We haven't talked about antivirus for a while so it's worth giving the topic a fresh look to understand what the situation is today and which antivirus offers more protection today, in 2019, according to tests carried out by specialized magazines. Among large players and smaller companies, there are dozens of antivirus programs available to choose from, some for a fee, some free, others half and a half.
Installing a powerful antivirus on your computer will not only keep it protected from malware, but it can also prevent ransomware from encrypting your files, preventing scam sites from stealing your money and in general protecting us from malicious software that infests the web.
According to the AV-Test table, some antiviruses are better than others based on three factors: effective computer protection, performance, i.e. their lightness on the system and usability, which for AV-test is measured based on the number of useless messages that the antivirus shows to the user and the percentage of false positives detected. The latest report from the Av-test lab, done on a Windows 10 PC, allows you to see which antivirus offers more protection, without weighing down your computer and without disturbing your work .
Scores range from 1 to 6 for each test category.
READ ALSO: Best free Antivirus alternatives to Windows Defender for Windows 10
1) Protection test
The primary function of any antivirus is to keep all kinds of malware out of your computer. AV-Test researchers test each product to see how it defends itself from two sets of malware samples: one with the latest virus variants that are zero-day threats, that is, those represented by malicious activities that have not yet been certified, while the other with the most recent viruses of the last month.
The antiviruses that offer more protection were found in 2019, practically all (including Avast, Avira, AVG, Bitdefender, Mc Afee, Norton, Kaspersky, FSecure, Comodo and also Windows Defender which in Windows 10 has returned to being at the top in Last year, the rest scored from 5.5 points to 4 points as MalwareBytes Premium, significantly lower than the previous test, especially in comparison with the others.
2) Performance Test
If the antivirus with more protection ends up slowing down the computer too much, it becomes useless. For this reason it is important to understand which one is the lightest one, which has a minor impact on the PC performance and does not slow it down during startup and during use. In this test, there were worsening compared to the previous year and 9 antivirus engines scored a score of 6, the maximum. In terms of performance, Avast, AVG, Avira and even Windows Defender are lagging behind.
3) False positives and usability
An antivirus that, prudently, prevents you from using valid programs because it sees them as suspicious or harmful, is not a good product even if it were the best at detecting threats. The AV-Test researchers then checked how the antiviruses behaved by subjecting them to the verification of unknown but good sites and programs. They also checked if the antivirus only gives a warning to be careful or if it completely blocks the execution of that program forcing the user to disable it in order to use it. In this all tested antiviruses have improved, with maximum usability for Kaspersky, Avast, AVG, Avira, Windows Defender, MacAfee, Norton.
Conclusion
The results reported by the independent virus analysis laboratories are very reliable and even the simple fact that the product of a particular supplier appears in the results is already a vote of confidence. Of course, getting good test scores is also important.
By adding the various scores you can therefore find out which antivirus has the best protection with, at the same time, good performance.
The winners, for those who follow the progress of these tests, are Kaspersky, Norton and McAfee, who have scored the maximum score in all three categories of tests this year. Note that Kaspersky Anti-Virus has achieved perfect scores in all independent laboratory tests.
Also note that among the free antivirus Windows Defender antivirus of Windows 10 has almost the maximum score, thus giving the right answer to those who wonder if you should pay for an antivirus .
Among the free programs, the best free antivirus of 2019 is Avast together with AVG and Avira.
For a better consultation of the ranking you can open the test page, on the AV-Test website
Installing a powerful antivirus on your computer will not only keep it protected from malware, but it can also prevent ransomware from encrypting your files, preventing scam sites from stealing your money and in general protecting us from malicious software that infests the web.
According to the AV-Test table, some antiviruses are better than others based on three factors: effective computer protection, performance, i.e. their lightness on the system and usability, which for AV-test is measured based on the number of useless messages that the antivirus shows to the user and the percentage of false positives detected. The latest report from the Av-test lab, done on a Windows 10 PC, allows you to see which antivirus offers more protection, without weighing down your computer and without disturbing your work .
Scores range from 1 to 6 for each test category.
READ ALSO: Best free Antivirus alternatives to Windows Defender for Windows 10
1) Protection test
The primary function of any antivirus is to keep all kinds of malware out of your computer. AV-Test researchers test each product to see how it defends itself from two sets of malware samples: one with the latest virus variants that are zero-day threats, that is, those represented by malicious activities that have not yet been certified, while the other with the most recent viruses of the last month.
The antiviruses that offer more protection were found in 2019, practically all (including Avast, Avira, AVG, Bitdefender, Mc Afee, Norton, Kaspersky, FSecure, Comodo and also Windows Defender which in Windows 10 has returned to being at the top in Last year, the rest scored from 5.5 points to 4 points as MalwareBytes Premium, significantly lower than the previous test, especially in comparison with the others.
2) Performance Test
If the antivirus with more protection ends up slowing down the computer too much, it becomes useless. For this reason it is important to understand which one is the lightest one, which has a minor impact on the PC performance and does not slow it down during startup and during use. In this test, there were worsening compared to the previous year and 9 antivirus engines scored a score of 6, the maximum. In terms of performance, Avast, AVG, Avira and even Windows Defender are lagging behind.
3) False positives and usability
An antivirus that, prudently, prevents you from using valid programs because it sees them as suspicious or harmful, is not a good product even if it were the best at detecting threats. The AV-Test researchers then checked how the antiviruses behaved by subjecting them to the verification of unknown but good sites and programs. They also checked if the antivirus only gives a warning to be careful or if it completely blocks the execution of that program forcing the user to disable it in order to use it. In this all tested antiviruses have improved, with maximum usability for Kaspersky, Avast, AVG, Avira, Windows Defender, MacAfee, Norton.
Conclusion
The results reported by the independent virus analysis laboratories are very reliable and even the simple fact that the product of a particular supplier appears in the results is already a vote of confidence. Of course, getting good test scores is also important.
By adding the various scores you can therefore find out which antivirus has the best protection with, at the same time, good performance.
The winners, for those who follow the progress of these tests, are Kaspersky, Norton and McAfee, who have scored the maximum score in all three categories of tests this year. Note that Kaspersky Anti-Virus has achieved perfect scores in all independent laboratory tests.
Also note that among the free antivirus Windows Defender antivirus of Windows 10 has almost the maximum score, thus giving the right answer to those who wonder if you should pay for an antivirus .
Among the free programs, the best free antivirus of 2019 is Avast together with AVG and Avira.
For a better consultation of the ranking you can open the test page, on the AV-Test website
