Malwarebytes has been the top malware removal tool for close to 20 years. It is really thorough at finding existing threats on your devices and removing them. It has uninstall protections so malware can't remove the program while it cleans, and most threats can't block you from accessing the Malwarebytes website and downloading the program to use.

It's fairly new to the antivirus software scene, but that doesn't necessarily make Malwarebytes ineffective at protecting against future threats. It has a few advanced features that are handy to have and options that include some additional privacy tools, too,

Malwarebytes Free is the basic offering. it is the malware removal tool we highly recommend for infections already on your machine. It doesn't do much more than that, but there are advantages to having it on your computer and mobile devices.

The first paid program offered by this company is Malwarebytes Premium. It includes the malware removal tool found in the free version but adds antivirus protections, including malicious URL blocking and real-time protection reports. You get the option of protecting a single device, or five depending on the package you choose.

For a little more money, you can download Malwarebytes Premium + Privacy. The only difference between this and the Premium package is unlimited access to a VPN. A virtual private network (VPN) shield's your online movements so they can't be tracked or traced back to you.

How well does Malwarebytes protect against potential online threats coming through? We tested and evaluated it, compared it to other antivirus software, and checked out its features to see how it works. We looked at other independent antivirus test labs to see what they discovered and compared them to our own data. Keep reading our in-depth review to learn if Malwarebytes is right for you.

Plans and pricing

Obviously, it doesn’t cost anything to use Malwarebytes Free, but you're left open to attacks if you stop there. That's because it's limited to only malware removal. Malwarebytes Free is perfect for grabbing threats that are already running rampant on your machine. You need to download the program on each device that needs cleaning, and there isn’t a way to connect them under one account.

Malwarebytes Premium starts at $45/yr for a single device, though for $35 more you can protect 5 total devices. You can still use the malware removal tools since these are included with the subscription, but you also have access to Malwarebyte’s Brute Force and Uninstall protections. Both of these are helpful in ensuring the antivirus, and its malware tools, remain on your device instead of being deleted by malware.

Malwarebytes Premium + Privacy is the other paid subscription option. It comes in at $60/yr for a single device or $100 to protect 5 devices. The biggest difference between the two paid subscriptions is Malwarebytes Premium + Privacy gives you unlimited access to its VPN.

Compare Malwarebytes Subscriptions

Malwarebytes Free

If you find your computer is running slower, apps are opening or closing on their own, or you’re having a hard time navigating to the pages you want, you’re probably infected with malware. If you haven’t been using an antivirus program, chances are you’ll have a hard time downloading one to clean up the threats. This is because most malware is designed to redirect you away from other websites.

If you are fortunate enough to get an antivirus program installed, often it misses current malware infections. Your best bet is to use Malwarebytes Free. This is a malware removal tool and not antivirus software. It uses uninstall protections to both get the download onto your device and prevent threats from blocking you from using it. What’s more, very few threats can hide from Malwarebytes. It’s that good at finding and removing malware.

When you first install Malwarebytes, you’re given a limited trial of its paid program, Malwarebytes Premium. This lets you take advantage of real-time security, including ransomware protection, Security Advisor to give you points on how to better protect your entire device, and Play Mode which redirects resources from the security suite to your computer as you play games or watch movies online.

Malwarebytes is compatible with Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS devices. You have to download the program on each one, and there isn’t a way to connect them through a single account., It's possible to set the program to conduct a scan of your phone or computer every few days. Or, you can manually run scans when you’re ready. If you forget, Malwarebytes will give you a little popup message to remind you how long it’s been since your last malware scan.

Mobile apps

The free Android app, like its desktop cousin, removes existing malware but can't prevent new infections. 

There's a small bonus in a Privacy Audit, which shows you which apps can monitor your calls, track your location or exploit other permissions you might not realize you've given away. That's not worth a lot - you can find other apps to do the same, for free - but we're happy to see it here. And with a Play Store rating of 4.5, it looks like most users are happy, too.

Malwarebytes free iOS offering is simpler, with just a couple of functions: ad blocking for Safari, and automatic filtering of fraudulent texts.

Malwarebytes is supposed to be about malware protection, of course, and recent Windows testing shows it's far less effective at this than most of the top competition.

Final verdict

Malwarebytes Free isn't a great antivirus tool, but it could be helpful in a few situations. Use Windows Defender's real-time protection, for instance (a fair choice as it outperforms some commercial apps), then run a daily Malwarebytes scan to catch everything else. You won't have the protection you'll get from the best suites, but you'll be safe from most threats, and this setup won't cost you a penny.

Malwarebytes Premium

One of the best perks of using Malwarebytes Premium is you get the best malware removal tools, plus real-time antivirus protection to keep your system clean. This includes security against hackers and ransomware. The Brute Force protection starts up when it suspects someone is attempting to guess your login information.

Malwarebytes Premium includes URL monitoring to keep you away from fake websites or those that are known to harbor malware files or phishing schemes. You also have some customization options with Malwarebytes Premium. These include setting up specific scans to run during the best times for you.

While it’s a great idea to combine malware removal and antivirus together, does it really work? We tested Malwarebytes and compared it to other antivirus software. Other test labs have done the same. Here’s what we found.

Protection

To start with, Malwarebytes hasn’t allowed third-party test labs like AV-Comparatives and AV-Test to evaluate its software until recently, and it only allows its Windows version to be tested, so there isn't any data on how it protects on Mac. It hasn’t been consistently tested, either. 

Malwarebytes was most recently tested by AV-Test in April 2023 but was missing from AV-Comparatives’ March and April 2023 test results. However, there is enough history, including results within the last year, to get a clear picture of how well Malwarebytes does.

