Protect your devices, and digital info is getting increasingly difficult without best free Antivirus Software. Numerous companies now operate in the online environment exclusively, which gives cyber predators ample opportunities to jeopardize and attack your business.
At a personal level, our digital data is also at risk of either being lost or stolen. Can you imagine losing the images of your beloved ones or your bank account details?
As per the following report, successful ransomware attacks happen every 14 seconds. The other research shows that the average data breach costs companies more than $3.8 million.
In such conditions, it is almost unfeasible to run a profitable business long-term or using the Internet safely without any proper antivirus software.
However, not everyone has enough budget to pay for costly antivirus programs; numerous people concentrate on only free solutions. In this article, we’ll present the ten best free of charge antivirus software in 2020.
Even if they are free of charge, these tools are highly useful in defending against most cyber attacks.
Table of Contents:
Antivirus Software-Defined
What does an antivirus program do for you?
Top Antivirus Software
1. Avast Free Antivirus
2. Avira Free Antivirus
3. Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition
4. Kaspersky Free
5. Microsoft Defender
6. Sophos Home
7. AVG Antivirus Free
8. Malwarebytes
9. Symantec
10. Zone Alarm by Checkpoint
Conclusion
Antivirus Software-Defined:
Before you begin analyzing our top 10 picks, it’s essential to understand antivirus protection.
By definition, Antivirus software is a program or set of programs designed to prevent, detect, search for, and remove software viruses and other malicious computer codes such as worms, ransomware, trojans, and adware, and more.
What does an antivirus program do for you?
Jake Gardner, a cybersecurity specialist at www.aussiessay.com, says it relies on the platform you choose but adds that most solutions come with the following functions:
Analyzing the health of your device
Scanning all links and files to detect any signs of malicious activities
Scheduling and running scans automatically.
Identifying and eliminating malware
Protecting your PC from downloaded executable files or malicious processes
It is only a small portion of antivirus features, but it’s enough to realize the value of such programs.
Best Antivirus Software:
You need a trustworthy antivirus solution, but how can you choose among hundreds of techniques available online?
We want to help you narrow down the number of options, so let’s check out ten freeways you should consider using in 2020 and ahead.
Avast Free Antivirus:
Avast Free Antivirus is one of the most comprehensive security suites with a robust virus protection engine. However, all-encompassing, Avast is a lightweight program that can never jeopardize your system’s functioning or slow down your PC. Gamers will admire this antivirus software because it has a special gaming mode, while we like the new password manager that makes password administration much more comfortable and safer. It also includes a secure VPN module to secure your identity and online activities.
However, the free charge version is sufficient for most uses. The paid Avast edition provides some advanced security features, including a sandbox environment for running suspicious apps, anti-spam and anti-phishing protection on emails, advanced host-based firewalls, etc. Regarding detection capabilities, Avast persistently ranks among the top antivirus engines as evaluated from different independent lab tests.
Avira Free Antivirus:
If you need a super-reliable and useful tool for system protection, then Avira Free Antivirus might be one of the perfect solutions for your business or PCs.
The tool is designed to secure and run on Windows, Android, Mac, and iOS devices. Avira contains a user-friendly interface and works quietly in the background, so you’ll rarely ever notice its impact on the overall system performance. Indeed, the platform is very successful in identifying and fighting malicious attacks, and it’s one of the severe challenges to Avast according to independent AV test results. Avira and Avast (together with Bitdefender coming next) are generally ranking on the top spots of the remarkable free antivirus solutions in independent AV lab tests.
Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition:
Of course, our list will not be complete if we don’t include one of the most potent free AV engines, Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition. What we admire about Bitdefender is its simplicity, as you do not have to be an expert to install and use it. Apart from that, the platform is known for its proactive functioning – it stays up-to-date with the latest e-threats and fights off even the most advanced malware.
It persistently gets high scores in independent AV tests (though it gives some false positives from time to time).
Kaspersky Free:
If you do not need more than just a core set of antivirus functions, we recommend you to try Kaspersky Free. Our colleagues at TopReviewStars and Topresume use Kaspersky for cyber protection, and they say it provides all features a small business might need. It includes malware protection, anti-phishing, email scans, and much more. Also, there is Kaspersky Security Cloud (Free) Edition, which in addition to the core AV engine, also offers a secure VPN option (switched on automatically when you connect to an untrusted WiFi network), password management and many more.
Overall, Kaspersky is a well-known security vendor with a robust offering in antivirus products.
Microsoft Defender:
If you are using Windows 10 and usually pay attention to cybersecurity problems, you should consider Microsoft Defender. It is built-in system protection, which comes by default in all Windows OS systems. Moreover, Microsoft Defender comes with a broad scope of quality safety features that guarantee peace of mind in the long run.
The engine was enhanced significantly recently and now identifies more threats than ever. Furthermore, Windows Defender has been rated as one of the Top Products in detection from www.av-test.org, one of the most respected testing labs for antivirus products.
Sophos Home:
Parents who want a robust data protection platform should consider Sophos Home Free edition. As the name suggests, it’s a tool developed for families, and it protects up to 3 devices while the paid premium version offers protection for ten devices. A cybersecurity analyst, Michael Jacobsen, believes this software is perfect for family usage: “Sophos Home detects and eliminates malware attacks, but it also comes with parental Web controls. That way, you can keep the entire family safe and sound around the clock.”
AVG Antivirus Free:
AVG Antivirus Free is a popular program among the cybersecurity community and has been on the market for many years.
The tool is packed with standard functions that successfully prevent 99.99% of malicious attacks. Some of the features we love and admire the most about AVG are the following:
A simple and intuitive interface
Scanning for performance and malware problems
Real-time scanning and updates
Stopping suspicious downloads before reaching the PC
Avast has acquired AVG, so this created robust synergies between the two vendors for the benefits of users.
Malwarebytes:
However, Malwarebytes is not designed as a free service (for the active antivirus option), you can take a free 14-day trial to evaluate the tool. Indeed, the free of charge version is not as comprehensive as the paid product, but it gets the job done. It does not work automatically, but you can use it for on-demand cleaning purposes and eliminate possible threats. Malwarebytes is beneficial when doing manual “on-demand” scanning, but unfortunately, the free version does not offer real-time protection like the rest of the tools in this list.
Symantec:
Symantec is a leading antivirus solution for businesses looking for an all-around cybersecurity system. The platform continually runs malware scans and behavior analysis, but the essential thing about Symantec is that it is a mature product and one of the oldest AV software. It makes the system trustworthy, but it is a bit heavy on computer resources. Furthermore, Norton is the antivirus product brand from Symantec, and the free of cost version provides scanning on-demand for finding any possible infections on your PC.
Zone Alarm by Checkpoint:
The last but not least antivirus software on our list is Zone Alarm by Checkpoint. Many users consider it to be the most advanced firewall, and it will take care of your computer. Zone Alarm halts malicious attacks, protects your digital identity, and secures the files.
A checkpoint is undoubtedly one of the top vendors in hardware firewalls, so Zone Alarm has inherited some of these quality firewall features from its parent company. I would say that Zone Alarm is ideally suited as a software firewall product, and we suggest using another antivirus engine for maximum protection.
Conclusion:
As malware attacks happening every second, it’s getting harder to defend your system and remain safe in the online environment. It is where antivirus programs step in to help you out, but you need to be careful and choose the most practical solution for your business or personal use.
In this post, we showed you the ten top-rated antivirus software you can use free of cost in 2020 and ahead. Have you ever tried any of this software? Which one did you consider to be the ideally suited? Do let us know in the comments; perhaps we could give you additional tips about your favorite choices.
