Here's what you should look
for when choosing anti-virus software:
Effective Virus Detection.
Viruses are detected by antivirus software in two ways; a
full scan of your hard drive, or in real-time as each file is accessed. It is
critical that antivirus software provide both these features, especially
real-time protection. Does the product quickly identify infected files with a
realtime scanner, whether it comes via email, IM Apps, web browsing, etc.?
There are a number of certification
laboratories that test the detection rate of antivirus software, purely rating
products on whether or not they are capable of detecting in-the-wild viruses. We
recommend only choosing products that are certified by at least one
recognised certification scheme.
Check the following sites to see whether the product you're interested in passes
their tests:
- West Coast Checkmark
http://www.westcoastlabs.org/
- Virus Bulletin 100% awards
http://www.virusbtn.com/index
- ICSA
https://www.icsalabs.com/icsa/icsahome.php
There may be several certification programs to choose from and you'll need to
match the product version you're considering with the platform you intend to
install it on.
Effective at Cleaning or
Isolating Infected Files. Does the product
thoroughly clean, delete, repair, or quarantine the infected file to stop the
spread of the virus and save the rest of your system/network?
Performance and Ease of Use. No
product will be effective if users do not understand how to use it, if certain
features are absent, or if it has a negative impact on their system. How easy is
it to install the software? How easy is it to scan for infected files? Can you
schedule a time when your files will be inspected or specify what files will be
inspected? Are the features easy to access and understand? Some anti-virus
programs interfere with other software - in certain cases making programs
unstable or worse. All anti-virus software will slow your computer down, but the
best have the least impact on performance.
Ability to update.
Keeping antivirus software up to date is critical; more so
than with any other software. Computer viruses are being written every day. The
product should be able to update easily and should allow for full customization
of the types of files to be scanned. Does the software developer provide regular
updates? Are they free? If so, for how long? Will the software update
automatically, or does the operation have to be performed manually? Anti-virus
software should provide the option to change any of these settings and to
schedule the automatic updates at a specific time that suits you.
Activity reporting.
You should be able to view what each demand scan found and
what it did with any infected files. You should also be notified immediately of
any infection found with the realtime scanner.
Support. Does
the software developer provide adequate technical support (extensive frequently
asked questions/knowledge base, email support, help desk phone number, etc.)?
Help Documentation. Is there a help document available? How useful is it? Is it
easily understood without relying on technical jargon? Can you find your answers
easily?
Check the system requirements before you buy. |
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