Top spyware antivirus

It performed terribly by most measures and was a good advert for why you should really pay for antivirus. But as we explain further up this article, Microsoft Defender has come on leaps and bounds and can now legitimately be mentioned in the same company as Bitdefender, Norton and Kaspersky.

As well as very solid virus protection, Defender has extra bits and bobs like a ransomware shield, webcam protection, privacy tools and even basic parental controls and cloud backup. And the best bit No need to download a thing, just find it in your menu and get protected straight away. Read more and see how to use: Microsoft Defender review. The paid-for version of Kaspersky's Windows security software frequently tops charts of best virus prevention solutions and AV-TEST once again gave it full marks across the board in its latest round of testing.

As you would expect, Kaspersky Free is a scaled down version of the full program - a tool that we really like more on which below. The free version ditches additional features such as privacy protection and safe payment sandboxes to concentrate on powerful, no-frills and - most importantly - free protection for your PC.

The result is a tremendously easy to use and navigate bit of software that does an effective job of keeping you protected from viruses. Using the nuts and bolts real-world scanning engine of the paid-for suite, Kaspersky Free is fiendishly hard for viruses and trojan horses to break down. And we love that it doesn't constantly pester you with nudges to upgrade to the full version.

But, ironically, we will just for a moment, because Kasperksy Anti-Virus isn't expensive to buy and yet affords much better protection to your PC or PCs. Review and where to download: Kaspersky Free. Marketing itself as "business-grade security", Sophos Home does a little more than most free antivirus software, and actually seems better suited to families. You get standard virus protection and anti-malware protection, along with browser tools like anti-phishing and, most importantly, content control.

Combined with central management of up to 10 PCs, this means you can effectively lock down your kids' browsing options. Although Sophos Home has always had desktop notifications, there was no premium version of the software for it to encourage an upgrade to.

That changed in February with the launch of Sophos Home Premium. Review and where to download: Sophos Home. Each entry in this list has been carefully chosen for its business features, such as remote installation and central management. The best business antivirus software will have enterprise-level protection against threats, but that doesn't mean they have to cost a lot of money, either. The price per installation can sometimes be cheaper than even our recommended best antivirus packages.

Avast Business Antivirus Pro An excellent business antivirus suite, giving you various tools such as virus protection, Firewall, email protection, anti-spam and the ability to sandbox applications for complete security. Avast Business Antivirus Pro as opposed to the standard Avast Business Antivirus also includes Sharepoint and Exchange protection, as well as a number of tools for your servers.

Bitdefender products are loved by the independent testing labs, highly rated for malware detection, removal, performance and usability. Most of the features work automatically — anti-malware, firewall, web advisor, URL filtering — but you can also customise the product to control user actions.

Symantec Endpoint Protection Symantec's first benefit is the company's Insight file reputation technology, an effective way to detect and block even the very latest undiscovered threats. Other layers of protection include virus protection, behaviour monitoring, intrusion protection, a firewall, and the 'Power Eraser' to remove stubborn threats and repair your system. Avira Antivirus for Endpoint This is Avira's main small business product. It takes all the core features you'd expect — antivirus, baseline network protection, web filtering — and extends them with file server protection and optimisation, along with application whitelisting and blacklisting.

The desktop side of the package has all the usual quality Kaspersky modules — antivirus, antispam, a firewall, more — but the mobile security technologies are even more impressive. Mike began his career as a lead software developer in the engineering world, where his creations were used by big-name companies from Rolls Royce to British Nuclear Fuels and British Aerospace. He now covers VPNs, antivirus and all things security for TechRadar, although he still has a secret love of quirky open-source and freeware apps which find brand new ways to solve common problems.

North America. If you're looking for the best possible protection for your online devices in , then you've come to the right place - we've tested all of the best antivirus providers out there to come up with a definitive list of the absolute greatest. Today's best antivirus software is Bitdefender.

View Deal. Bitdefender Antivirus. Maximum devices covered: Stand out features: Safepay banking protection, privacy tools, multi-layered anti-ransomware, VPN. Reasons to avoid - Room for improvement on detection. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 1 year. Norton AntiVirus. Stand out features: Intelligent firewall, PC maintenance features, bundled backup tool with online storage.

