Original source (on modern site) | Article images: [1] [2]
We've tested more than 100 anti-malware apps to help you find the top malware protection and removal software for all your devices.
By
Neil J. Rubenking Neil J. Rubenking Lead Analyst for Security My Experience When the IBM PC was new, I served as the president of the San Francisco PC User Group for three years. That's how I met PCMag's editorial team, who brought me on board in 1986. In the years since that fateful meeting, I've become PCMag's expert on security, privacy, and identity protection, putting antivirus tools, security suites, and all kinds of security software through their paces. Read Full Bio
Updated
February 21, 2024
Our Top 10 Picks
Best for Multi-Layered Ransomware Protection
Jump To Details
Best for Comprehensive Free Security
Jump To Details
Best for macOS Protection
Jump To Details
Best for Bonus Security Features
Jump To Details
Jump To Details
Best for Identity Protection
Jump To Details
Best for Dedicated Ransomware Protection
Jump To Details
Jump To Details
Best for Multi-Device Households
Jump To Details
Best for Speedy Scans in a Small Footprint
Jump To Details
We call our computers, phones, and other devices hardware and refer to the apps and programs that run on these devices as software. Some even describe our brains as wetware. But there's another kind of ware that you should be wary of—malware. Malware, malicious software, runs on your hardware for its own nasty purposes. Trojans steal your personal data, bots coopt your hardware for nefarious purposes, ransomware attacks hold your docs for ransom, and more. Just as there are many kinds of malware, you can also find many types of software to defend against the malware threat. At a minimum, installing a simple antivirus utility should keep most threats at bay. You'll also find security suites that shore up protection in various ways and programs specific to a task, such as ransomware protection.
We've reviewed more than 100 programs designed to combat malware to identify the best ones here. Read on for our top picks, followed by everything you need to know about keeping your devices free of malware.
Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions. See how we test.
Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
Wiping out malware that made its way onto your system and fending off any further attacks—these are the basics of malware protection. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus excels at those basics, as its consistently excellent lab scores attest. At present, it holds perfect scores from four independent testing labs. It aces many of our own hands-on tests, too, including a challenge involving real-world ransomware.
But the benefits don't stop there. With Bitdefender you get simple password management, protection for your banking transactions, and warnings if you've missed important security patches. It foils ads trackers and other browser-level tracking systems and even includes a VPN, though you pay extra for full VPN functionality. Bitdefender's security goes way beyond malware protection basics, and it does the job with a minimum of bother for you, the user.
You want malware protection, not a conversation about security or a barrage of popup notifications. Fine! Install Bitdefender Antivirus Plus and make sure its Autopilot is turned on. Then ignore it. So relaxing!
Setting up malware protection for your devices doesn't have to break the bank. You can install Avast One Essential on your Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS devices for exactly zero dollars. Four independent antivirus testing labs stand behind Avast, routinely awarding it top scores, and it earns excellent ratings in our own hands-on tests.
Avast doesn't give away the entire store for free, reserving some features for the commercial Avast One security suite. But you get plenty of features in the free edition, including a permission-based ransomware protection system, a basic firewall, and a bandwidth-limited VPN. On macOS, it goes beyond the basics, with ransomware protection, browser cleanup, and VPN. VPN protection also extends to Android and iOS; Android devices also get protection against malware and privacy woes.
If the only reason you don't purchase a full-scale commercial security suite is the cost, Avast One Essential is just the thing for you. It's packed with features, just not quite as packed as the for-pay version. And, uncommon in free malware protection products, you can use it on all your devices, not just those running Windows.
Two of the independent antivirus labs we follow put macOS antivirus tools to the test, reporting scores that let us know which ones are the most effective. Both give Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac a perfect score, and it earned very good scores in our hands-on tests. In the default Autopilot mode, it does its work while keeping user interaction to a minimum.
