The internet is a dangerous place, and yet we spend hours on it. There are so many viruses that can crawl into your computer, whether you are downloading videos, surfing the web, opening a document, or checking your emails. Viruses can be extremely detrimental to your computer because they can have all kinds of effects such as slowing your computer down, data can be stolen, and your hardware can even be completely erased. Therefore it is very important to get a quality anti-virus program that will protect your computer from these harmful effects.
Things to look for in an antivirus are:
1. Performance:
The most important in product-selection. Your anti-virus program needs to do far more than block malware that has been flagged as dangerous. It also has to identify other potential threats and neutralize threats that are beginning to act maliciously.
2. Features:
There are a lot of factors that make up an anti-virus product, and you need to make sure that the one you select has the right features for you. These features are:
- Manual Virus Scanning: a manual virus scan can detect and remove viruses that may have infected your PC.
- Anti-Spyware: Spyware can really damage your computer and slow it down, and can even steal your data or identity. A good program will stop that from happening.
- Real-time Antivirus: Monitors and scans continuously for virus activity. This is the top priority to look out for when comparing anti-virus programs.
- Virus Removal: Look to see how well the software actually removes the viruses it detects.
- Resource Usage: You want a program that takes as little CPU and memory as possible while actively protecting your PC.
- USB Virus Scanning: This is the ability and effectiveness of the program to automatically scan a USB/thumb drive for viruses.
- Installation: Your anti-virus program should install quickly and easily, even for the most inexperienced of computer users.
- User Interface: The anti-virus program should be easy to use, with settings that make sense and are well organized.
3. Help and Support:
Once you find an anti-virus software with the features and performance level that you are looking for, you should consider checking the technical support offered with the product. You should make sure that the software offers support both via email and toll-free phone calls, and that they are available around the clock. You also want to make sure that the tech support that is offered is effective, helpful, and and responsible.
Most computers today do come with some sort of anti-virus protection, but it is usually not sufficient and not the best performer. There are also free softwares. But the best ones tend to be the serious ones that cost money. So in order to truly protect your data as well as the quality of your computer, and your identity, it is highly recommended to buy and install the best antivirus software and ensure optimal protection. Optimal protection is key because, without an antivirus software, you could get your bank account hacked into if someone steals your identity and financial information. Imagine getting your facebook account hacked and accidentally downloading a virus that renders your new, expensive computer completely useless! Without anti-malware protection, you can be in danger of losing your entire music and photo collections. You would spend hundreds and thousands on house and health insurance, and compared to that, this protective software only costs $20 a year! The safety of your computer is just as important as the safety of your other possessions, if not more, and that is why it is important for you to get high quality, high performance anti-virus software.
