Software : Updated: Best free antivirus software 2015 |
- Updated: Best free antivirus software 2015
- Updated: Best antivirus: 10 antivirus packages reviewed and rated
- Google Inbox's shareable Trip Bundles make it easier to coordinate travel
| Updated: Best free antivirus software 2015 Posted:  Introduction
Note: Our best free antivirus round-up has been fully updated. This feature was first published in August 2014. Staying loyal to the trusty built-in Windows Defender keeps you safe to a certain extent, but with independent testing showing it misses at least one threat in 10, you really should look elsewhere. And while your Android device has stronger core security, it's still vulnerable to the new crop of malicious apps, and you're going to need some help to stay safe. Luckily paying through the nose for this type of defence is no longer the status quo and there are scores of different programs offering protection that is more than adequate. So if you no longer want to pay for the privilege of protecting your valuable piece of hardware, read on - we've picked out four of the best free antivirus engines, two top Android apps and two online detection services, all delivering great security at no cost.
1. 360 Total Security
If you're looking for a standalone antivirus package then 360 Total Security might seem a little overweight. It provides antiphishing support, online shopping protection, network threat blocking, hard drive clean-up tools, a Windows update checker, and more. This feature overload does make for a relatively complex interface. It's not always easy to operate, and if you run into problems there's no significant documentation to help. Still, what makes the suite interesting is that it uses no less than five antivirus engines. Install it and you can be protected by Bitdefender technology (an excellent commercial engine), Avira (probably the best of the free offerings), and three further engines of Qihoo's own. The default settings aren't necessarily the best, and you'll probably have to spend a while making sure it's configured to suit your needs. We found the multi-engine approach can affect performance, too, with 360 Total Security taking anything up to twice as long to scan our system as some of the competition, as well as returning more false positives. Surprisingly, however, all this bulk didn't weigh down our PC in normal use, with 360 Total Security having a minimal effect on system speed. 360 Total Security is far from perfect, and if you're looking for a simple antivirus engine to run alongside other security tools then it'll probably be too much. But if detection rates are your top priority then the package is a real contender. 2. Avast Free Antivirus
While free antivirus software won't cost you anything to download, you might sometimes find you'll pay in other ways. Install Avast Free Antivirus and it'll also equip your PC with Google toolbar, unless you're paying attention and clear the relevant checkbox. Scan your system for malware and by default Avast Free Antivirus also checks for junk files, unnecessary apps and other performance issues, although it won't fix any of these unless you buy the company's PC Optimizer. Fortunately you don't have to live with this. Avast Free Antivirus has an excellent interface – it's clean, clear and configurable – and in just a few clicks you can set it up to avoid the time-wasting performance scan. The testing labs currently give Avast good, but not exceptional results; typically the company outperforms AVG, but can't match the power of Avira. Still, the package does rate highly when dealing with zero-day threats, and in our experience gives very few false positives. Crucially, it's also better than most at blocking malicious URLs, which means you're less likely to encounter malware in the first place. Useful extras include checks for network security holes (like a router still using the default password), while the Software Update highlights missing software patches and installs them with a click. Avast Free Antivirus may not quite offer the best protection, then, but its interface is one of the best around, and experienced users will appreciate the program's extreme configurability.
3. Avira Free Antivirus
Some security companies spend a great deal of time and effort on interface design, but Avira isn't quite so concerned. Sure, Avira Free Antivirus adds a graphical launcher to your system tray, but the core program looks plain, ordinary, and a little dated. Fortunately Avira scores where it matters. The company seems much more interested in substance than style, and the end result is one of the best security freebies around. The program is loved by the testing labs. Whether you check out AV-Test, AV-Comparatives or VB100 reports, Avira technology almost always scores very highly. And that's not only in relation to free software. AV-Comparative's July 2015 Real-World Protection Test ranked the program fourth out of 20 mostly commercial contenders, with its 99.7% protection rate comparable with the highly-rated Bitdefender (99.8%) and Kaspersky (99.7%). That's a typical score, not a fluke – sometimes Avira tops the list. If you're looking for an easy life then you can leave the program alone, and it'll do its work almost entirely automatically. But expert users get plenty of fine control – there are options to protect the Hosts file, block autorun, scan archives, monitor network drives, set the file types to be scanned, even password protect your Avira installation so others can't mess with your settings. Avira Free Antivirus has a distinct shortage of bonus extras, which might be an issue for some. The "Firewall" options add little (they configure the standard Windows firewall, rather than adding anything new), and even basic web protection requires a separate browser extension. Still, for us, Avira's stripped-back design is a plus, as it makes it easier to add other security tools without conflicts. Factor in its many configuration options and Avira is a smart choice for more experienced users.
