All the antivirus programs in this collection offer real-time malware protection. Your antivirus should definitely have the ability to root out existing malware, but its ongoing task is to prevent ransomware, botnets, Trojans, and other types of nasty programs from getting a foothold. Check our reviews, try a few of the free antivirus utilities, and pick the one that suits your needs. We’ve put dozens of antivirus programs, both free and commercial, through the wringer to help identify the best ones. As for the rest of us, well, the best third-party free antivirus utilities beat out the built-in Defender and even outperform products that are far from free. A CISO who uses free antivirus on her home computers may not be totally swayed to purchase the corresponding enterprise endpoint security system, but she surely won’t forget to consider it. In return, they get a reputation for generosity and (more importantly) mindshare. Many major security companies give away antivirus protection to consumers. In truth, you can get quite a lot of security protection for your PCs at no cost. 'The moon belongs to everyone/The best things in life they're free.' Or so the song says.