This antivirus doesn't boast the immense feature collection found in its Windows equivalent, but it still goes well beyond the average macOS antivirus. Its tracker-blocking system actively prevents advertisers and others from tracking web surfing activity, and it actively protects against ransomware. A VPN (virtual private network) gets installed with the antivirus and lets you protect 200MB per day of web traffic (for an additional fee, you can remove that bandwidth cap and unlock other features). To ensure you don't encounter malware, Web Protection steers you away from malicious and dangerous web pages and the Traffic Light browser extension marks up search results with green and red icons to flag safe and dangerous pages.
You want the best antivirus for your Macs, but you don't want to hear about every little event. Bitdefender's Autopilot achieves that set-and-forget goal, letting you spend your online time doing things you enjoy while lab-certified protection goes on in the background.
Bitdefender's antivirus provides robust and comprehensive malware protection, but Bitdefender Total Security takes that protection to the next level. On Windows, it adds a performance optimization system and a component that protects not against malware but against real-world thievery. It broadens its coverage to include your macOS, Android, and iOS devices. And the online Bitdefender Central console provides you with an overview of malware protection on all your devices.
On the Mac, you get Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac, which is itself an Editors' Choice. Total Protection on Android runs the gamut of security features. It has the expected antivirus and anti-theft features, of course. Scam Alert flags suspicious text messages, Web Protection deflects malicious and fraudulent web pages, App Lock locks down your most sensitive apps, and Account Privacy checks for data breaches that include your email. As usual, you don't get as much protection for iOS devices. It's not that security companies dislike or discount iOS; it's that Apple limits what they can do.
Bitdefender Total Security protects your Windows devices just as Bitdefender Internet Security does, which should make anyone happy. But Windows boxes are only part of the picture. Total Security adds award-winning protection for your Macs, a comprehensive suite for your Android devices, and even a modicum of security for iOS. If you need to secure and manage a household full of disparate devices, this one's for you.
When malware comes calling, you naturally assume that your security software will turn it away. Norton 360 Deluxe takes that assumption and makes it a promise. If, somehow, malware gets past the antivirus and other protective layers, Norton support agents will use remote control to eliminate it, or your money back. Chances are slim you'll need to invoke that protection, though. All the antivirus labs we follow regularly award high scores to Norton's technology, and it aces our hands-on tests, too.
Your subscription includes five full licenses for Norton's VPN, to protect your communications in transit. That's a big plus, as many suites require an extra payment to remove VPN limits. Norton also includes a robust, intelligent firewall, a basic password manager, and a local spam filter, as well as a dark web monitoring system to warn if your private data is exposed. The included parental control system is our current Editors' Choice as a standalone. And 50GB of hosted online storage for your backups is a nice bonus.
Norton has been around almost since the beginning of the antivirus market. It offers dependable, comprehensive protection, and it's an especially good choice for anyone who knows the value of VPN protection for online connections.
We've already mentioned Norton 360 Deluxe as an excellent choice to protect your devices and your online connections from malware attack. You get a full-powered VPN, hosted online backup, award-winning parental control, and much more. Norton 360 with LifeLock Select starts you off with the same excellent malware defenses and adds identity monitoring and identity theft remediation supplied by identity pioneer LifeLock (which now belongs to Norton).
You need to spend a little time configuring LifeLock so it knows what personal information to protect. Once you've done so, it monitors the dark web for traces of your data. It checks for possible misuse of your SSN, unexpected new accounts in your name, and anomalous financial transactions. If your wallet is lost or stolen, Norton helps deal with the fallout. You get periodic credit reports, along with help freezing your credit if necessary. And as with McAfee's similar offering, if your identity is stolen, Norton will spend up to a million dollars on remediating the theft.
It's conceivable that some hacker could take over your identity, open accounts in your name, even commit crimes while posing as you. Does that thought give you the heebie-jeebies? Once you've set up Norton 360 with LifeLock Select, you can rest easy. In addition to thoroughly protecting your devices, your data, and your online connections, it functions as an early warning system for signs of identity theft and guarantees recovery from said theft.
