This is a roundup of security software packages. For the purposes of this article, we are focusing on consumer versions targeted at residential customers and small businesses that do not have a server.

After reading this article, see what security software you have and where it falls on the list. You may also want to forward this to your friends and family so they can see where their security software falls on the list.

We evaluated based on our own tests, personal experience, and reviews by other credible sources. The criteria used to evaluate these products includes:

  1. Automation. We want to set it and forget it. It should automatically update, automatically scan, and automatically clean.

  2. Configuration. Can we configure it the way we want to?

  3. User interface. Does it make sense or is it confusing?

  4. How well it prevent infections

  5. How well it removes infections

  6. Annoyance factor. We don’t want any pop-up ads. We don’t want it to constantly talk to us or ask us a lot of questions. Does it cause problems on our computer?

  7. Performance. Does it slow down our computer?

  8. Price. Is the price reasonable?

No security software gets a perfect score because none of them can completely protect your computer. Thousands of new infections come out every day. They just can’t keep up. But the better the protection, the less likely your computer is to become infected. But you don’t want to go too far and make it harder to use your computer. Computer security is a balancing act.

When you purchase security software, they usually come in different editions. You can generally get a full security suite or just the more basic components. Most people don’t need the full security suite. It adds a lot of features you don’t need and slows your computer down even more. We generally prefer the more basic packages with a few free utilities added in for extra protection.

We have organized this list of Security software into 3 categories. Not recommended, Neutral, and Recommended. In addition to these three categories of software, we are also including a section of free security add-ons that you will want to check out to help keep your computer safe from infections.

So without further Ado, here is the list!

Not Recommended

We don’t recommend using these products. If you have one of these products on your computer, we urge you switch to one of our recommended products as soon as possible.

  • Avast
    There is a free version of Avast that just includes basic protection. There is the paid version for $40and then there is the Internet Security suite for $60. We don’t recommend any of them, especially the free version. None of them provide very good protection and can cause problems with your computer. In addition, it slows down your computer more than our recommended products.

  • Avira Antivir (Free Edition)
    It’s free. In the past, Avira has been pretty good, but they haven’t kept up with changes in the industry. It no longer offers good enough protection against viruses and spyware.

  • Bit Defender
    Costs $50 but you can put it on up to 3 PC’s. Unfortunately, it slows your computer way down and only provides OK protection.

  • CA Internet Security
    It costs $70, and you can put it on up to 3 PC’s, but that’s more expensive than a Vipre Home Site license which costs $50 and you can put Vipre Home Site on as many PC’s as you want. It doesn’t provide adequate protection against viruses and spyware. Slows computer down way too much.

  • Comodo
    Comodo makes an antivirus, firewall, anti-malware, anti spam, and other security products that are all free. We like their firewall. The other components provide OK protection, but not good protection. The biggest problem with it is all of the advertisements. It will even install other products without asking you. A big no-no. It will even change your homepage. Way too intrusive.

  • Kaspersky
    Basic protection for $60 or a full security suite at $80, it provides good protection, but has a crummy user interface, slows down your computer too much and is way too expensive.

  • McAfee
    They have basic protection for $40, Internet Security for $70, or what they call Total Protection for $80. This is the second most popular security product, but it still has too many problems for us to recommend it. It provides OK protection, but the protection  you get isn’t worth all of the problems you have to deal with. It has a terrible user interface, isn’t very configurable, and slows your computer down, and is too expensive.

  • Norton or Symantec (versions prior to 2010)
    Norton security products are the most popular ones thanks to their superb marketing department. Too bad their product isn’t superb. Although it provides pretty good protection, it slows your computer WAY down and will also cause all sorts of major problems on your computer. This only applies to versions prior to the 2010 version. The 2010 version is better, but still not recommended.

  • Panda Internet Security
    Basic protection for $50. Internet security suite for $80. You can put it on up to 3 PC’s, but again it’s more expensive than a Vipre Home Site license. Provides good protection but too intrusive and annoying. Slow performance too.

