With anti-virus software, though, free isn’t always the best route to take. Is it free?įree is frequently great! Who doesn’t want something for free? No one wants to be the first victim of a new cyber threat. What separates some anti-virus software, though, is the ability to detect suspicious or unusual behaviour that may indicate new or unknown malware signatures.įor example: Some software can identify when your computer is sending information over an unauthorized port – a potential sign that you could be infected with malware.Īnti-virus software that detects unusual behaviour will go a long way towards keeping your devices secure. Most anti-virus software is adept at scanning for known malware. Does it monitor for and flag suspicious program behaviour? Good anti-virus software identifies these sites and lets you know they are potentially malicious. The best way to avoid getting these sorts of files on your computer? Avoiding those websites in the first place. A malicious website can also use drive-by downloads, which means that you may infect your computer just by browsing the website or clicking on a pop-up window. Cyber criminals are skilled at using a variety of techniques to trick you into visiting malicious websites that try to convince you to download malware onto your computer. Does it protect you from malicious websites?Ī lot of viruses come from websites. If your anti-virus software can do a good job of rooting out known threats, it will go a long way toward keeping your device safe. This is the simplest and best way to keep your computer safe. The anti-virus software then takes these files from your system, disables the files or programs, and deletes them. It does this, for the most part, by identifying known signatures, which are kind of like fingerprints, of malicious software.

Most anti-virus software regularly scans for malicious software (known as malware).

In general, anti-virus software can help in three areas: Scanning and removing known malware, protecting you from malicious websites and monitoring the behaviour of programs on your computer to be able to flag threats. Here’s a guide for how you can evaluate which anti-virus software is best. However, there are certain features that may help you decide which software is best for you. What’s less simple is deciding which anti-virus software to use. The reason for using anti-virus software is simple: Anti-virus software is one of the best ways to protect your computer against – you guessed it – viruses.

Best malware protection