With antivirus software being around for more than 20 years now, and the computer got increasingly smarter, do we still need it? Besides computers getting smarter altogether, the operating systems come equipped with state-of-the-art protection so if an antivirus still completely necessary nowadays? We’ll explore this subject and try to give you an answer in the article below.
For starters, the most direct answer to the question asked above is “it depends”. There are a lot of factors starting with what you are using your computer for and all the way to what Operating System you’re using that influence the need for antivirus software. Generally speaking, even though operating systems got better and protecting you from Internet threats, you still do need to think about adding an extra layer of security since the threats are more diverse nowadays.
Now, we’re going to have to drag you into the iOS vs Android debate once again for this article. No matter what Android fans might be saying about the rival operating system, it is inherently safer than Android and an iPhone will probably have to deal with way fewer attacks compared to an Android smartphone. It’s probably why there’s no real antivirus software for iPhones. However, when talking about Android, an antivirus is a good idea since there are certain apps that can be developed to hurt your phone.
The same rule applies to computers as well. This time though, MacBooks are not as safe as iPhones. However, they score a bit better than Windows computers in terms of needing antivirus software or not. It’s not necessarily a flaw in the operating system, it’s more of a human side of things.
Antivirus software is excellent at making decisions for you. Especially if you’re not exactly computer savvy and you work in an environment where you need to download a lot of stuff and open a lot of attachments and links, an antivirus can be that second conscience that can decide when it’s a good idea to open a file or when you should just throw it in the recycle bin.
On the other hand, Windows computers do come pre-protected with the Defender in-house antivirus. And while it’s definitely not the best-performing antivirus out there, it’s still better than nothing. The trick is knowing which antivirus to go for so that you don’t end up using a lot of your computer’s limited resources for the antivirus activity only.
For example, if you’re a fan of online pokies and you enjoy casinos like 24Pokies bitcoin casino, you most probably won’t need an antivirus since these websites are tested and protected by big antivirus companies like Norton. However, if you’re accessing shady websites regularly, going for a solid antivirus may just be the difference between having a safe computer or needing to erase everything every month.
Nowadays, the top-rated antivirus software comes from McAfee, Bitdefender and Kaspersky labs and you can tweak the services offered by these companies so that they give you the best protection without using all the resources of your computer. Also, ever since free antivirus software is being offered by various companies, the prices of these the top antivirus dropped so you can find it at a much more attractive cost.