Malware comes in many varieties, including viruses, Trojans, bots, spyware, and more. If your antivirus misses a brand-new malware threat, an update in a day (or an hour!) typically takes care of the problem. But if it was a ransomware attack, getting rid of the damaging program doesn't help—your files are still unavailable. ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware supplements your regular security program by detecting and eliminating ransomware attacks based on their behavior. It also borrows a few malware-defense components from ZoneAlarm's antivirus.
When we tested ZoneAlarm with real-world ransomware, it made an impressive showing. With its regular antivirus layers disabled, it detected all the ransomware attacks and, for the most part, restored any files that got encrypted during the behavior-based detection period.
In a business setting, ransomware can be devastating, and with the prevalence of work-from-home situations, any dining room table or breakfast nook can be a business setting. How much would you be harmed if ransomware turned your important files into encrypted gibberish? Adding a ransomware-specific utility can minimize that harm.
Malware coders write software that steals personal information, or holds documents for ransom, or turns computers in to a bot army they can rent out—anything to make a buck. And antivirus coders do their best to stay ahead, foiling these nefarious plans. Sometime the bad guys win, at least temporarily. If malware gets past your regular antivirus or keeps you from installing an antivirus tool, Malwarebytes Free can help. It doesn't require installation, and it's designed to root out the most persistent and pernicious malware.
This free tool can't be your only line of defense, as it doesn't provide real-time protection against malware attack. It can't reverse the effects of a ransomware attack, though it can eliminate the ransomware program. The point is to use it when your regular antivirus fails.
Hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. Is that your motto? Then you should keep Malwarebytes Free on hand, maybe even put it on a thumb drive on your keychain. That way you'll be prepared for any malware emergency.
Malware coders aren't picky about operating systems. They'll write code to attack any platform that has enough users to make it worth their while. For thorough malware protection you need software that defends all your devices, whether they run Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, or even ChromeOS. For that matter, any devices owned by your kids or partners need protection too. That's where McAfee+ shines. This generous suite lets you protect every device in your household. And that protection includes use of McAfee's VPN with no limits on bandwidth or server choices. You get spam filtering, password management, ransomware protection, parental control, a vulnerability scanner, and more, and the antivirus component aces our hands-on protection tests.
At its higher tiers, this suite comes with McAfee Identity Theft Protection, which is roughly parallel to Norton's LifeLock. It doesn't monitor as many different aspects of your identity as Norton, but it hits the top ones. Like LifeLock, it comes with a guarantee that if you suffer identity theft, McAfee will spend up to a million dollars helping you to a full recovery.
Can you even count all the computing devices in your household? More than 10? More than 20? With McAfee+ you can install security on all of them and manage the menagerie from a central console.
Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus is the smallest antivirus we've seen. Its local agent program can be minuscule because its intelligence resides in the cloud. It does wipe out known malware on sight, but in the modern age of polymorphic malware, most attackers are unknown. Webroot monitors unknown programs, sends details to the cloud, and also virtualizes all actions by the unknown program so they can't make permanent changes. Once the cloud analysis finishes, it hands down a verdict. If it's malware, Webroot wipes out the program and rolls back any system changes. It can even reverse ransomware's effects. This delayed-action detection can look like a failure in standard tests, but Webroot regularly scores at or near the top in our own hands-on tests.
Webroot no longer offers remote control of all your antivirus installations, but it still includes some uncommon technically advanced features. For example, it actively protects against keyloggers and man-in-the-middle attacks. It also has the unusual ability to reverse collateral damage from malware attacks.
Webroot includes some advanced features that require above-average expertise, though you don't have to use these features. Expert or not, you'll surely appreciate its tiny size and ultra-fast scans.