Reasons to avoid - Mixed results from the testing labs. Kaspersky Anti-Virus. Stand out features: Highly configurable virus scans, anti-ransomware, drive-by cryptomining infection prevention. Reasons to avoid - Not a huge amount of features. Trend Micro Antivirus. Reasons to avoid - Not as many features as key rivals.

Avast One. Reasons to avoid - Not a huge upgrade from free version. Microsoft Defender. If you have young children at home, then consider midrange antivirus products, most of which include parental controls. Do you want an all-encompassing security solution?

Or are you a techie who understands and the risks of using the internet? Then a low-priced basic program might be all you need. MORE: How to buy antivirus software.

Once you've got your priorities figured out, then determine how many machines you'll need to protect. Most vendors offer single-device licenses for Windows PCs. But multi-device, multi-platform licenses for five, 10 or more computers and mobile devices are available in midrange and premium antivirus packages, covering Windows, macOS, Android, iOS and sometimes even Linux.

Some vendors offer plans that cover an unlimited number of devices. Gone are the days when you could walk into a store and pay a one-time fee for an antivirus product that came in a box off a shelf. All the vendors now sell their software licenses as yearly or multiyear subscriptions.

The upside is that you'll always get the latest software, which you can download and install straight from the internet.

Many antivirus products are sold online for much less than their list prices. But each brand offers basic, midrange and premium configurations of features and pricing, with every step up adding more features. Think of autos at a dealership.

You can get a base-model car that will get you from place to place just fine. For a few grand more, you can buy a car with satellite radio, but no heated side-view mirrors, alloy wheels or in-car Wi-Fi hotspot. Or you can spend a lot more to get a loaded car with all the fixin's. Antivirus makers also hope you'll spring for extra options, whether you need them or not.

The one thing you can't trade up to is a bigger engine: All the Windows antivirus products in a given brand's lineup will use the same malware-detection engine and provide the same level of essential protection. The software will have essential malware protection and maybe a password manager or a two-way firewall. They generally add parental controls, some of which are very good, plus a few other features such as webcam protection.

They often include multi-device licenses and antivirus software for Mac and Android devices. At the top are the premium "security suites," which toss in all the extra security tools an antivirus brand can offer, such as password managers, VPN client software, backup software, online storage and even identity-protection services.

The password managers are often quite good, but the online storage can be paltry and the VPN services often don't give you unlimited data. We've collected the best premium antivirus packages on this list of the best internet security suites. Our evaluations are based on each antivirus program's interface, performance, protection and extra features. Was the interface intuitive and user-friendly? How badly did malware scans slow performance? How well did the program detect and remove malware? Does the program offer useful additional tools?

Some of our newer performance tests were done on a Lenovo ThinkPad T with a 2. To assess a program's impact on system speed on both Windows and macOS, we used our own custom tests, which measure how long a CPU takes to match 20, names and addresses on an OpenOffice or Excel spreadsheet.

The longer it took the laptop to finish either test, the heavier the performance impact. Each lab subjects the major antivirus brands' products to stress tests involving thousands of pieces of malware, including hundreds of previously unseen samples. Kaspersky antivirus products have been banned from U. Because the company is Russian and antivirus software can peer deep into a PC, using Kaspersky software would create an unacceptable risk for persons and organizations involved in national security and critical infrastructure.

However, we still think Kaspersky software is perfectly safe for home users. We've seen no evidence to convince us otherwise. Kaspersky researchers are well respected throughout the antivirus industry, and the company has publicly exposed Russian cyberespionage campaigns as well as those from the United States and other countries around the world. Paul Wagenseil is a senior editor at Tom's Guide focused on security and privacy.

He has also been a dishwasher, fry cook, long-haul driver, code monkey and video editor. He's been rooting around in the information-security space for more than 15 years at FoxNews. If you use a Windows PC, you'll need to have one of the best antivirus programs installed, whether free or paid.

