14 DAY TRIAL // While many consider antivirus products useless software because they can very well stay away from cyber-threats on their own, others prefer to install a security application and let it take care of everything related to security on their devices.
Choosing the right antivirus, however, isn’t necessarily the easiest thing to do given the plethora of choices, and this is where antivirus tests come to the rescue, as they highlight the products with the best detection, performance, and usability.
The most recent antivirus tests performed in November and December by the experts at AV-TEST reveal that only three different products managed to obtain the maximum score after performing nearly flawlessly in all three tests.
BullGuard Internet Security, Kaspersky Internet Security, and NortonLifeLock Norton Security is the trio that scored 18 points out of the maximum of 18, with 6 points for each protection, performance, and usability test.
Windows Defender impresses (again)
While it might seem a little surprising that only three names got the top score, there are plenty of other products whose performance was nearly flawless and was rewarded with 17.5 points. These include Avast Free Antivirus, Microsoft’s Windows Defender, VIPRE Security AdvancedSecurity and Avira Antivirus Pro.
Microsoft’s Windows Defender, which comes pre-loaded on Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, once again impressed during the tests, as its performance was on par with or even better than the one offered by leading third-party security vendors. Windows Defender received 6 points for protection, 5.5 points for performance, and 6 points for usability.
The worst performer in this new round of tests is Protected.net Total AV, whose score barely reached 14 points after getting 4 points for protection, another 4 points for performance, and 6 points for usability.
Check out the attached graphs for more information on the performance of each antivirus product in the testing.
