Having a good antivirus installed on our computer is essential if we want to keep our data, privacy and even the integrity of our bank account safe. And over the last few years the number of cyber-criminals has increased exponentially and with them, viruses, malware, Trojans, spyware as well as phishing cases and ransomware victims.
While it is useful to be careful every time we connect to the Internet and it is advisable to distrust any file or email that reaches our computer, it is almost impossible to know how viruses will attack our computer. These evolve and the way they are introduced into your PC changes with them. For all this and much more, we all need an antivirus on our computer if we do not want to take more than one dislike.
At present there is a wide range of antivirus programs on the market designed to protect our PC from any attack but ... which one to choose? And it is that not all antivirus is able to detect all threats nor do they all affect the performance of our operating system in the same way. In today's article we are going to offer you a list with what we consider the best antivirus of this 2019. We hope it helps you.
Why is it important to have a good antivirus installed?
Regardless of how careful you are with your PC or laptop, if you don't have an antivirus installed, your computer is vulnerable to any virus attack or infection. Keep in mind that virus infections have now changed a lot from those of yesteryear. Before the appearance of the Internet, most viruses simply slowed down your PC and could easily be removed by formatting your computer. Currently, viruses have taken many forms and their main objective is to steal your data and get money thanks to them.
To avoid being a victim of a hacker attack, the most effective solution is to install good antivirus software. They will detect the threat before it reaches your device or if it is already there, it will eliminate it for your complete security. As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure and in something as important as the security of your data, it is not worth playing it.
What features should a good antivirus have?
As we have told you, there is a wide range of antivirus on the market. At first, they all seem attractive and promise to keep your equipment safe, but don't be fooled. Not all antivirus is the same or protect you from the same threats.
To make this list we have selected the ones we consider the best free antivirus on the market, each of them fulfilling the following characteristics:
- Powerful scanning and protection against major threats – A good antivirus must be able not only to detect but also to eliminate the main hacker threats that we find through the Internet. These should be updated often and have a database always up to date in order to prevent any type of infection. It is important that these antiviruses have real-time protection, thus preventing any attempt by the virus or malware to enter our computer.
- Presence of different types of shields – A good antivirus must offer shields both in our activity through the Internet browser and through our email client, in what we download and in any file that we install on our computer.
- Protect from zero-day attacks– Zero-day attacks are those threats made by viruses so new that for many programs they are still unknown or undetectable. A good antivirus should detect them instantly or in a period of less than one hour from its appearance.
- Simple and easy to understand interface – A good antivirus must be our ally and therefore must be easy to use without reducing its effectiveness. Of little use is an antivirus with a thousand hidden options that we do not know how to use.
- It should not interfere with the operating system– There are powerful antivirus programs but, unfortunately, consume all the resources of an operating system. If we have a powerful PC and this may not bother us, but if for example we are portable users we need an antivirus that does not interfere with the overall performance of our equipment.
- Offer security to the user – Finally, it is essential that a good antivirus offers peace of mind and security to the user. While this point seems obvious, it is one of the most important on the list. A good antivirus must be there to protect us without having to worry at any time that our computer can suffer at any time a hacker attack.
The best free antivirus of 2019
Avast Free Antivirus
Avast is for many the flagship of free antivirus and the best option to keep your PC safe from any type of malicious Internet attack. Although there are also payment options for the program, its more than 400 million users (including me) guarantee its effectiveness both in preventing infections and resolving threats already present on your computer.
Avast Free Antivirus provides everything you need to keep your PC always safe. It has a constantly updated database, a simple and intuitive interface to use, the possibility of activating or deactivating its shields as well as providing you with real- time protection from any type of threat. A very interesting point of Avast Free Antivirus is that in addition to being a very complete antivirus, this is 100% compatible with Windows Defender, both of which can be active without creating incompatibilities in your operating system.
Finally, Avast Free Antivirus incorporates functions as useful as a game mode, with which the antivirus will not interfere or negatively affect your gamer sessions as well as an integrated password manager with which you can add an extra layer of protection to your computer. In addition to all this, it can detect any virus attack of day 0.
Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition
Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition is a lightweight and easy-to-use but at the same time extremely powerful antivirus program when it comes to protecting your computer. The combination of these three features makes it an ideal option for all those who are looking for an antivirus that does not affect the performance of their computer and, in turn, has one of the best virus databases in the entire sector.
Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition is perfect for any user who wishes to install an antivirus and not have to worry more about any type of Internet threat. This one stands out for its simplicity and works automatically, being able to detect any type of threat without wasting time by managing it by hand. This one is capable of protecting your computer from the main Internet viruses and malware as well as from all types of ransomware attack.
If you like Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition but would like an extra layer of security, there is a paid version with added features. This adds the protection of your bank account, a password manager, improvements when it comes to detecting day 0 viruses and the peace of mind of having a support line 24 hours a day.
Kaspersky Free Antivirus
Kaspersky is another of the great paid antivirus that have chosen to offer a free but efficient version of their software. It offers real-time protection from viruses and efficiently protects against threats such as phishing, Trojans, email fraud and even spyware.
One of the strengths of Kaspersky Free Antivirus is that it is a frankly safe, efficient and very accurate antivirus when it comes to detecting threats. In fact, it achieves some of the best results in AV-TEST antivirus effectiveness tests. That is why although it has a basic aspect, it is one of the best free options to keep your computer always safe from any threat.
If the free version of Kaspersky seems a bit basic, there is a paid version that adds many extra options to protect your computer. Among them we find the privacy protection of your data as well as your payments thanks to its sandbox environment. Highly recommended.
Avira Free Antivirus
Avira Free Antivirus is a winner in the AV-TEST antivirus efficiency tests, detecting and eliminating 99.7% of the threats currently circulating on the Internet. This makes it a perfect option for all who seek efficient protection without compromising the performance of our operating system.
Avira Free Antivirus stands out for being a very easy to use antivirus. This is basically due to a very simple and clear interface that any user is able to understand. To this must be added the possibility of adding an extra layer of protection thanks to a free suite that offers ransomware defense in addition to a free VPN with which to protect the privacy of our data.
As the only negative point, Avira Free Antivirus has quite a few pop-up ads that, although not constant, can eventually be annoying for users with little patience.
Sophos Home
Sophos Home is a simple and powerful free antivirus that performs all the basic functions that one would expect from such programs and is especially aimed at both families and small businesses.
With Sophos Home you can protect up to 10 different computers under the same license, preventing the attack of the main threats that circulate on the Internet. One of the most interesting points of this antivirus is that in addition to protecting your computer, it allows you to add parental control options so you will always have the security that the smallest of the house will not have access to fraudulent pages.
Sophos Home is a free antivirus, but as usual it also has a payment option with many extra features. Among them we find several layers of added protection against ransomware, protection of your bank data as well as boot protection of your operating system so that no malicious file makes any changes to it.
Microsoft Windows Defender
To finalize our list of the best free antivirus cannot miss Windows Defender. Microsoft's free antivirus is perfect for Windows 7,8 and 10 users as it offers a powerful layer of protection on your computer. In addition to all this, the antivirus is updated very regularly, having exponentially improved its effectiveness in detecting new viruses.
Since Windows Defender is perfectly integrated into the operating system, it hardly consumes the resources of your computer. This one has excellent malware detection as well as ransomware thanks to the option of backing up your files through OneDrive. In addition to all this, Windows Defender has managed to detect a total of 99% of virus threats this year according to the latest tests conducted by AV-TEST.
However, one of the most interesting points of Windows Defender is not its effectiveness or the fact that it is already integrated into the operating system. This is capable of living with a second antivirus such as Avast, without creating conflicts in the system or canceling some of its features. That is why it is very common for many of the users of Windows 10 choose to maintain Windows Defender and its powerful Firewall and then add a second antivirus to keep your computer twice protected.
We hope that this guide of the best free antivirus will help you keep your PC protected from any threat. If you have any questions about any of it or would like to add another option to the list, please do not hesitate to share it in the comments section.
