SECURITY
76 MARCH2020|COMPUTERSHOPPER|ISSUE385
A
lthoughWindows10 has improved
security dramatically,it’sstill important
tohavepropersecurity softwareto
block themultitude ofthreatsthat your
computerisexposed toasyou usethe
internet.Protection is doubly asimportant on
laptops, wherethey canleavethesafetyof
your homeand connectto strangenetworks.
To helpyou findthebest security software,
we’redoingthingsabitdifferently.Using
testing from SELabs(selabs.uk), an
independentsecurity company that’srunby
formerShopperstalwart Simon Edwards, we’ve
gotresultsfor15 products,taking inevery
majorfreeand paid-forsecuritysuite.
Lookingat theprotectionscores, which
show howmanythreatsweresuccessfully
stoppedat anystage, theresults thisyearare
quite staggering:outof the15 products,six
scoredaperfect 100,four 99,three98,one95
and, at thebottomof thepack,onescored81.
This showsthatprotectionlevelshave
improved dramaticallysince we lastgroup-
reviewedsecurity software,with themajority of
products doingasolid job.To findoutabit
moreabouteachbitofsoftware,we’re
deep-divingintothescore results tofindout
thequalityof protectionforeach.
Whenyou’ve finishedreadingtheresults,
you’ll know whichsoftwareisbest at protection
and whetheror notyoushould stickwithwhat
you’vegot or switchtoanother package.Even
so, results areonly partof thepicture,and
features, qualityof productand priceall have
an importantpart toplay.
So,usingourfirst-hand knowledgeof each
product, we’veputtogetherourchosenlistof
software.Thesearetheall-roundersthathave
thebestprice,featuresandprotection.
However,ifyou’realready running software
thatgivesthe levelof defencethat you need,
ourresults couldconfirmthat you’regood to
stick withwhatyou’vegot.
VERSION AVERSION
The testresults thatwe’reusingcomefrom
betweenJuly andSeptember2019. Each test
wasperformed afterupgrading thesoftware
tothelatestversion,including downloading
themostrecent
malwaredatabase
files. It’sworth
pointing outthat
thelevelof threats
changesovertime,
asdoesthe
performance of
products. Whatwe
havehereisa
snapshotofa
particulartime; it’s
abrilliant indicator
of howgoodeach
pieceof softwareis,
butwe have to putinthecaveatthat
performancecanvaryover time.
It’salsoworth mentioningproduct versions.
Typically,eachmanufacturerwillhavemultiple
versionsofitssecuritysoftware,eachwith
differentfeatures. Forexample, Kaspersky
Anti-Virusgives you basicsecurityprotection,
butif youupgrade to KasperskyTotal Security,
you getSafeKids forblockingbad content,a
passwordmanager,andtheencrypted Money
browsertoprotectonline transactions.
The baselevel of protectionremainsthe
samethroughoutallversions, soit’sreally
aboutlookingintotheextrafeaturesthat you
mayormaynotneed.To keepthingssimple,
we’velistedthebest versionbasedonprice
and featuresinourtable.
THE PRICE IS RIGHT
Security softwareispurchasedwithalicence
thatgivesyouaccesstosoftwareand
virus-detectionupdatesforasetperiod,
usuallyayear. Whenthelicenceexpires, your
softwarenolongerupdatesandyou’relocked
at aprotection levelthatbecomesmoreand
moreoutdatedasthetime passes.
You’ll often getabetterdealbybuying
‘boxed’softwarefromretailers suchasAmazon
butnotfromthesecurity vendors themselves.
Inthebox, you’ll getalicencecode, which
you can usetounlockthesoftwarethat you
SECURITY SOFTWARE BUYING GUIDE
NOTSUREWHATYOU SHOULD LOOK FORINASECURITYSUITE?WE’RE HERE TO HELP
ABOVE:It’svital to installprotection on alaptop if you take it away from home and connect to other networks
LEFT:Youcan oftenpick
up antivirus packages
cheaperonline than
from themanufacturer
