A good antivirus program safeguards your system from threats such as spyware, viruses, worms, adware, keyloggers, cryptojackers, and rootkits. It checks your device for dangerous files and, based on its settings, either deletes the files or moves them to the quarantine folder. It can also block harmful websites and block your devices from connecting with unsafe Wi-Fi networks.

Although the majority of modern smartphones and tablets have built-in antivirus protection, these programs aren’t as effective as standalone cybersecurity suites. In this article you’ll find a list of the best antivirus software that provide high malware detection rates, along with various other security features. These include anti-phishing tools as well as an VPN and disk optimization tools.

Viruses, Trojans, and Worms

Viruses are by far the most prevalent type of malware, and they are able to spread from one device to another via email attachments or via websites with malware. They can do everything from steal passwords and financial information to destroy important files. Worms are similar, except they can create botnets, which are used to send spam or launch attacks on other computers. Trojans can monitor users using their keyboards and keystrokes.

A quality antivirus program also protects you from malicious websites designed to gather details about credit card transactions and bank accounts from unsuspecting users. It can also safeguard your system from ransomware that encrypts your files and holds them hostage unless you pay a fee to retrieve them. Some of the best antivirus programs on this list have a feature that will stop ransomware from executing by stopping your system from downloading its code.

is total av better than avast