

We follow four labs that regularly release detailed reports: SE Labs, AV-Test Institute, MRG-Effitas, and AV-Comparatives. Of course, high scores in the tests are also important. It means the lab considered the product significant, and the company felt the cost of testing was worthwhile. The simple fact that a company's product shows up in the results is a vote of confidence, of sorts. We take the results reported by independent antivirus testing labs very seriously.

It doesn't appear in this roundup of commercial antivirus products, naturally. The combination of good lab scores and a great score in our hands-on malware protection test was enough to bring it up to 3.5 stars. However, Microsoft Windows Defender Security Center is looking better and better lately, with some very good scores from independent testing labs. These commercial products offer protection beyond the antivirus built into Windows 10 the best free antivirus utilities also offer more than Windows does. If you have malware, one of the products listed in this article should take care of the problem. Out of that extensive field we've named four Editors' Choice products, honored others with a four-star rating, and bestowed 3.5 stars on several more. As noted, PCMag has reviewed more than 40 different commercial antivirus utilities, and that's not even counting the many free antivirus tools. Modern antivirus utilities handle Trojans, rootkits, spyware, adware, ransomware, and more. Ransomware and data-stealing Trojans are much more common, as are bots that let the bot-herder rent out your computer for nefarious purposes. Malware these days is about making money, and there's no easy way to cash in on spreading a virus. We call it antivirus, but in truth it's unlikely you'll get hit with an actual computer virus. We’ve performed hands-on evaluations of more than 40 antivirus utilities so you can make your choice and get some protection up and running. If the huge field of choices leaves you unable to decide, we can help. Rather than rely on the built-in software, you should at least consider employing a more powerful third-party solution. The thing is, while Defender has gotten better and better, so have the third-party alternatives. And if you do install a third-party utility, Defender slinks back into the shadows. Microsoft stands behind this position-if you don’t have any antivirus installed, the built-in Microsoft Defender springs into action.