Buying Guide: The Best Malware Removal and Protection Software for 2024
Malware protection solutions come in all sizes. Despite the word "virus" in the name, an antivirus utility aims to protect against all types of malware. Full-scale security suites expand protection to include spam filtering, parental control, VPN protection, and more. Some antimalware tools work alongside your main protection to provide added security against specific threats, such as ransomware. Before we explore the different types of protection available, let's look at what they're up against.
The term malware is short for malicious software, and it refers to absolutely any program or process whose purpose is harmful, even criminal. The earliest widely known form of malware was the computer virus, the name for a program that infects other programs with its code and replicates when the infected program runs. Many early viruses had no malicious payload; they just served to show off the coder's skills or even to give a shout-out to a loved one. Because viruses were first, we still use the name antivirus for software that protects against all kinds of malware.
A virus spreads when someone launches the infected program. A worm spreads without any help. Worms have been around longer than the internet, with the first one, Creeper, hitting Arpanet in 1971. The infamous Morris Worm, released in 1988, was nominally intended to measure the extent of the nascent internet. However, due to a coding error, it crashed thousands of servers and earned its creator a felony conviction.
Modern malware coders are way beyond the "look at me!" attitude of those early virus writers. They're in it for the money—period—and there's not a lot of money in viruses and worms. Trojan horse programs can be more lucrative. This sort of malware appears as, and may even be, a useful program of some kind, but once you let it inside the walls of your computer, it turns loose a crew of nasties. They may send your personal and financial data to malware HQ, install additional programs to earn per-installation cash, or do anything else the coders can think of to monetize their control of your computer.
It's Surprisingly Easy to Be More Secure Online
Trojans that transmit your private information are one kind of spyware. Other types of spyware focus on tracking your web-browsing habits or the way you use your computer. Keylogger spyware tools record the keystrokes you type, hoping to hit pay dirt by capturing your passwords. Some anti-malware tools include components specifically devoted to spyware protection.
Another common threat is what's called a bot. Typically, the bot owner uses spam or drive-by downloads to infect many computers and then sells the services of this herd of bots. Customers can contract with the bot-herder for tasks including bitcoin mining, distributing spam, or participating in a distributed denial of service attack.
The current alpha predator of money-making malware, though, is ransomware—specifically, encrypting ransomware. If this kind of attack hits your computer, you'll find all your essential files have been encrypted. The perpetrator of the attack will gladly decrypt them for you—if you pay the ransom. Worst of all, even if you manage to remove the ransomware itself, your files remain encrypted. It's a nightmare!
Most malware-fighting tools also handle the removal of potentially unwanted applications—PUAs for short. In many cases, you must choose whether to remove these. They're not specifically malicious, but they may well be unwanted.
For example, you may have installed an ad-supported free utility without realizing just how invasive its advertisements would be. Or you may have clicked through screen after screen during one program's installation, without realizing that by doing so, you agreed to install a boatload of other programs. And it's not uncommon for these programs to resist uninstallation. Companies like AppEsteem aim to eliminate these deceptive bundling practices, but if you've already been hit, you need some help to clean up the mess.
You need at least a basic level of protection for all your devices, and that means an antivirus utility. As noted, despite the name, these protective utilities do a lot more than fight viruses. They target every kind of malware, and some of them do a great job.
But, you may ask, doesn't Windows 11 have antivirus built right in? It's true that Microsoft Defender is built into Windows, and it gained more responsibilities with the updates of the last few years. If you have no other antivirus, Microsoft Defender turns on automatically. If you install a third-party antivirus, it goes dormant. Microsoft Defender has been getting better scores from the independent labs and in our own tests, but the best third-party antivirus apps, both free and premium, score way higher.
If you're paying attention during Windows Update, you may have noticed the Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) in passing. It sounds powerful, but its focus is actually quite limited. Each update to the MSRT checks for and removes specific malicious programs Microsoft has identified as currently prevalent. It isn't by any means a full-scale antivirus or malware scanner.
The MSRT also sends telemetry back to Microsoft when it encounters a malicious or suspicious program. However, it doesn't send any personal information.
