What Makes a Good Antivirus? Some Basic Ingredients that Make Your Antivirus a Perfect Choice

While many antivirus brands claim their products are top-notch choices (and many of them have a solid ground for considering so), you still struggle to find the only decision before giving it your money. Of course, we should ask ourselves, for instance, is Avast a good antivirus, or is Panda a good choice for my PC? At the same time, the right question would rather sound like what makes a good antivirus?  

These tips may be obvious for those who are connoisseurs of IT and software topics. However, you don’t have to be already a tech expert to learn a few things about antivirus software and its most crucial features that should be working like a clock. From a user-friendly interface to good scanning options, everything you can find in a professional review and what you should pay attention to. 

User-Friendly Interface

It may seem that the user interface is the least significant aspect of AV software. In fact, it is a determinant, whether or not you will use this product. It doesn’t matter if it is the best and free software if it is written in gibberish, and you struggle to understand what are your following steps after you downloaded the program. 

Don’t feel ashamed if you are not a pro in advanced tech vocabulary; after all, most AV software is made for people who are far from acquiring a doctor’s degree in IT. Everything in your program should be intuitive and easy, from its installment process to scheduling everyday scans and getting rid of viruses. If you feel any discomfort from using the program, it is better to pick up something more user-friendly.  

Extra Features Without Extra Price 

Usually, free versions come with baseline protection and few features that cover everything from network connections to email checks or password management. We are not trying to be shady about it; it is how it is. Often free versions are available to keep your system clean and safe from malware and viruses. 

When speaking of advanced suites, always pay attention to what comes in them. Different vendors offer a different set of features unlocked in paid subscription versions, but some features are a must for you:

• VPN and firewall, for the best online browsing protection.
• Keylogging, webcam, and screen capture protection, these features can save you from many unpleasant moments, if hackers get access to your keyboard, webcam, or home screen.
• Anti-phishing, anti-adware, anti-spyware, and anti-ransomware protection, these should show the highest scores from specialists, as these types of threats can come either from email or online browsing.
• Data back-up, this one may not be as crucial as other features, but even if a virus destroyed your data, it is good to know that you have a copy.

High-Quality Malware Protection

A good antivirus should be prepared to fight against well-known and fresh out to web threats. Although no existing software can guarantee you a one hundred percent protection without even a possibility for hackers to get to you, it should know how to recognize the threat beforehand. There are various methods of malware detection, but without digging too much into it, good antivirus can learn and use databases. 

At the same time, it is good if independent labs tested the AV product. Testing is the best way to indicate what are the vulnerabilities of the product, what is the rate of false positives, and how good antivirus is challenging the threats. Of course, test labs are not the final judges of product effectiveness, but their presence and involvement is a must for respectable software. 

Scanning Options 

A good antivirus should perform fast and effective scanning without a visible impact on your CPU. There always should be several options for a scan, a possibility to set a regular scan, or schedule one. At the same time, your antivirus should provide you with real-time protection, the option that makes your online and offline experience safe.