4. Panda Free Antivirus
The subdued blue-green interface of Panda Free Antivirus isn't what we'd call visually impressive, but otherwise works very well, making it easy to find and access the program's features. There's no doubt about its accuracy, either. AV-Comparatives' monthly Real-World Protection Test has seen Panda in the top two for months now, trampling all over the commercial competition. And independent testing shows it manages this while raising very few false alarms. URL filtering is another significant plus, with Panda doing an above-average job of blocking access to malicious sites. Bonus extras include USB Protection to keep your USB keys safe from some malware, while Process Monitor is a Task Manager-like tool, displaying running processes, their open HTTP connections, and highlighting likely dangers. If you're feeling picky, and spend long enough exploring the program, you might find one or two minor issues. Scanning speeds were marginally below average in our tests, for instance, and the program isn't as configurable as some of the competition. It's hard to complain about a package which gives you market-leading protection at zero cost, though. If you're looking for something simple and reliable, which you can install and just leave to do its job, then Panda Free Antivirus is a great choice.
5. Avira Antivirus Security 4.2
Selecting the best free Android antivirus app is difficult at the moment. It's a very competitive market, and the independent testing labs consistently show there's very little between the leading products. Avira Antivirus Security earns our vote for its consistency. It's a reliable engine, typically amongst the top-rated apps at AV-Test and AV Comparatives (and it's 4.4 star rated at Google Play), and Avira's excellent record with PC security software makes us think you'll be able to trust the product over the long term. There are plenty of bonus features, too. Anti-theft tools can locate a lost phone, trigger a siren, or remotely lock or wipe a device, and privacy ratings give you an indication of how apps are handling your data, plus you also get identity protection, app locking, call filtering and more. Browsing protection, hourly updates and tech support are reserved for the commercial Pro version only, but Avira Antivirus Security provides the core essentials you need and does a great job of keeping you safe. 6. 360 Security - Antivirus FREE
360 Security - Antivirus FREE is one of the most popular antivirus apps around, and the name alone gives you one reason why: it really is free. Okay, you get ads, but there are no "upgrade" buttons or limitations to the protection you get. There's a lengthy list of extras, too. The optimisation features alone - junk file cleaning, memory booster, power saver - are more capable and effective than many standalone apps. We're particularly interested in the antivirus, and 360 Security - Antivirus FREE delivers there too. It's an extremely accurate engine which doesn't generate too much traffic, significantly drain the battery, or otherwise get in the way of your regular activities. The system also monitors apps as they're installed, blocking malware before it can do any harm, and there's a good set of bonus features: anti-theft, call and SMS filtering, an app locker and more. 7. VirusTotal
Installing a good antivirus engine will keep you safe from most threats, but no product offers a 100% detection guarantee. Even if a download hasn't raised an alert, you might sometimes wonder if it's safe. Upload a suspect file to VirusTotal and within seconds you'll see the scanning results from 56 leading antivirus packages, along with an in-depth analysis of the file, and even what it does when run on your computer (the modules it needs, the files it reads and writes, and more). One problem with this multi-product approach is you'll regularly see false positives, where most of the engines say a file is safe, but a few flag it as dangerous. If only a small number of packages raise alerts (maybe five or less), and the most trusted engines say it's safe, we might run the file anyway - but that does increase your risk of infection. Wait a day or two and try scanning the file again, if you're concerned. 8. Metascan Online
VirusTotal is the king of the online virus scanners, but there are some competitors around, and Metascan Online is one of the best. The core idea is much the same. Point Metascan Online at a file, and it'll be uploaded and scanned by a host of antivirus packages, with their verdicts listed in a detailed report. MetaScan Online uses fewer engines than VirusTotal - 43 as opposed to 56 - but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Dropping the weaker products should mean fewer false positives, and we also found reports were generated far more quickly. MetaScan Online can also scan marginally larger files than VirusTotal (140MB compared to 128MB), and has a neat Scan History page to show how a file's detection rate has changed over time. But balancing that, it doesn't provide any behavioural information, and malware doesn't normally arrive in such large files anyway. Overall, VirusTotal is still our online favourite, but MetaScan Online has plus points too. Give it a try and see how the site works for you. |
| Updated: Best antivirus: 10 antivirus packages reviewed and rated Posted:  Introduction
It's a dangerous world, and every PC needs antivirus software to keep threats at bay: it's an absolute essential. Don't assume that Microsoft's free tools are enough, either. Microsoft Security Essentials (or Windows Defender with Windows 8.1) is compact and easy to use, but independent testing labs such as AV-Comparatives report that Microsoft's protection is very poor. This doesn't have to be a problem if you're short of cash. Opting for a free solution doesn't have to mean compromising your security – there are some great freebie tools around.