  • PC Tools Spyware Doctor
    The basic version only protects against spyware, but it is only $30 and can be used on up to 3 computers, which is a very good price. There is a version that adds virus protection for $40 and can also be put on up to 3 computers. Although it offers excellent protection against spyware, the virus protection just isn’t very good.  The biggest problem with it, however, is that it slows your computer way down.

  • Trend Micro Internet Security
    Only comes in an internet security package that costs $50. Slows your computer way down. Too intrusive. Not very good protection.

  • Spybot Search and Destroy
    There was a time when we recommended Spybot Search and Destroy, but times have changed. This product is not kept up with the times. It only provides mediocre protection with an antiquated user interface. We do not recommend the free version or the paid version.

  • Ad-Aware
    The story for Ad-Aware is similar to Spybot Search and Destroy. There was a time when we recommended it, but not anymore. Although Ad-Aware’s user interface is much better than Spybot’s, like Spybot, it only provides mediocre protection. We do not recommend the free or pro version. 

Neutral Products

These products offer pretty good protection, but have some other issues like user interface problems or slowing your computer down. If you have one of these products, then you probably don’t need to switch right away. You might want to wait until it’s up for renewal and then switch to one of our recommended products.

  • ESET
    ESET’s antivirus/antispyware product which is called NOD32 provides very good protection at $40. They also have a product called Smart Security which, in addition to NOD32, adds a firewall and anti-spam. It costs $60. ESET didn’t make our recommended list for two reasons. First, we simply don’t like the user interface. And second, this product tends to slow the computer down more than our recommended products. It provides good protection, though. If you don’t mind their user interface and your computer doesn’t seem slow, then keep it. Otherwise, we recommend replacing it with something else when it expires.

  • Norton Internet Security 2010
    It costs $70, but can be installed on up to 3 PC’s. It’s the most popular security product, and has moved up from Not Recommended to Neutral  with their 2010 version thanks to their efforts to improve the product. In the past, Norton has severely slowed down computers and caused a lot of issues. They still have some work to do, though. In addition, we don’t like the user interface. It provides pretty good protection, though. If you have an older version of Norton, we recommend dumping it as soon as possible for a better product. If you have the 2010 product, replace it when it expires.

  • AVG Free Edition
    Good basic protection. Some nagging about upgrading to paid version, but not much. If your computer gets only light use, this package might be OK. But if you surf to websites you aren’t familiar with or get a lot of spam, you may need better protection. When major revisions of AVG come out, the free version won’t automatically update to it. You will have to manually download and upgrade.

  • Microsoft Security Essentials (free)
    Microsoft bombed with “Windows One Care” security product which was a terrible product in all respects. They discontinued that product and have now released a free security product called Security Essentials. Sounds very basic, doesn’t it? The jury is still out on this product as it is still very new.

Special note about free versions of security software
Free versions of security software usually suffer from one of two problems. The most common problem is that they just don’t have the funding to keep up. The second common problem is that free versions are stripped down version of the paid version. They just don’t have the features needed to provide adequate protection. That’s why free security software is not a good idea for most people.

The one caveat to this is Microsoft Security Essentials. Microsoft certainly has the funding to make Security Essentials good. It’s not a security suite, so it doesn’t have features like a firewall, anti-spam, and so forth, but it has the basic features that are needed. The biggest problem with it is that it’s so new, we just don’t know yet. Given Microsoft’s track record with Windows Defender and OneCare, it’s hard to be optimistic. However, we are optimistic at this time. But we can’t yet recommend it until more testing is done.
 

Recommended Products

Although not perfect, these products are the best available in our experience. These are the products we use on our systems and the products we recommend to all of our friends, family, and customers.

