Free Vs Paid Antivirus,
How Are They Different?
The methods of protecting our computers and smartphones have changed in recent years. Malware is getting more and more sophisticated, and revelations by Edward Snowden & Wikileaks have shown us that governments, businesses and cybercriminals are inventing new ways to spy on us and steal our data.
In recent weeks we have seen at ComputerHoy.com that there is banking malware that is capable of intercepting SMS messages with the temporary passwords that banks send in each transaction, or that takes advantage of exploits (bugs and security holes in programs ) to sneak in even through encrypted connections.
How
do we protect ourselves against these new threats?
Many users are satisfied with installing a FREE ANTIVIRUS, and think that this is how they are protected. Undoubtedly, basic protection of this type is better than nothing, but if that were enough? Why doesn't malware stop growing? Why are there paid Antiviruses? This question gives rise to a more interesting one. How is a free antivirus different from a paid one? You have to leave behind old beliefs, such as that paid Antivirus are expensive. Right now, for € 10 a year you can protect your PC and Smartphone with a professional solution such as G DATA Internet Security. But there are many other things that you should take into account when choosing the antivirus you need on your devices.
The Product Is You
In this life almost nothing is free, not even on the Internet. As is often said in the business world, if the product is free, the product is you. The free antivirus provide a basic service, some protection, but they usually include advertising which is sometimes annoying, or continuous warnings to upgrade you to the paid version. Even more worrying are the cases that have made the news: free antivirus that sold usage data to third-party companies. Some even specify it in the user agreement.
In
paid Antivirus there
is no advertising and usage data is not trafficked because it is a service
purchased by the customer. This is important to keep in mind if you value
not being interrupted by excessive notifications, or not being tracked for
advertising purposes.
Performance
& Resources
Numerous analyzes and comparisons, such as the one we carried out at ComputerHoy.com a few months ago, show that free antivirus programs consume more CPU and memory resources than paid ones , slowing down computer use. This is especially important if you have an old or low-power computer, where resources are scarce. If the antivirus makes the computer take a long time to start or that it works slower, then you are paying dearly, even if it is free.
The
Technology
Not
all Antivirus are the
same, nor do they have the same protection systems or the same attack detection
techniques. Most free Antiviruses protect against known attacks, but they
are not as effective at detecting new types of malware or new infection
systems. It is a weakness that cybercriminals know about and that is why
they continually develop new types of malware created to circumvent the barriers
of the most popular Antivirus.
According to the German security company G DATA, in the second quarter of 2015, 560,671 new malware samples were detected on smartphones . That is 25% more than in the previous four-month period. In two years, mobile malware samples have doubled, and are expected to reach two million by the end of 2015.
Paid antivirus provide an extra layer of security by implementing specialized technologies for certain types of malware or for new, yet unknown threats. For example, the G DATA Internet Security security software includes the exclusive G DATA Bank Guard technology, which combats banking malware by preventing unknown threats from acting during transactions with our bank thanks to the monitoring of changes in RAM memory, during a banking connection.
In the analysis of the most popular antivirus carried out by Computer Bild in Germany, the G DATA software was the only one that detected 100% of the unknown threats, thanks to Bank Guard technology:
It
also incorporates anti-exploit software that plugs security holes in
programs that the user has not patched. And an anti-keylogger, which
prevents cybercriminals from tracking the keys, passwords and personal data
that we enter using the keyboard. With the anti-phishing module, you
prevent malware from impersonating a bank or an Internet service, to steal your
data. All these security extras are in all versions of G DATA, even the
cheapest. Free antivirus offers you basic security, but you are not 100%
protected.
Customer
Support
An
additional issue to consider is something that we do not value until we suffer
a virus invasion or data theft: an expert hand to help us get out of the quagmire. Free security software does not have customer
support. If you have been infected by a ransomware that has
encrypted your hard drive and asks you for a € 300 ransom to free it. What do
you do? Or maybe the mobile has started to do
strange things but the antivirus does not detect anything. Who do you go
to? When you suffer a problem is when you miss the customer service
of an antivirus that
will help you recover your hijacked computer or detect if you really have a
virus.
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