Don't automatically rule out paid products, though. Independent testing reveals that commercial packages will often (although not always) deliver the best protection, as well as offering extra functionality. If you're looking for the maximum security then you should at least consider a paid package. Here we've found 10 of the best home antivirus tools available for you to buy, listed in alphabetical order. Avira Free Antivirus
Price: Free At first glance, Avira Free Antivirus doesn't look like the best security choice. The interface is dated and relatively complex, there's a distinct shortage of extras, and even basic web protection requires installing a separate browser add-on. The package scores where it matters, though, with all the big testing labs – AV-Comparatives, AV-Test and Virus Bulletin – giving it stellar ratings, comparable to Bitdefender and Kaspersky. Avira Free is easier to use than it looks, too. The program can take care of most threats all on its own, and if you do need any assistance then a capable local help file explains everything you need to know. There are also a few small bonus features thrown in. By default the program blocks autorun, reducing the risk from infected USB keys, while Windows hosts file protection keeps you safe from malicious redirects (both options may be disabled if they get in your way). If you're looking to avoid the annual subscription then we'd also consider Panda for its great web filtering, but for pure desktop protection Avira Free Antivirus is hard to beat.
Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2015
Price: £29.95 (1 PC, 1 year) In a world packed with free security software, Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2015's annual £29.95 may look eye-wateringly expensive. And that's because it is, but don't move on just yet: you get a lot for your money. Bitdefender's engine is one of the most accurate and reliable around, for instance, and loved by all the big independent testers: AV-Comparatives, AV-Test and Virus Bulletin. An excellent antiphishing module alerts you to malicious links in your search engine results, and blocks access to dangerous sites. Some very worthwhile extras include a secure browser to keep your financial transactions safe, and a password manager which can also auto-complete credit card details in web forms. There are a few less impressive areas – an average vulnerability scanner, basic PC tune-up tools – but Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2015 is still a likeable package which offers great detection rates, minimum false positives, and more than enough bonus features to justify its premium price.
eScan Anti-Virus
Price: £17 (1 PC, 1 year) eScan Anti-Virus stands out immediately for its great value. Not only is it one of the cheapest of the commercial tools, but it also includes a firewall, browsing protection and spam filter, just about enough to qualify it as a budget security suite. And support for Windows 2000+ means it runs on even the most ancient of PCs. It's the protection you get that really matters, of course, and the results from the testing labs aren't entirely consistent. AV-Test most recently gave it a distinctly average rating, but Virus Bulletin was much more impressed, and AV-Comparatives regularly place it in their top 10. Odd interface design makes the program a little awkward to use. It's more cluttered than most of the competition, a little dated, with lots of text prompts and generally too many clicks required to carry out any particular action. Still, once the package is set up you generally won't have to tinker with it anymore, and advanced users will find some useful configuration options here. When setting up eScan's updates, for instance, you're able to select update mode (http, ftp, network), set a proxy, define when to check, schedule a download, run a defined program afterwards, even send an email notification so you know all is well. Overall, while it doesn't give you the best antivirus protection, eScan Anti-Virus deserves a top 10 place, and the capable firewall and anti-phishing filter (though not the weak antispam) will be a welcome bonus for some.
F-Secure Anti-Virus
Price: £19.95 (1 PC, 1 year) If you're tired of the junk that weighs down some antivirus tools, F-Secure Anti-Virus will make a refreshing change. There are no unnecessary extras here, no bonus features you'll never use: you just get straightforward real-time browsing and antivirus protection. Keeping things simple doesn't mean compromising your safety. The package typically receives maximum marks for protection from AV-Test, and generally scores highly with AV-Comparatives, too. It does reportedly generate a vast number of false positives – almost as many as the rest of the top 10 put together – but how that affects you will vary depending on how you use your computer. The interface is a major plus. It's extremely easy to use, lightweight, and for the most part you can just leave it alone to look after your PC. The program has minimal effect on your system performance, and if you do need to intervene then you can generally solve any issues in a couple of clicks. Competitors like Bitdefender and Kaspersky offer better protection and more features, but F-Secure Anti-Virus remains a likeable package, fast, lightweight, and able to run alongside many other security tools without conflict. It's one of the better value commercial products, too – you can protect three systems for only £29.95.
