No Avast or AVG? Probably the most popular anti-virus software around.

Seriously impressed Niel and you correctly dropped AVG and Avast. Thumbs up for this writeup. PCMag reported on AVG and Avast and CCleaner being malware and 100 million people uninstalled it. They sold data via their subsiduary web company JumpShot which Avast then closed down (after the horse bolted) however Avast had a tone of DLLs havesting web traffic right from under you nose and selling it. The biggest data theft heist in history.

A European company based in Prague so under GDPR subject to massive penalties. FACE PLANT ON RAILWAY GRAVEL! AVST shares crashed too obvioiusly.

probably the most poor anti-virus software of the market

They're here, on the Free Antivirus roundup

https://www.pcmag.com/round...

Kaspersky:
1. Paid, cannot download from Chrome (white screen forever, only IE)
2. Cannot remove Malwarebytes (dead loop/re-start PC forever)
3. No customer service

i dont understand you

I paid $35 for Kaspersky, Kaspersky send a URL to install the software
1. The URL doesn't not work in Chrome, I cannot download from Chrome, so copy the URL to IE for the download
2. I have the Malwarebytes installed in my PC, Kaspersky force to remove the Malwarebytes, but Kaspersky cannot do it. Kaspersky keeps in restart PC/ remove Malwarebytes forever (deed loop). I did remove the Malwarebytes manually, finally get the software installed.
3. Went to Kaspersky website to get customer support, but NO. Kaspersky no anyone to do the tech support.

I am wondering why Kaspersky is No 1?

KASPERSKY BETTER THAN ALL

McAfee? haha... right. No one is paying for these reviews and they're unbiased...right? Here's the thing. If you're running Windows 10 and you're keeping it updated along with all of your other software, you don't need any of these programs - PERIOD. Use your brain in terms of where you go online, what you download and what you open and you should be good to go. All of these other programs are resource hogging, unnecessary and could actually serve to create a gateway to infection.

Just bought BITDEFENDER, twice, as it happens. How? After clearing the payment details you are delivered to a further page, urging you to spend another 30 quid on their installation package. Not interested, but there's no clean break or link back to confirm purchase. So I go check my inbox for the sales confirmation and I find an email asking why I abandoned my shopping trolley, and a link back to the (blank) payment details, in the trash. Complete the form again and again I'm dumped back on their installation package page with no clear destination other than to buy their help with installing the av pack. Sp I check my inbox for the invoice reply, confirmation and download link, only to find that yes, the first run did complete and now I've bought the same av system twice over.
So installation should be a piece of pie, yes, maybe? No. Its a circular pathway with one step leading to another and then back to the first. And around, and around again.
I've only got the one BA, a pg dip. and the MSc under my belt, 30 years experience on pcs, and an IQ in the 0.1 percentile, so maybe I'm just not smart enough to slog my way through the installation. I've NEVER before come across such an awkward and opaque online purchase and installation system.
Would it be cynical to guess that the whole AV purchase and installation process has been finely gauged to 'encourage' purchasers to double their spend by paying to be guided through the installation? Is it perhaps beyond the wit of man to design an installation process that is clearly structured and likely to lead to a successful anti-malware installation?
I'm happy to say that at least the customer survey seems to work, and I was able to insist on a reward from customer support, although here again the refunds application process was circular and confusing.

And be careful how they lock you into a subscription you might not want going forward. No thank you. I'm done with Bitdefender and all the other AV programs that are little more than marketing hype. I'm perfectly content with Microsoft Security and AV-Test agrees.

All these antivirus products are just a money making racket. I'm using Microsoft's Defender free!

With my Xfinity internet I get free Norton and it works great and I have had no problems with my computer, and I live on line. But I am also a web designer and well aware of Web Threats and I don't do anything stupid... It is not all on the anti-virus software. You also need to be educated on web threats and how they try to infiltrate your system no matter what anti virus suite you are running. Do not put your computer security entirely on some piece of software.

I'm also with Xfinity and I've had their Norton security in the past and it's perfectly workable. But currently I just go with what MS provides and things are sailing a little better on my devices.

I use ESET for different reasons:
1) "device control" feature;
2) widely customizable;
3) very light and performing;
4) clean & essential (no spam emails, no invitations to install other components such as browser extensions, etc.
5) top level forum support.

Kaspersky > Eset

Your survey assumes that we run only one type of protection. I’ve run two types for years.

