After spending hundreds, or thousands of dollars on a new PC, you don’t want to risk it being infected by malware. That’s why it’s important to regularly update and check your antivirus software. The best antivirus software provides solid protection against malware and various additional internet safety features. These include the use of a VPN (virtual private network) along with anti-phishing security and password managers.

The best antivirus software is updated frequently to ensure that the most recent threats are detected and blocked. This is essential as new threats are developed constantly and old ones can evolve over time to avoid detection. The top antivirus programs have a variety of methods to detect and block viruses, such as signature detection, heuristic analysis, behavior monitoring, sandboxing and artificial intelligence.

Some of the most effective anti-virus programs also include additional tools such as a disk management tool for hard drives, an application manager that manages startup, and an instrument for monitoring processes. This will allow you to keep your PC running at its highest performance and shield against more threats than the basic link building malware scanning offered by free antivirus software.

The majority of top antivirus software provides cross-platform and multi-device licenses that are compatible with Windows, macOS, and Android. This makes it an excellent choice for families with several smartphones or computers to guard. Norton 360, for example is a top choice for malware and virus protection, together with a broad set of additional cybersecurity tools, including a VPN and parental controls, as well as dark web monitoring, all at the cost of a low annual subscription.