We spent dozens of hours reading results from independent labs like AV-Test and AV-Comparatives, feature articles from many publications such as Ars Technica and PCMag, and white papers and releases from institutions and groups like Usenix and Google’s Project Zero.
Windows Defender, Microsoft’s built-in tool, is good enough for most people. The “best antivirus” for most people to buy, it turns out, is nothing. And after all that, we learned that most people should neither pay for a traditional antivirus suite, such as McAfee, Norton, or Kaspersky, nor use free programs like Avira, Avast, or AVG. In a similar vein, don’t store this kind of sensitive information in a non-encrypted file (e.g., Word doc) or share it over non-encrypted forms of communication like email or text message.We set out to do a standard Wirecutter guide to the best antivirus app, so we spent months researching software, reading reports from independent testing labs and institutions, and consulting experts on safe computing. This is less to do with Windows security specifically, but it can create headaches with access to your linked Microsoft account and other services. The same goes for giving out personal information that can be used to get into your accounts, like your birth date, location, phone number, social security number, and the like. Just because the person who passed it to you is a trusted source doesn’t mean the link, program, or drive itself is trustworthy. Clicking on links, downloading files, installing programs, or plugging in external USB drives without first thinking about where they originally came from-and what they might gain access to-can create the problems that security hardware and software try to shield you from. What you choose to do on your PC directly affects your level of risk. No matter what operating system you use, remain careful about what you click on, what you download, and what you install.
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