wide choice of third-party programs.