Whats wrong with Comodo for Windows 7 ? I have used AVAST for over 10 years in the past but last year it started slowing my A4 Dual core w/ 6GB of RAM down so bad, switched to MSE and it was worst...but Comodo Cloud AV w/Sandbox is light weight and my ol HP Lappy runs quicker than a bunny on crack and it seems to block any of the crappy chit I run thru while surfing some reeeely sketchy sites.
My newer Lappy - HP w/i5 and 12GB of RAM seems to be just fine with Windows Defender running....and trust me I DO go to some sketchy sites.
No need to buy these overblown Security suites...Over the last 20 years I've been downloading anything and everything from Napster, Pirate Bay, Bearshare, Limewire, uTorrent to Kickass and dam near every porn site on the net and I've never gotten a Virus/Trojan/malware/Ransomware screw up any of my computers that a quick run of Malwarebytes or SuperAntispyware wouldn't get rid of....ya'll just be throwing good money away that could be better spent on some booze...lol

Webroot literally finishes dead last in comparative testing. To reflect something so totally different from reality discredits this article and website completely. Start with the testing at SE Labs. Don't be a joke.

SE labs says, "a product that completely blocks a threat is rated more highly than one that allows a threat to run for a while before eventually evicting it".

this is not a fair way to test webroot, it is infact bias against webroot. webroot is admittedly not top notch on definitions, but it is like comodo and basically sandboxes any untrusted or unknown program. if that program is later found to be malicious, it can be ENTIRELY removed. other AV's, if they are infected by a zero day, and upon later discovering it, have no idea as to all the changes it might have done. secondly, in webroot, untrusted programs can not access secured program sessions. so if i am using my web browser, which is protected in webroot from snooping etc, and i go to my bank and input in my passwords, the trojan or whatever can not see them, even when i'm infected. they are untrusted programs and are being monitored. they have no access to the data they want to take. this is not true in most other AVs.

that said, sure, it would be nice if webroot had a better network to make it's sigs. but that isn't what makes it strong. it has other real strengths that are stronger than other companies. those strengths are not tested though. one must understand how something works in order to understand if the testing is relevant.

myself, i use webroot as a complimentary AV. it is so light it doesn't have any system impact. if you do a lot of online banking or crypto, it's worth it the extra guard.

Good day
Seeing as you article for best antivirus is among the top ranking article on google I felt that I needed to warn you of a compromise in Bitdefender. As many I read you article and decided to give Bitdefender a go. Here is what happened.

So this happened twice now. The first time it was hard to pinpoint what the issue was but the second time I pretty much had a clean formatted PC and I watched step by step how Bitdefender compromised my computer.
First a note
I am a software developer and VERY careful what I download from the internet. The useful thing about this case is that is was a clean computer with nothing new installed. Basically Bitdefender, Steam and Virtual Box. And yes I double checked that these where the real websites and files. Full system Scan with Bitdefender confirmed the PC was clean.
So here is a step by step of what happened.
(My computer is turned off every night)
1: I tuned my computer on and worked from home all day. Did not download anything as I doing dev work on my VM.
2: Noticed in Bitdefender notification that required action. It said that there are new windows updates.
3: I then went to normal windows updates and updated and restarted. Everything was fine.
4: Then I noticed that Bitdefender still said that there is updates. I went to windows updates again and click checked for update but as I just did that it said there was nothing to install.
5: So to get Bitdefender of my case I click on the notification and click install.
6: This is where the shit hit the fan. It install the update and restarted the computer.
7: As soon as it loaded the login screen the resolution was super low for a split second then looked fine again.
8: After login Bitdefender did not start up. I tried to run the shortcut but it showed the "broken shortcut" icon.
9: Could not find any exe to run, Bitdefender was completely broken. More than that if I go to Windows security it is just a blank page. Some research showed that this happens when Windows Security is corrupt and a repair was the only way to fix this.
10: Uninstall and reinstall Bitdefender and then it picked up
The file C:\Windows\System32\winlogui.exe is infected with Generic.Application.CoinMiner.1.1E73EB1E and was moved to quarantine. It is recommended that you run a System Scan to make sure your system is clean.
11: Formatted and never load Bitdefender again.
Few important things. I have been running another Antivirus for years and nothing like this ever happened. After switching to Bitdefender this happened twice withing 3 months. I have a 5 man licence so I went to my friend that runs one of the other licences. I did the same thing to test it. He first updated windows and restarted and everything was fine. Then exactly the same Bitdefender still said that there is windows updates. If he where to click it Bitdefender would compromise his pc.

