BEST OF THE REST
Mcafee Antivirus
Best value: Mcafee Total Protection 2022 (10 devices, 1 year) £14.99 from www.snipca.com/41407 Mcafee is a consistently strong performer in lab tests of antivirus software, with both Av-test and Av-comparatives naming it one of their top products. It achieved an almost perfect score for blocking malware and avoiding false positives, though SE Labs was less impressed, finding that the software stopped only 84 per cent of targeted attacks.
The Total Protection edition protects up to 10 computers and mobile devices (depending on which plan you subscribe to) and includes a firewall (see screenshot below left), password manager, file shredder and unlimited VPN, though you don’t get webcam protection or a secure browser, and only the Ultimate option offers parental controls.
However, what drags Mcafee down below our award winners is that it significantly slows your system – using half the available processing power on our PC when it ran a full scan. The program is more bloated than it looks or needs to be, especially compared with the unobtrusive Microsoft Defender, though its features and friendly design are a definite bonus.
Avast One
Best value: Avast One Essential (1 device , no licence)
Free from www.snipca.com/41408 Whereas most 2022 updates are fairly superficial, Avast has redesigned and rebranded its antivirus software. Avast One Essential is the free version and would give Microsoft Defender a run for its money if you had to pay for either.
As well as blocking malware, it checks if your passwords have been compromised in data breaches (see screenshot below), locks folders against ransomware and stops hackers directing you to phishing sites. Avast One Essential also includes a firewall and a VPN, which gives you 5GB of data a week, though only one server location. However, other tools, such as ad blocking, system optimisation and a password manager, require you to pay £75.70 a year for Avast One Premium.
These locked features and prompts to upgrade make the free Avast One more annoying to use than Defender and the 5-device paid-for version is more expensive than Norton and Bitdefender. Avast scored 99 per cent or more from all three of our labs, though SE Labs found it let through a few targeted attacks – these tests looked at the old free program rather than the new One edition, but this uses the same antivirus engine.
Trend Micro Security
Best value:trend Micro Maximum Security (5 devices, 1 year) £24.95 from www.snipca.com/41413 Trend Micro offers simple but effective protection, with an antivirus engine that’s rated very highly by all the independent test labs. It achieved excellent results in recent evaluations (though SE Labs didn’t test it), but raised more false positives than our Silver and Bronze award winners. All versions of the program provide a secure environment for online banking, but strangely it doesn’t have a firewall. Instead, a Firewall Booster monitors internet traffic for evidence of intrusion and botnets.
There are three plans to choose from, with the middle-tier product, Trend Micro Internet Security, throwing in parental controls and social-media protection. However, it’s worth spending a bit more on Trend Micro Maximum Security (see screenshot left), which protects phones and tablets as well as PCS, and adds a password manager and secure file vault.
Trend Micro’s weak point is that it tends to slow your system while checking for malware, though not as badly as Mcafee and it compensates for hogging memory by scanning fairly quickly.