Even though Microsoft Defender isn't the best, you may be reluctant to pay for antivirus protection, given you can get it for free. As it turns out, quite a few companies offer free antivirus solutions, and some of them are quite good.
Most purveyors of free antivirus protection also offer a premium, paid edition. In some cases, the premium edition includes features not available for free or offers VIP tech support. Others make the full range of features free for consumers but require payment for business-related use. The best of these free antivirus utilities outperform all but the top for-pay competitors.
Avast One Essential is an unusual case. It's a free security suite with support for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. It doesn't include all the features of the commercial Avast One, but it does quite a bit without requiring any payment.
You can launch a full antivirus scan of your computer at will to root out any preexisting malware problems. Most also let you schedule a regular scan. But the first line of defense is on-access scanning. For some antivirus utilities, the minuscule access that occurs when Windows Explorer displays a file's details is sufficient to trigger a scan. Others wait until the file gets copied to disk or until just before it executes. The main point is that your antivirus makes sure no new malware can infest the computer.
But how does it know? How does it tell if a program is malicious? The easiest method involves what's called a signature—a kind of fingerprint that identifies known malicious files. Early antivirus tools simply checked the numeric hash of entire programs against a blacklist. Malware coders responded by making threats polymorphic, so every victim received a slightly different file. Antivirus researchers, in turn, responded by making signatures more generic so that all variations on a particular malware strain would still fit the profile. Generative AI tools like ChatGPT can reframe a program's code to change everything but its effect. They can even translate the code to a different programming language, creating a completely different malware version.
Is there any end to the cat-and-mouse game between malware coders and antivirus researchers? Yes, quite possibly there is. The definition of malware is software that performs some type of malicious action. Behavior-based detection systems don't check programs against a list of known offenders. Instead, they watch all unknown programs for malicious behaviors. This kind of detection works against any malware attack, even a brand-new zero-day exploit.
There's always the chance your antivirus might miss a very new, very virulent malware strain. You also may run into trouble when you try to install antivirus protection because the malware already entrenched on your computer fights back. In either of those cases, you can call on the many free cleanup-only tools.
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is our current favorite in this realm. We've seen tech support agents for other companies call on Malwarebytes to get rid of infestations that thwarted their own antivirus. It's not the only choice, though. Norton, Sophos, and Emsisoft are among the others that offer similar free malware cleaners.
Most security companies also offer a free rescue disk, typically in the form of an ISO file you burn to a CD. Windows-based malware only works when Windows is running, after all. Booting from the rescue disk puts you in a different operating environment, typically a Linux variant, with a malware scanner built in. You may find the rescue scanner awkward and unfamiliar compared to its slick, Windows-based cousin, but if it does the job, you can ignore its lack of polish.
Antivirus is one kind of security for your computer, but there are many other possibilities. A firewall fends off hack attacks from outside and prevents programs from abusing your network connection. If your email provider doesn't filter out spam, a local spam filter utility can help. Parental control software steers kids away from inappropriate websites and keeps a lid on their screen time. Rather than choose all these components separately, with the risk they won't play nice together, many users opt for a security suite that integrates a variety of security components. Of course, malware protection is at the core of every such suite.
There are many other ways security software can protect your computer and your privacy. Backup is, in a way, the ultimate security for your important files. Even if a piece of a deorbiting satellite smashes your computer to smithereens, you still have your backed-up files. Cleaning up exposed data on your system, stuff that could reveal your habits, is another way to protect privacy. Password management helps you attain the goal of using a strong, unique password for every website. Most security companies offer a higher-level suite that adds many more security-related features. We call these feature-packed programs mega-suites to distinguish them from the basic, entry-level suites.
Protecting your privacy and security on your desktop or laptop computer is dandy, but what about your other devices? If your household teems with devices running Windows, Android, macOS, and iOS, you may want to consider a multi-device security suite. Protection for Windows and Android devices is the most important, as these are the big targets for malware attacks. Even macOS devices have suffered crippling attacks, though they're not as common. And while iPhones and iPads are intrinsically safer, some security features, such as password management and URL filtering, are platform-independent.
