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Loading...If you really need your computer, for example, you rely on it for work or study, then you don’t just need an antivirus, you need the best antivirus software with these five, must-have features.
Feature one – cloud hosting
Forget about doing everything on your own computer. These days, that’s just asking for frustration and actually reducing your protection instead of improving it.
The frustration is because modern antivirus software needs access to a lot of information to do its job properly, plus it has to be very active about continually checking your computer for threats. This means that running antivirus software on a purely local basis is a serious drain on your computer’s resources to the point where it’s potentially going to slow down even premium machines and it’s certainly going to be a major drag on budget-end/older machines.
The reason it reduces your protection is that it increases the length of time it takes for you to be protected against new threats as they emerge. That’s before you get to the possibility that, for whatever reason, a critical update won’t be applied locally. Speed of response is often vital in security and it certainly is for cybersecurity so when you multiply a little delay by numerous updates, you can see how the risk increases.
These are the two main reasons why cloud-based antiviruses are now considered the way to go and hence why the best antivirus software tends to be hosted in the cloud.
Feature two – ad blocking
In the old days, some people used to feel slightly guilty about blocking adverts because they paid for a lot of the free-to-use content on the internet. In fact, some people still feel a bit guilty about blocking adverts as they can be a useful source of revenue for some content creators. If that sounds like you then make a note to support your favorite content creators in some other way, but use an ad blocker because adverts are now one of the biggest security threats on the internet.
Malware creators are now buying up advertising space on legitimate websites and using it to host adverts which spread viruses. This is known as malvertising. In some cases, users have to be tricked into clicking on a link which takes them to a malicious website. If this happens and they have a firewall (browsing protection) in place then they should be protected. Sometimes, however, a virus can be activated just by an advert being shown on screen.
To summarize, you can go to a legitimate, high-profile website, see an advert on screen and get infected by a virus without even having to click on anything. That’s why ad-blocking functionality is now a must-have.
Feature three – firewalls
Picking up from the previous point, firewalls check your internet traffic, both incoming and outgoing. They’re often marketed as “browsing protection”, as, these days, that’s their most important function, but it’s really only a part of what they do. You can buy firewalls as stand-alone products and if you really know your way around IT then you might want to explore this option.
For everybody else, however, the main reason to prefer antivirus software with an integrated firewall is not so much economy (although that’s a nice bonus), it’s the fact that it makes sure that both the antivirus function and the firewall function will work together straight out of the box. If you buy them separately then you’re going to have to make sure that you can configure them so that they recognize each other as allies rather than seeing each other as threats.
Feature four – Sandboxes
Not only is there a whole lot more malicious software than there used to be, there are all different types of it, including hybrid forms and some of it is frighteningly sophisticated. As a result, the best antivirus software products now include sandboxes as standard. In basic terms, a sandbox is a quarantine area on your computer. All new software goes there to be analyzed before it’s allowed access to your computer as a whole. If it does turn out to be malware, it’s treated in the sandbox to avoid damage to your computer.
Feature five – Brand name
If a cybersecurity company is well-known it’s usually because it’s been in business for a long time and if it’s been in business for a long time then it’s usually because it knows how to make good products which keep its customers happy. Comodo is one of the most respected brands in cybersecurity and has been protecting people for over 20 years. It’s trusted by millions so click here right now to download Comodo antivirus for your computer.
