MAY 2021 • TECH ADVISOR 75hackersentrytoyoursystem.We’renot
suggestingthatPCsecuritysoftware
is fool-proof.Antivirussoftwareoften
can’tdomuchtostopzero-dayexploits,
forexample.Butit candetectwhen
theundisclosedvulnerabilityis usedto
installothernastybits,likeransomware,
onyourmachine.Anyonewho
activelyusesemail,clicksonlinks,and
downloadsprogramswill benefitfrom
anantivirussuite.
Ourrecommendationsstrikea
balancebetweenexcellentprotection,a
goodselectionoffeatures,andminimal
impactonyourPC’sperformance.
WHATTOLOOKFOR
INANANTIVIRUSSUITE
Therearethreebasicrequirementsthat
anantivirussuiteneeds:
- Highdetectionrateformalwareand
otherthreats - Lowimpactonsystemresources
- An easy-to-use interface
That’s not all to consider, however.
These days, many security suites come
with extras such as a backup service for
your most essential files, Android apps
for mobile security, a more advanced
firewall, family protection (read: child
restriction) features, and the right to use
the program on multiple PCs. Whether
you need those extras depends on your
personal situation.HOW WE TEST
First, we take a look at the interface to
determine how easy or complicated it
is. Does the interface make it easy to
get at essential tools like PC scans and
password managers, for example, or is
everything buried under multiple clicks?
Are there elements that look like they
should be clickable but aren’t? Are alerts
interactive or purely informational, and
does that make sense in context?
We also examine the features on
offer. Every good antivirus suite should
have the basics like scanning and real-
time protection, but many vendors offer
elements that go beyond basic security
like password managers or firewalls.
We try to discern whether any of these
extra features are particularly useful, or
justfrillsthatlooknicebutdon’tserve
apractical purpose.
To test the suite’s demand
on system resources, we run two
benchmarks. The first is PCMark 8’s Work
Conventional test, which simulates a
variety of workloads including editing
spreadsheets, browsing the web, and
running video chat.
We run the benchmark before the
security suite is installed. Then we install
the software, have it run a full scan on