{"id":12425,"date":"2019-12-05T15:17:23","date_gmt":"2019-12-05T09:47:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antivirus.comodo.com\/blog\/?p=12425"},"modified":"2020-09-23T06:52:47","modified_gmt":"2020-09-23T01:22:47","slug":"free-antivirus-app","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antivirus.comodo.com\/blog\/comodo-news\/free-antivirus-app\/","title":{"rendered":"What Makes for a Good Free Antivirus App"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>These days, everyone needs an antivirus app on their mobile device. There are good antivirus apps. There are free antivirus apps. There are even some good, free antivirus apps. Here\u2019s a guide to working out which ones they are.<\/p>\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12439 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/antivirus.comodo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/free-antivirus-app.png\" alt=\"Best Free Antivirus App\" width=\"650\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/antivirus.comodo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/free-antivirus-app.png 650w, https:\/\/antivirus.comodo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/free-antivirus-app-300x138.png 300w, https:\/\/antivirus.comodo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/free-antivirus-app-225x104.png 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/div>\n<h2>Good, free antivirus apps are made available in the official app stores<\/h2>\n<p>Just being in the official app stores does not necessarily mean that an app is good. It does, however, mean that it\u2019s very unlikely to be malware. This is a lot more than can be said for free <a href=\"https:\/\/antivirus.comodo.com\/blog\/comodo-news\/does-windows-10-need-antivirus\/\">antivirus apps<\/a> on the broader internet. This means that it is generally very advisable to stick to apps from the app stores. The one exception to this is if you are downloading apps from really \u201cbig-name\u201d brands direct from the brand\u2019s website.<\/p>\n<h2>Good, free antivirus apps are updated regularly<\/h2>\n<p>Here\u2019s the hard fact about malicious software. It\u2019s being created all the time. This means that good IT-security companies are updating their products all the time. If you see an antivirus app (free or otherwise) and it looks like it hasn\u2019t been updated in a while, then leave it well alone. At best it suggests the developer has lost interest in it. At worst, it could be a sign that it\u2019s malware.<\/p>\n<h2>Good, free antivirus apps protect against USSD attacks and spam calls\/texts<\/h2>\n<p>Technically, this is only relevant for cellphones (and tablets which use SIM cards). In practice, however, it\u2019s a good indicator of the overall quality of an antivirus app. USSD attacks exploit security weaknesses in cellphone networks. Basically they aim to trick your phone into thinking that it is being given instructions by your cell network, which it will obey without question. These instructions can be anything from displaying your phone\u2019s IMEI number (ID number) to deleting data.<\/p>\n<p>Spam calls and texts are a security issue because they can be fraudulent. Spam calls can be used for the purpose of \u201cphishing\u201d. Essentially this means tricking you into handing over sensitive information. Spam texts now have the same issues as spam emails. They can be used to try to trick people into clicking on links which download viruses.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/secure.nurd.com\/home\/purchase.php?pid=109&#038;af=16166\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" onclick=\"ga('send', 'event', {eventCategory: 'Antivirus Blog', eventAction: 'Click', eventLabel: 'GET COMPLETE PROTECTION banner Product CIS Pro'});ga('nT.send', 'event', {eventCategory: 'Antivirus Blog', eventAction: 'Click', eventLabel: 'GET COMPLETE PROTECTION banner Product CIS Pro'});\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-8604\" src=\"https:\/\/antivirus.comodo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/complete-antivirus.png\" alt=\"comodo antivirus\" width=\"650\" height=\"83\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Good, free antivirus apps have browsing protection<\/h2>\n<p>You might be surprised at just how much you use the internet from mobile devices. You might not use it for long periods at a time (although it\u2019s increasingly common for people to do so), but you probably use it a lot for quick tasks such as catching up on news or searching for something that can\u2019t wait. This can soon add up to a lot of usage. Keep yourself protected on your mobile device the same way you (hopefully) do on your main computer. Look for an antivirus app with browsing protection.<\/p>\n<h2>Good, free antivirus apps have anti-theft functionality<\/h2>\n<p>Even if you have a budget-friendly device, anti-theft functionality still matters. The reason for this is that anyone who steals your mobile device could potentially steal any data on it. You may only realize this has happened once the damage has been done. This is why the best antivirus apps generally take a two-sided approach to dealing with theft. First of all, they include functionality to make your mobile device less attractive to thieves and secondly they will include the option to wipe your data remotely (including the data on your memory card).<\/p>\n<h2>Good, free antivirus apps have performance-optimization functions<\/h2>\n<p>These days, antivirus apps have to do a lot, which means they are quite demanding apps to run. There are two ways reputable software developers address this. The first is to write their antivirus apps to a high standard. This may not sound like much but it can make a huge difference. Think about trying to cut bread with a regular table knife versus using a proper bread knife. In theory, they\u2019re much the same but in practice there\u2019s a huge difference between them.<\/p>\n<p>The second way is to include functions which will optimize the performance of the mobile device so as to get the absolute most out of it. The <a href=\"https:\/\/antivirus.comodo.com\/antivirus-for-android.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">best antivirus<\/a> apps will also let you schedule non-urgent tasks so they run when it suits you rather than when the developer thinks they should.<\/p>\n<h2>Good, free antivirus apps are backed by a brand you can trust<\/h2>\n<p>There are times when it\u2019s fair enough to take a chance on an unknown company. Protecting your security isn\u2019t one of those times. Be very clear about this. No matter who you are, your personal data has value to cybercriminals. The personal data of your contacts has value to cybercriminals. Only entrust its protection to a company you know you can trust, like Comodo. You can head to this page right now to get all the protection you need for free!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?key5sk1=c10d7b971c7e3756985cb4f2287d429d3beba456&amp;id=com.comodo.cisme.antivirus\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4048\" src=\"https:\/\/antivirus.comodo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Comodo-Antivirus-for-Android.png.jpg\" alt=\"Comodo Antivirus for Android\" width=\"650\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/antivirus.comodo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Comodo-Antivirus-for-Android.png.jpg 650w, https:\/\/antivirus.comodo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Comodo-Antivirus-for-Android.png-300x115.jpg 300w, https:\/\/antivirus.comodo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Comodo-Antivirus-for-Android.png-225x87.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cwatch.comodo.com\/website-backup\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Website Backup<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>These days, everyone needs an antivirus app on their mobile device. There are good antivirus apps. There are free antivirus apps. There are even some good, free antivirus apps. Here\u2019s a guide to working out which ones they are. Good, free antivirus apps are made available in the official app stores Just being in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":10543,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[466,465],"class_list":["post-12425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comodo-news","tag-best-antivirus-app","tag-free-antivirus-app"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Free Antivirus App | Best Antivirus App for IOS and Android<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here is a guide to help you know if you have found the free antivirus app for IOS and Android smartphones. 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