View Deal. Bitdefender offers the best value in antivirus software. Norton packs in everything but the kitchen sink. Kaspersky Total Security. Specifications Anti-theft: Yes. Backup software: Yes. Firewall: Yes. Game mode: Yes. Hardened browser: Yes. Parental controls: Yes. Password manager: Yes. Ransomware rollback: Yes. Webcam protection: Yes. Virtual keyboard: Yes.

VPN: Limited upsell. Wi-Fi scanner: Yes. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus. Specifications Anti-theft: No. Backup software: No. Firewall: No.

Parental controls: No. Webcam protection: No. Reasons to avoid - Heavy background system impact. Norton Deluxe. Intego is the best antivirus suite for Mac computers , and its anti-spyware detection is great, too. Intego also detected other malware samples, including trojans, ransomware, adware, and cryptojackers.

Intego offers a couple of different antivirus plans. Intego is my favorite Mac-only anti-spyware protection in It has comprehensive spyware protection as well as some excellent extra features, like a customizable backup feature, parental controls, clean-up features, and more.

Intego offers a day risk-free money-back guarantee. Download Intego Now. MacKeeper is an antivirus suite for macOS that quickly removes spyware and other threats.

When I tested it, the malware scanner took 30 minutes to scan every file on my Mac. The plan is for a single device, but you can pay extra for coverage on up to 3 devices. MacKeeper offers a day money-back guarantee. MacKeeper is a decent antivirus suite for Mac with good spyware protection.

Download MacKeeper Now. Adaware has grown from a pretty simple adware-blocker to a decent antivirus that offers protection against spyware, ransomware, and other threats. But Adaware underperformed in my general malware tests, failing to catch a lot of advanced ransomware and cryptojacker files that the other brands on this list successfully detected.

Adaware provides a variety of additional features. Its Digital Lock feature is pretty good — it can encrypt, password protect, and permanently delete sensitive files. Adaware is a decent anti-spyware program that also offers good file encryption and protection tools. Download Adaware Now. The free version only performs on-demand scanning. SpywareBlaster is a good anti-spyware app for browsers that specializes in blocking ActiveX malware. ActiveX is a tool that provides interactive website content.

ActiveX controls can be useful — they allow you to play media and fill in forms on websites. But hackers can also use ActiveX controls to gain access to your system. Once inside your system, hackers can install keylogging software, steal your private files, and access your webcam. SpywareBlaster offers both free and paid versions. The paid version, SpywareBlaster Autoupdate , provides automatic updating, multi-user coverage, and technical support.

Spyware is a type of malware that can be used to remotely snoop on your device. By using spyware, someone could track your movements, access your data, read your emails and messages, or even turn on your camera. Any devices infected with spyware can suffer severe privacy breaches, and lead to cyberstalking as well as harassment in real life. With so many potential dangers involved, it is vital that you regularly scan your devices for spyware, and that you use a program with real-time scanning to prevent exploits from making their way onto your device.

Below you can take a look at the best free anti-spyware programs available on the market. These anti-spyware programs won't cost you a penny, and can scan your device for known spyware exploits. Additionally, they engage in real-time scanning that ensures you won't become infected with dangerous spyware exploits such as rootkits and trojans.

That makes Avast one of the most expensive single device security suites on the market. The good news is that stepping up to the paid version is unnecessary to scan and remove known spyware exploits from your devices. As a result, this is a superb free anti-spyware program that anybody can use on their device to ensure they keep it clear of a whole range of threats and exploits, including highly malicious Trojans.

What's more, the software is pretty lightweight, meaning that it shouldn't slow your machine down as you use it. Finally, it is true that the free version of Avast does harvest data from its users.

According to an investigation by PC Mag and Motherboard it collects its user's browsing histories and sells that data to create a revenue stream. We must highlight that this is far from ideal. However, the antivirus product is very good considering it's free. It may not be the most privacy-friendly option, but should you decide to trade this information for solid protection, it's the cream of the crop.

Malwarebytes has always been popular thanks to its free version. The antivirus is available for all popular platforms and it allows you to scan for threats on-demand or schedule scans on a daily or weekly basis. The only downside with this free anti-spyware program is that its free version does not offer any real-time scanning.