You also need to think about protecting your data as it travels between your devices and the web. If you've connected to an unsecured Wi-Fi hotspot, another user (or the sneaky owner of the hotspot) could sift through your data stream. Using a Virtual Private Network, or VPN, protects your data in transit and has the added benefit of masking your IP address. More security companies are beginning to include a VPN component, though full access may require an additional subscription.
As noted earlier, an antivirus with protection only against computer viruses would be absurd. In general, a utility that only blocks viruses, adware, spyware, or any single malware type would be pointless. Ransomware, however, is another matter.
If your regular antivirus misses a brand-new Trojan and thereby lets some crook steal your credit card number, that's bad. But you can get a new card, and an antivirus update (or a remote remediation session with tech support) should wipe out the Trojan. However, if the antivirus misses a ransomware attack, your files are hosed, and removing the ransomware won't help. Because of that, we recommend a second line of protection against ransomware.
You may find your antivirus or security suite has some degree of ransomware-specific protection built in. Some apps simply ban unauthorized programs from making changes to files in certain protected folders. Want to edit a document with your word processor? No problem! But when ransomware comes knocking, it won't get in. Others add a layer of behavior-based ransomware detection to catch anything that gets past the other malware protection layers.
What we find most interesting are the dedicated anti-ransomware tools starting to crop up. They work alongside your existing antivirus, with the sole aim of detecting the behavior of any ransomware that gets past other defensive layers. Alas, some of the free offerings in this realm have been withdrawn. Check Point ZoneAlarm Anti-Ransomware is our top pick for ransomware-specific protection.
In this article, we've identified programs that will help keep malware off your computer. We made a point of including several program types from many security companies.
Clearly, these aren't the only apps you should consider. We've reviewed dozens in different categories, and many of them are just as good as the ones mentioned here. This article links to collections of antivirus tools, security suites, and other types of malware protection. Follow those links, read the reviews, choose the one that suits you, and install it now.
Editors' Note: Based on the increasing censure and criticism of Kaspersky by US government agencies, foreign agencies, and informed third parties, we can no longer recommend Kaspersky's products. We continue to evaluate these products on their merits and report on them for those who wish to decide for themselves.
Sign up for SecurityWatch newsletter for our top privacy and security stories delivered right to your inbox.
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.
When the IBM PC was new, I served as the president of the San Francisco PC User Group for three years. That's how I met PCMag's editorial team, who brought me on board in 1986. In the years since that fateful meeting, I've become PCMag's expert on security, privacy, and identity protection, putting antivirus tools, security suites, and all kinds of security software through their paces.
Before my current security gig, I supplied PCMag readers with tips and solutions on using popular applications, operating systems, and programming languages in my "User to User" and "Ask Neil" columns, which began in 1990 and ran for almost 20 years. Along the way I wrote more than 40 utility articles, as well as Delphi Programming for Dummies and six other books covering DOS, Windows, and programming. I also reviewed thousands of products of all kinds, ranging from early Sierra Online adventure games to AOL's precursor Q-Link.
In the early 2000s I turned my focus to security and the growing antivirus industry. After years working with antivirus, I'm known throughout the security industry as an expert on evaluating antivirus tools. I serve as an advisory board member for the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO), an international nonprofit group dedicated to coordinating and improving testing of anti-malware solutions.
Read Neil J.'s full bio
![[1]](image.php?loc=US&i=https://i.pcmag.com/imagery/roundups/04uum6RCfPB4kguokw2UiOp-1.fit_lim.size_1200x630.v1594911475.jpg){kind=link}
![[2]](image.php?loc=US&i=https://zmgvideos.mashable.com/cms/2019/6/a61d36e2-3c6e-9b51/uploaded_thumbnail.jpg){kind=link}