![]() While Microsoft Defender can act as a basic firewall, that’s nowhere near enough to keep private data safe on your Windows device. I strongly suggest you combine Microsoft Defender with a free antivirus like Avira. This ensures you’ll have at least a minimum level of protection. When reviewing a Windows antivirus utility, we report how it scores with four independent antivirus testing labs. ![]() The best products earn top scores from all four labs. But even if no test results exist, we can run our own hands-on tests using real-world malware and malware-hosting URLs. ![]() It took years to develop our hands-on tools and tests for Windows. Most of them don't carry over to the macOS platform. Hence lab results are extremely important for my Mac antivirus reviews. Two of the labs we follow, AV-Test Institute and AV-Comparatives, test Mac antivirus, and Avast participates with both.Įxperts at AV-Comparatives test Mac antivirus products using the latest macOS malware. They also evaluate each product's ability to detect Windows malware. Why? While a Trojan written for Windows wouldn't run on a Mac, the Mac could conceivably serve as a carrier.Īvast managed 100% protection against the Mac malware that AV-Comparatives hit it with. Still, two thirds of tested products reached 100%. Avast also scored 100% at detecting PUAs (Potentially Unwanted Applications), as did several others. In the Windows malware test, just under half the tested products achieved 100% detection, Avast among them. Like most tested products, Avast received certification from AV-Comparatives for Mac antivirus protection.ĪV-Test Institute rates both Windows and macOS antivirus products on three criteria: Protection, Performance, and Usability. Protection against malware attack is essential, of course. Avoiding an impact on performance is important, as users may turn off an antivirus that causes performance problems. And usability refers to refraining from flagging valid files or URLs as dangerous.Ī product can earn six points in each area, for a maximum possible score of 18. Avast took the full six points in Protection and Usability, and 5.5 points in Performance. A score of 17.5 is enough to get it the designation Top Product. Avira, Clario, MacKeeper, and Norton 360 Deluxe (for Mac) reached a perfect 18 points. With one perfect and one near-perfect score, Avast is a shining beacon of lab-test excellence. Only Avira does better, with perfect scores from both labs. Scan ChoicesĪvast offers several scans to improve your Mac's security. A deep scan on the MacBook that I use for testing took just 16 minutes. The average for recent products is almost 30 minutes, so Avast proves quite speedy. Webroot is the current speed champ, completing a full scan in 2.5 minutes.Īvast doesn't automatically scan removable volumes as they appear.
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