Fortinet FortiClient 5.2
Price: Free FortiClient is designed to be an enterprise tool, integrating with Fortinet's FortiGate security appliance to ensure your network's security. But you don't need a FortiGate to install the program – or even a network – and the package is a capable free antivirus package for home users, too. Installation took a tediously long time for us, but once it's complete there's little else to do – you can leave FortiClient running in the background and it'll detect and block most threats entirely on its own. Independent testing shows reasonable accuracy. AV-Comparatives typically rates FortiClient amongst the top 10 in its Real World Tests, with relatively few false positives, and Virus Bulletin has scored it as having excellent detection rates. Bonus features include a simple VPN client, and the web security module has a little more depth than the competition, too. As well as automatically blocking malicious sites, there are parental controls-type options to limit web access by site category, enable Safe Search, log attempts to visit forbidden sites or record all web activity. Fortinet FortiClient isn't going to be anyone's first antivirus choice – it's closer to the bottom of our group than the top – but it's a decent free package, and if you'll use its extras then the program could be a sensible choice. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2015
Price: £29.99 (1 PC, 1 year) Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2015 is a very thorough security package which offers multiple layers of protection to keep you safe from harm. Cloud-based technologies warn you about dangerous links or downloads, while an accurate antivirus engine detects and removes known threats as they appear. And if anything does manage to bypass your defences, Kaspersky's System Watcher detects dubious behaviour and can reverse many malicious actions. A "set and forget" design means this is all very easy to manage. Anti-Virus 2015 can handle most situations all on its own, but if you do need to take charge then the clean and clear interface keeps any hassles to a minimum. We've found Kaspersky products to be exceptionally accurate in recent years, and the independent testing labs mostly say the same. AV-Test has been awarding them maximum marks recently, AV-Comparatives something similar, and only Virus Bulletin seems to be a little less impressed. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2015 still has plenty of competition. Bitdefender offers very similar protection, and more features, for around the same price; Panda and Avira will keep you just about as safe for nothing at all. But it remains an impressive package, and on balance we think Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2015 is well worth its asking price.
Norton Security
Price: £29.99 (1 PC, 1 year) Norton Security is more of a mini-security suite than an ordinary antivirus tool, combining antivirus, firewall, browsing protection, a password manager, identity theft and online browsing protection, and more. Assessing its reliability isn't easy because the package isn't extensively tested by the major labs, but AV-Test has recently given it a maximum score for protection, and our own smaller scale checks typically show good results. One of Norton's strongest areas is in preventing you getting infected in the first place. An excellent URL blocker does a good job of keeping you away from malicious websites, and the program won't allow you to run files it doesn't trust. This can be infuriating if you're always downloading and trying out the latest freeware, as it'll always be raising alerts, but if you're trying to protect a largely stable system – your kids' school laptop, say – then it can be very effective. If, somehow, you get infected anyway, the company offers unlimited phone or online access to a Norton technician, and if they can't help you remove the infection then the company's "100% virus protection promise" means you'll get your money back. That won't help much if the malware has caused a lot of damage, but it's still good to know there's support available if you need it. For pure protection we'd still prefer something like Bitdefender or Kaspersky, but Norton Security's file blocking abilities and ample feature set could make it a good choice for some.
Panda Free Antivirus
Price: Free Every free antivirus engine claims it's just as good as the paid products, but Panda Free Antivirus is one of the few with real supporting evidence. It's regularly top or near the top of AV-Comparatives' Real World tests, and also highly rated for protection at AV-Test, with only the occasional false positive to spoil its record. If you're wondering why such a good product is given away, it doesn't take long to find out. The installer will by default change your browser home and search pages, although you can avoid this if you're paying attention. You must then register with your email address, and Panda is presumably hoping you'll eventually upgrade to one of the paid packages, with their various extras (firewall, Wi-Fi protection, parental controls, password manager and so on). That's no different to most free antivirus packages, though, and Panda Free Antivirus has plenty of compensations. The attractive Windows 8-style interface looks good, is configurable and easy to use. Also, detection rates are high, plus URL and web filtering does a good job of blocking malicious websites, while the Rescue Kit builds a bootable recovery environment to help remove stubborn threats. Put it all together and Panda Free Antivirus offers strong all-round protection, some genuinely useful extras, and along with Avira is our pick of the free crop.
Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security 2015
Price: £19.95 (1 PC, 1 year) Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security can take a while to set up. You're forced to remove "incompatible software" before it does anything at all, then we had to restart Firefox three times to install all the new extensions. Once it's up and running, though, life gets much easier. The interface is clean and straightforward, the core antivirus engine doesn't slow you down, and it does a great job of detecting threats, regularly receiving top ratings at independent testing labs. There are some above average extras, too. Browsing protection watches the links you click, blocking access to most malicious sites, while the spam filter is surprisingly good by security suite standards, keeping your inbox largely junk-free. If there's a problem here, it's that the Trend Micro engine can raise more false positives than almost anyone else. AV-Comparatives' Real-World Protection Tests have highlighted this recently, and we've seen this issue too, though not to the same degree. We'd recommending running the trial for its full 30 days before you buy, then, to see if this might be a problem. But if you're unaffected, its high levels of detection and excellent bonus features make Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security 2015 a good choice.
Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus
Price: £29.99 (1 PC, 1 year) Plenty of security tools claim to be "lightweight", but Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus is one of the few that actually delivers. Its few core files are installed in a fraction of a second, and it doesn't waste time or bandwidth on bulky signature updates, instead using behaviour monitoring and its cloud service to detect even the very latest threats. This doesn't mean the program is short on features. Along with the core antivirus protection, there's accurate real-time antiphishing, a firewall and network connection monitor, a configurable sandbox for testing suspect programs, and assorted other interesting extras. A single example: the "Execution History" log shows you all the processes your system has launched recently, and how long they were active. Even if your system is entirely malware-free, seeing that kind of detail on your background processes is very helpful for optimising your PC's performance. How effective is all this? That's the only complication. Our own small-scale tests suggest it works very well, but we'd like some confirmation from the big independent testing labs, and right now they rarely, if ever, assess Webroot products. Still, there's a lot to like about SecureAnywhere AntiVirus, and Webroot's 70-day 100% money-back guarantee suggests it's confident in the product, too. If you're tired of bloated antivirus engines then this must be on your shortlist.
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| Google Inbox's shareable Trip Bundles make it easier to coordinate travel Posted:  Just in time for the holiday travel season, Google announced that Inbox users can share all the details of their trips with one tap. Shareable Trip Bundles will start rolling out to iOS and Android users this week. For business users, shareable Trip Bundles make it easy to forward all your travel information, including flight, hotel and rental car details, with anyone with an email address. This helps make it easier to plan and coordinate business trips and travel logistics. Announced earlier this summer, Trip Bundle is an intelligent feature of Inbox that works in a similar way to Google Now. Trip Bundle pulls all your trip information into one spot in Inbox and provides you with updates, including changes to flight status. Prior to Trip Bundles, travelers had to manage separate emails for different elements of their trip. Trip Bundles aggregate your flight, hotel and rental car reservations in one location, so you have a built-in itinerary in your inbox without needing to search. What is Trip Bundle?"When it's time to fly, Inbox will even update your flight status so you'll know if your trip is on time or if your gate has changed," Google said at the time, in a statement. "You can open the bundle to see all your emails related to that trip, with the most important information (like flight times) right at the top." Even if Inbox doesn't automatically recognize an email as part of a trip, you can now manually add messages to your Trip Bundle. Users can use the "Move to" feature to move individual emails to a Trip Bundle. Information within a Trip Bundle will appear at the top of your Inbox, and the emails related to your trip will be available for offline viewing. For business users who travel frequently, the feature can save you time so that you don't have to search for specific emails related to your hotel reservations, rental car confirmation or airline ticket information. Trip Bundle is designed to compete with existing services that scan your emails to pull all your relevant travel information into organized trips. These include Sabre's TripCase, Concur's TripIt and BlackBerry's Travel. Microsoft is also using Cortana to surface relevant travel information just before your trip. With Inbox integration, the benefit is that you no longer need a third-party service to scan your email, and mobile users no longer need to install another app on their device. Shareable Trip Bundle makes it easy to not only share your trips with others, but also makes it easier to coordinate trips with colleagues.
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