Like I said this is the second time this happened and the first time ransomware was also loaded not just the coin miner.

There are 2 possibilities.
1: Inside Job
2: The source for the update functionlity is Bitdender was compromised severakl month ago and they STILL have not realized this even after I mailed them. (Their support is terrible as the only reply 1 per 2 weeks but it is different person every time so you have to start over. They dont WANT to help)
So this happened twice now. The first time it was hard to pinpoint what the issue was but the second time I pretty much had a clean formatted PC and I watched step by step how Bitdefender compromised my computer.
First a note
I am a software developer and VERY careful what I download from the internet. The useful thing about this case is that is was a clean computer with nothing new installed. Basically Bitdefender, Steam and Virtual Box. And yes I double checked that these where the real websites and files. Full system Scan with Bitdefender confirmed the PC was clean.
So here is a step by step of what happened.
(My computer is turned off every night)
1: I tuned my computer on and worked from home all day. Did not download anything as I doing dev work on my VM.
2: Noticed in Bitdefender notification that required action. It said that there are new windows updates.
3: I then went to normal windows updates and updated and restarted. Everything was fine.
4: Then I noticed that Bitdefender still said that there is updates. I went to windows updates again and click checked for update but as I just did that it said there was nothing to install.
5: So to get Bitdefender of my case I click on the notification and click install.
6: This is where the shit hit the fan. It install the update and restarted the computer.
7: As soon as it loaded the login screen the resolution was super low for a split second then looked fine again.
8: After login Bitdefender did not start up. I tried to run the shortcut but it showed the "broken shortcut" icon.
9: Could not find any exe to run, Bitdefender was completely broken. More than that if I go to Windows security it is just a blank page. Some research showed that this happens when Windows Security is corrupt and a repair was the only way to fix this.
10: Uninstall and reinstall Bitdefender and then it picked up
The file C:\Windows\System32\winlogui.exe is infected with Generic.Application.CoinMiner.1.1E73EB1E and was moved to quarantine. It is recommended that you run a System Scan to make sure your system is clean.
11: Formatted and never load Bitdefender again.
Few important things. I have been running another Antivirus for years and nothing like this ever happened. After switching to Bitdefender this happened twice withing 3 months. I have a 5 man licence so I went to my friend that runs one of the other licences. I did the same thing to test it. He first updated windows and restarted and everything was fine. Then exactly the same Bitdefender still said that there is windows updates. If he where to click it Bitdefender would compromise his pc.

Like I said this is the second time this happened and the first time ransomware was also loaded not just the coin miner.

There are 2 possibilities.
1: Inside Job
2: The source for the update functionality is Bitdender was compromised several month ago and they STILL have not realized this even after I mailed them. (Their support is terrible as the only reply 1 per 2 weeks but it is different person every time so you have to start over. They dont WANT to help)

I have been a Norton subscriber for more years than I remember. I have had nothing but trouble with them. I receive frequent promotional offers and notices to "upgrade". As a result, several years ago, I had two subscriptions that renewed at different times of the year on the same devices. I was paying double. Even on one subscription, I was paying far more (nearly double) advertised pricing.
Yes, I was stupid and careless, but Norton made it easy to do that. They had no filters to warn of duplication. For various reasons, I talked to reps on the phone several times during that period and no one ever suggested I was getting gouged. Why should they? I stuck with them because of certain features I liked and laziness.
Do not fall victim to Norton's harassing promotions that get you to buy more than you need.

PCMAG maybe gone mad! :P Webroot is dead already a long time ago and it's time to say goodbye to Webroot. It was useful only for the Identity Protection module and being low on system resources. Nobody as a home user should argue why they would rather use Webroot over Windows Defender on Windows 10. If you do, you are putting your systems at risk, that's all there is for now, if somebody defends Webroot with all four, it's understandable, it has turned into a doggy food and dogs can't read nor research more facts.

i'm using Symantec Endpoint for Small Business, 10/10 cloud managed. it does sandboxing of all files, even if you recieve any emails with attachment, it will be scanned before its accessible to the user. Product is amazing lacks web-content filtering.

I have been using PCMatic along with Malwarebytes Premium for the last 3 1/2 years and none of my systems have had any problems. I am also very aware of what not to do though click on.