They are in order starting with our highest recommendation

  • Vipre
    Vipre comes in two flavors. For $30 you get Vipre which protects against viruses, spyware, and rootkits. For $40, you can get Vipre Premium which adds a firewall and other protection. For $50 you can get a Vipre home site license which lets you put Vipre on as many PC’s in your home as you want. You aren’t limited to 3 like many products. The Home Site License for Vipre Premium is $60. Like anything, it’s not perfect, but it provides the best protection for the money and the best features. The only feature it doesn’t include is anti-spam. The makers of Vipre, Sunbelt Software, stand behind their product too. If your computer gets infected, you can call them and they will help you remove the infection at no charge.

    You can purchase Vipre or Vipre Premium from us or from sunbeltsoftware.com.

  • AVG
    AVG comes in several different flavors. There’s AVG ($35), AVG plus Firewall ($50), and AVG Internet Security($55). AVG offers very good protection, but it’s a little more expensive than Vipre and a lot more expensive than SuperAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes. However, AVG’s Internet Security includes anti-spam protection which is not included with Vipre Premium. There is no equivalent to Vipre’s Home Site License, but you can purchase multiple computer licenses at a discount. For example, AVG Internet Security for 3 PC’s is $70.

    You can purchase AVG products from us or at avg.com.

  • SuperAntiSpyware
    The interface isn’t as nice as other products. It’s not as polished and is lacking some minor features. But although it’s not fancy, it does an excellent job of protecting and cleaning. At $30, the price is nice. Even nicer is the lifetime subscription you can get for an additional $10. No more annual renewals! There is a free edition, but it doesn’t provide active protection and can only scan for and remove infections after the fact. So the free version should not be your primary protection, although it can help remove infections should your computer become infected.

    You can purchase SuperAntiSpyware from us or at superantispyware.com.

  • Malwarebytes
    There’s a good chance you never heard of this one, but its good protection. They don’t offer a full Internet Security Suite, but for good basic protection, it’s very good. And at $25, it’s one of the cheapest ones out there. There is a free edition, but it doesn’t provide active protection and can only scan for and remove infections after the fact. So the free version should not be your primary protection, although it can help remove infections should your computer become infected.

    You can purchase Malwarebytes at malwarebytes.com. 

Free Add On Products

These are free products that you can add to your system that boost your security.

  • Threatfire
    Threatfire is totally different from every other security product in this article. It does not use virus definitions. It tries to detect infections based on behavior. This product is not good enough protection on its own. Their website shows how running Threatfire in addition to your regular security software will make your PC more secure. Our testing has indicated that it may help, but may not be worth the performance hit you take. If you want the extra bit of protection and don’t mind a little degradation in performance, you might want to give it a try.

  • Ad Blocking Software
    Some security software includes ad blocking functionality, but most don’t. None of our recommended security products include it. We recommend blocking ads because many infections get on computers through third party web banner advertisements. But never fear, you can get free ad blocking software for your browser. Another benefit to this add-on is that it will speed up your web surfing.

    For Internet Explorer, we recommend Simple Adblock which you can get at simple-adblock.com.

    For Mozilla Firefox, we recommend Adblock Plus which you can add from the Firefox add-ons window in Firefox.

    For Google Chrome recommend AdBlock by Gundlach which you can add from the extensions window in Chrome.

  • Website Rating Software
    Website rating software will put an indicator next to each website in your search results to let you know if a website is generally safe. This will help keep you from accidentally going to an infected website that may attempt to infect your computer. One of our recommended products, AVG, includes this functionality, but most security software does not. But there is a very good product that we recommend that does this and it’s free. It’s called Web Of Trust (WOT). You can get it by going to mywot.com.
     

Computer security is a balancing act. Not enough security and your computer can easily become infected. Too much, and your computer can become slow and hardly usable.

The bottom line is that we recommend you use one of our recommended products and then add on ad blocking and website rating software. Alternatively, you may want to add on Threatfire if your system can handle the extra load.

 

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