Difficulty level: Basic, Time taken to complete: 20-30 mins. Approx., involves purchasing and installing software

Objective:

• Identify your security requirements
• Select an Anti-virus product that meets your requirements

The word “Malware” refers to different kinds of malicious software such as Viruses, spyware, adware and ransomware. These malware programs, once admitted to the system, can damage, alter and even delete crucial data or pieces of code. A good anti-malware product ensure that your system gets an all-round protection.

While most of the well known anti-virus products provide effective malware protection, they also provide various other useful features. Below are some of the requirements you can consider for choosing a product:

1. You often browse the web and are concerned about accessing websites that are harmful
2. You are dealing with a lot of spam e-mails lately
3. Worried your laptop or mobile phone’s webcam or microphone could be hacked
4. Need protection from malware such as ransomware, spyware etc.
5. You have a lot of passwords to deal with and you are looking for a password manager
6. You are a frequent traveler and you browse internet on public wi-fi networks at airports, railway stations, cafes etc.

Some of the malware protection products offer advanced features such as VPN services, password managers, secured browsing through alerts on unsafe sites and even folder and file level encryption for securing vital data.

There being a plethora of Anti-virus products to choose from in the market, we have enlisted some of the products and their prices for your reference.

Our recommendation is Avast Premier as it provides more security features and is economical of the lot. Please review the features carefully on the product website since prices and features are subject to change with version updates.