Paying customers do get access to premium features in the password manager component. Both incorporate a bandwidth-limited version of Avira Phantom VPN, though by observation the commercial edition doubles the monthly limit to 1GB. Both free and paid suites include a file shredder for secure deletion and an automated scan that configures your system’s privacy settings. In the Privacy arena, I’ve already mentioned the shared Browser Safety extension. Both editions include a software updater that finds apps needing security patches paying customers can configure Avira to handle installing the updates automatically. On the Security page, all the variations on malware scanning, access to quarantine, and simple control over Windows Firewall are available for free. Bitdefender, Trend Micro, and ZoneAlarm stand out, topping the list with 100% detectionĪs noted, the majority of this suite’s features are also available at no cost in Avira Free Security. That’s good, but many competing products have done even better. In my real-world phishing protection test, Avira managed 97% detection, tying with AVG and just edging out Norton. Phishing sites, as we call these fakes, exist to capture login credentials for the sensitive sites they imitate. Throwing together a copycat website to fool unobservant web surfers into simply giving away their passwords is much easier. Writing a sneaky Trojan that can steal passwords and other sensitive information while dodging detection by security programs is tough. However, the total score was even worse than before, so I kept the existing 70% mark. When I re-ran my malicious URL test, I did see Web Protection doing its job from time to time, though the existing Browser Safety component scored more hits. This suite does add a feature called Web Protection, something that’s not enabled in the free suite. That’s a seriously poor score only a handful of recent products have scored lower. In a test using malware-hosting URLs recently discovered by researchers at MRG-Effitas, Avira blocked 70%, about half of those by preventing access to the page and half by eliminating the malware payload. Quite a few products tested with these same samples have scored better, with Norton at the top holding a near-perfect 9.9 points.Īvira’s free Browser Safety component installs as an extension in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Opera, and does its best to steer the browser away from dangerous web pages. In my hands-on malware protection test, Avira detected 93% of the samples and scored 9.3 points, the same score as Kaspersky Premium and SecureAge CatchPulse. McAfee and Norton came very close with 9.7. Tested by just three labs, Kaspersky Premium managed a very respectable 9.8 points. Looking at products tested by all four labs, only Avast and Bitdefender did better, scoring 9.6 points and a perfect ten, respectively. Avira’s aggregate score of 9.5 points is quite good. It did fail one of the two stringent tests performed by MRG-Effitas, but then, so did Avast, Microsoft, and Trend Micro. I’ll summarize here.Īll four of the independent testing labs I follow include Avira in their latest reports, and it earned perfect scores in almost all the tests. Given this suite’s similarity to Avira Free Security, you should really read my review of that product before proceeding. A large button launches Avira’s Smart scan, which checks for privacy issues, performance issues, malware, outdated programs, and network threats. Big icons for Security, Privacy, and Performance dominate the main portion of the dark-themed window. A banner across the top reflects security status. It has a left-rail menu that lets you choose Status, Security, Privacy, or Performance. This suite’s main window looks almost exactly like that of Avast Free Security. A subscription to McAfee+ at the lowest tier goes for $139.99, but for that price you can protect all the Android, ChromeOS, iOS, macOS, and Windows devices in your household. An $83.99 yearly payment gets you five Avira licenses, almost exactly the median of prices that range from the $61 price for five licenses of K7 Total Security and the $202.99 bill for Panda Dome Premium.
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