If you’re in the market for antimalware or antivirus software, then it’s important to do some research before you make your purchase. Today, we’re going to tell you about the three most important things to look at when researching antivirus software.
1) Look at its detection rate
The most important thing to consider when researching antivirus software is its detection rate. This rate (in percentages) tells you how many malicious programs the antivirus tool located on your computer. It doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be able to delete them, but it does mean that it has detected them and brought them to your attention.
If your antivirus program can’t even detect a virus, then how is it going to remove them from your system? A bad antivirus program has a detection rate below 95%, while most good ones are in the 99% or higher range. While very few (if any) antivirus programs actually have a 100% detection rate, it is something you should shoot for when making your purchase.
2) Compare removal abilities
Obviously, the next most important thing to look at when researching antivirus software is its ability to remove viruses once detected. Some antivirus programs will easily be able to remove 100% of all detected threats, while others may not be able to. Since some viruses (like bootkits and rootkits) embed themselves deep within your computer’s most essential system files, it’s rare to find an antivirus program that can remove 100% of all threats it comes across.
3) Resource usage
What’s the point of installing antivirus software if it slows your computer down to a snail’s pace? Resource usage is exceptionally important when comparing antivirus software. While some PC security programs may have stellar detection rates and phenomenal removal abilities, they clog up your computer’s resources worse than any virus ever would.
For that reason, you need to choose the right tradeoff between PC security and system performance. You should be willing to sacrifice a little bit of your computer’s performance in exchange for better system security, but sacrificing too much of it is counterintuitive.