Why have I not seen any reviews for the American based company, PCMatic? Would like to know how they stack up, if it's as good as their advertising claims.
Have been using Webroot for about 3 years, seems to be working great; had no virus issues, & like others have stated, does not bog the computer down.

i have used Webroot internet security in combination with Malwarebytes the last few years with excellent results. Twice in the last year, family members (not computer literate - I'll click on anything!!) have gotten some form of ransomware and both times I was able to run a scan remotely with Teamviewer and the ransomware was removed. The cursor movement was limited and it was necessary to reboot or run the programs using keystrokes. Happy with the combination.

i use both as well. they are excellent. webroot works differently than other AVs, those that criticize it actually don't understand how it works or what it's doing.

So, with your recommendation I was going to buy McAfee but I had an extremely aggressive virus on my wife's computer. I decided to call McAfee and as you can guess it was routed to India. needless to say the cultural and language differences caused me to hang up and go somewhere else. All I asked was will the program be able to kill the virus if It's still on the computer, a 20min wait later he came back and said we can't recover your data. I was like WTH? I didn't ask that! When I asked to speak with someone else all I got was a frantic attempt to sell me the product.

Not good. If you already have a virus though, then I'd try Malwarebytes first.

Actually Webroot took extremely good care of me. Still glad I looked at this article. Also US based so no cultural roadblocks.

Also Malware bites Prem missed it and the virus uninstalled it. FYI

Two of my computers started routinely crashing almost daily when I loaded Kaspersky after spending a large amount of time with there techs I changed all my computers to Webroot and haven't had a crash since. Kaspersky tech support kept telling me that it wasn't there software that caused the crashing, I only changed virus protection nothing else but since that is not an all inclusive test I will let you choose for yourself

Windows Defender is sufficient for my needs, thank you very much.

I keep using Kaspersky free antivirus and it keep working great for my needs. Windows Defender still an eating CPU usage garbage in my system.

Bitdefender instillation is a WAIST OF MONEY!!!! Very confusing and no one to help you. I called them and am still waiting on the line for an hour. Don't pay the $29.99 to have them install it. I just wasted my money.

After using Norton (satisfactory but too expensive), I tried totalAV from "reviews" - what a disaster. Avast free slowed my computer down badly and wouldn't let some pages load properly. So to PC Mag then and finally chose bitdefender. CANNOT BELIEVE the difference in performance of my old computer with bitdefender! Amazing. And I've kept my computer updated, etc. Whatever bitdefender does, it does very, very well. No I didn't buy the expensive program, just the basic. And I am VERY HAPPY. Wow is all I can say.

What was wrong with TotalAV?

where is UnHackMe? it's awesome!

i don't recall them having real time monitoring?

windows 10 don't need any of this thank you

Right! After years and years using Avast and others that gave me more troubles than protection I decided to forget third party AV and activated Windows Defender Antivirus. Now everything works smoothly and have had not a single problem since then. Every now and then I run Malwarebytes, AdwCleaner and RogueKiller, just for peace of mind.

Not if you don't care about picking up malware that is.

If you don't want to run any third-party anti-virus, at least make sure you have regular backups, and run Malwarebytes or similar at least once a week.

Have the Trend Micro+ AV working alongside Malwarebytes and you are covering up The Gap along with the Anti-Ransom Cybersight.
The rest are Trash Defective AV. McAfee and Norton was the danger of getting the Rootkit Malware similarly like "Sniffer Attack" And "STAGEFRIGHT".
I have tested every AV VS Malware, except for the Trend Micro+ and Malwarebytes on Win10. Bitdefender does not let you buy One Year for life. Malwarebytes can take out "The Ridiculous Game" Future Rootkit Malware, but you would need $1M Coverage Solution when there is Data Breach. Recently, I had received The Status Report that China had DDOS Attacked The US with Rootkit Bots on the Internet Service Providers. Imperva had gave me the PDF Status Report this Morning.
"Global DDoS Threat Landscape PDF 2019" had came within the mail. I Am A Jehovah/ Yahweh Witness from White Hat Security Inc. Reporting on what is going on around the Cyber Globe. Whenever I notice something happening around the globe, I then report it.
I really do Hope to find Good News than this Terribly Bad News for Cyber Tech Solutions.

Coisa de Nerd

Why is there no review of Panda???

We've reviewed Panda's products, they just haven't made the cutoff for this roundup, which only lists the top 10.

LOL this article is rubbish! If you're on Windows 10 with a valid license and maintain your updates then you have ample protection from malware. In many cases third party security software becomes the hacking vector.

Do you have any actual evidence to suggest that third party security software is ever a hacking vector?

Yes

But you're not going to tell anyone what it is??