If you’re not using any antivirus software on your home PC, (or Mac) then you need to sort that out, stat! You may think that you are being careful enough by never clicking on silly links you see on the internet. Online links and adverts that promise instant wealth, free cars or eternal youth can often be linked to malware or other malicious, damn right annoying problems, that you just don’t want. Being careful, whilst admirable, isn’t enough in this day and age, where nefarious types are always upping their game and looking for new ways to scam innocent people using a variety of viruses. That’s where antivirus software comes in. It’s simple to install, and most of the time it will just do its thing in the background, keeping your computer safe from binary woes. Having said that, there is a huge variety of antivirus packages available, both free and paid for. The choice can sometimes be staggering. What should you, as an everyday computer user, look for when deciding? Read on…
Paid or Free – What’s the Difference?
There are three basic tiers to antivirus products – free, paid and “suites”. As you move up the ladder, the most obvious differences are in the myriad of features on offer, many of which may or may not be useful to you, depending on your use case.
Free antivirus software usually provides a fairly low level of protection. They will scan for malware, and often will perform automatic scans, too. Some free packages have additional protection tools such as a browser add-on that checks for bad links. In this tier, offerings from the likes of Avast and Malwarebytes are well thought of, whilst Microsoft’s own Windows Defender Security Centre, which comes built in to the Windows 10 operating system, has come along in leaps and bounds since its original inclusion in Windows 8.
As you enter into the realm of paid antivirus packages, you see the level and number of features on offer increase, including the likes of data protection, parental controls, network protection and even password management. The aforementioned “suites” offer an even greater gamut of features, covering your computer itself but often also offer protection for your online activities such as banking, email spam protection and even identity theft. In the paid tier, offerings from the likes of ESET, Bitdefender and Kaspersky Lab are all big players in the market.
Another drawback of free antivirus software is the lack of technical support. Whilst in a perfect world you should just be able to install it and all but forget about it, there are times when you are going to need some sort of technical support. While most companies offer some sort of support for paying customers, free antivirus users usually have to fend for themselves.
Whilst not so much of a drawback, but rather a trade-off between free and paid packages, is advertising. Most free antivirus products have a paid premium version, and depending on the company, you find that the level of advertising for the premium version can be anything from hardly noticeable, to annoyingly in your face.
What Should You Choose?
Ultimately, any form of virus protection is better than none, no matter what device you use and what operating system it has. People often end up paying for anti-virus because they feel they need to, which obviously keeps companies selling the packages happy. These days it’s also more common than not for trial versions of paid antivirus software coming pre-installed on new pre-built computer systems and laptops. When that trial runs out, people can end up paying simply because they don’t know any better. Often though the built in Windows and Mac tools, plus some common sense, will likely be enough to fend of the variety of threats that might come their way.
At the end of the day, if you are someone who doesn’t want to be constantly bothered by upgrade advertising on your free antivirus software, or you are someone who wants to rely on the knowledge that you will have technical support if you need some, then paying for a package may well be for you. If you’re also someone who is very nervous about, say, online banking, but you rely on it, then again, a paid solution with internet banking and online payment protection could be for you. If, on the other hand, you are someone who just checks their emails and watches some YouTube and you have the common sense not to click on ‘silly’ links, then a free package should be enough.
