After spending hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars on a brand new computer, the ideal thing to do is for it to become infected by malware. This is why it’s essential to regularly update and check your antivirus software. The most effective antivirus software provides strong malware protection, along with a range of other security features for the internet. These include the VPN security, anti-phishing and password managers dark web monitoring, as well as parental controls.

The best antivirus software is updated frequently to ensure most recent threats can be identified and blocked. This is essential since new threats are continuously created and the old ones can change over time to avoid detection. The top antivirus programs employ a variety of methods to detect and stop viruses, such as signature detection, heuristics analysis behavior monitoring and artificial intelligence.

Some of the most effective anti-virus programs also include additional tools like a disk manager for hard drives, an application manager that manages startup, and a process monitoring tool. This will allow you to keep your PC running at its top performance and safeguard against a greater range of threats than the basic malware scanning offered by free antivirus software.

The majority of antivirus software is premium and offers cross-platform and multi-device licences that are compatible with Windows, macOS, and Android. This makes it a great option for families with several smartphones or computers to secure. For example, Norton 360 review offers excellent protection against malware and viruses alongside a comprehensive set of additional cybersecurity tools including a password manager, VPN, VPN and dark web monitoring, and parental controls, with an affordable annual subscription.