In short, it’s not the best. On average it blocks a good number of threats, but its overall score from both test labs places it just below average for overall protection. We tested Malwarebytes too and came away with similar results.

Part of this shortfall is that Malwarebytes doesn't tap into the same threat databases as other antivirus software, though they are open for it to do so. Instead, it relies on user feedback from clients using the program to gather information on the threats and create its own database.

When a user encounters new threats, Malwarebytes take note once it is identified and neutralized, updated its database, and sends out a report to other users so that their program will recognize the threat, too.

Our first test involved apps we designed to simulate malware that exploits common Windows tools to create processes, download malicious files, and generally behave in a suspect way. Malwarebytes ignored the behavior and allowed the files to download. It blocked them all on launch, or when they were ready to open, keeping us safe.

That's a good end result, but others are more cautious. For example, Trend Micro spotted our test app's dodgy-looking actions and closed their processes before they could download anything. Bitdefender also detected some of the behavior and stopped the potential threats in their tracks before having a chance to download. In both of these cases, if anything was missed, malicious files were still spotted either during the download process or shortly afterward and removed before the malware could start working. 

As a second, more high-stakes test, we pitted Malwarebytes against a simple ransomware simulator of our own creation. As the engine wouldn't have seen this before, we would see if its behavior monitoring alone could detect the threat.

The results weren't good, with Malwarebytes doing nothing at all as our simulator encrypted thousands of test documents.

Other vendors score much higher on this test. Trend Micro and Bitdefender not only spotted our simulator by its actions alone, but they also killed the process and recovered the handful of lost files, ensuring we didn't lose a byte of data.

We normally don't treat failing this test as a major black mark, because our test is a single sample, not even real malware, and it's unsafe to draw big conclusions from so little data.

In this case, though, it does broadly match what the labs are saying: Malwarebytes simply doesn't deliver the protection you'll get from the best vendors, and that has to be a concern.

Performance

When it comes to being user-friendly, Malwarebytes is good in this area. It runs in the background and protects you immediately, with everything turned on and ready to go the moment it is installed.

When you need to run an on-demand scan, that's as easy as double-clicking the Malwarebytes icon, hitting the Scan button then waiting for the results. It's all very straightforward, and even the least technical of newbies will feel at home right away.

Malwarebytes' main Scan feature quickly checks memory, startup items, and key areas of your file system. It made sensible choices on our test system, examining enough areas to be useful, but not so many that we were kept waiting for results, and completed in a speedy 7 minutes 25 seconds. (If you're in a real hurry, a Quick Scan checked RAM and startup objects in as little as 5 seconds on our review system.)

Scan times overall proved reasonable, with Malwarebytes checking our 50GB of test data in 25:18 minutes for the first scan, and 21:18 for the second. That's similar to many other vendors, although some speed up later scans by only checking new and changed files (Bitdefender took 50 minutes for scan #1, for instance, but dropped to 50 seconds by scan #2.)

There is a Custom Scan that lets you choose items you'd like checked, including specific files and folders, and gives you a little control over how they work (whether it should scan inside archives, and what to do with potentially unwanted programs, for instance.) It's a welcome touch, although doesn't begin to match the high level of control you'll see with more geek-friendly products from Avast, Avira, and others.

You're able to scan files, folders, or drives from the right-click Explorer menu. Unfortunately, the Windows client can't handle simultaneous on-demand scans, so try this when it's running a regular scan and you'll be told you must wait. This isn't a critical issue - Malwarebytes' engine still picks up threats as they appear, even if another scan is running - but it's a hassle that you don't get with the best antivirus.

Extra features

If you're hoping for a pile of bonus features - or any extras at all - then you're out of luck. There's no specialist banking protection here, no password manager, none of the items you might get with some packages. This focus on the fundamentals does at least keep Malwarebytes easy to use, though, and if you don't need that kind of extra, you might appreciate its simplicity and lack of clutter.

Final verdict

Malwarebytes Premium is a likeable security app which will make your PC a little safer, but it's not the full antivirus replacement claimed on the website. Grab a copy of the free version, maybe, but run it alongside another antivirus app to ensure your safety.

Malwarebytes Premium + Privacy

Malwarebytes Premium + Privacy is, well, the name tells you everything: it's the commercial Malwarebytes Premium plus the company's VPN product, Malwarebytes Privacy.

Privacy uses Malwarebytes' own apps (Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS are supported), but these connect to Mullvad's network underneath. That's fine with us; it's a solid VPN with excellent speeds and a strong focus on privacy.

The network looks a little small with 400+ servers in 30+ countries. They're well spread, though, with thirteen locations in the US alone, so there's a good chance you'll have a server near you.

The apps are basic in the extreme, but there are technical pluses underneath. Malwarebytes Privacy connects via the fast and secure WireGuard protocol, for instance, and its apps include a kill switch to protect you if the connection drops.

Scan times overall proved reasonable, with Malwarebytes checking our 50GB of test executables in 25:18 minutes for the first scan, 21:18 for the second. That's similar to many other vendors, although some speed up later scans by only checking new and changed files (Bitdefender Home Premium took 50 minutes for scan #1, for instance, but dropped to 50 seconds by scan #2.)

Malwarebytes Privacy

Malwarebytes Privacy has a simple but familiar interface. The dashboard displays your current location; you can choose another from a simple text list, then connect and disconnect with a click. Easy.

Desktop notifications tell you when you're protected and when you're not, and the dashboard updates to display your new IP, and highlight its location on a world map.

Switching servers is convenient as there's no need to close the active connection, first. Just choose a new location from the list and the app reconnects.

The app is missing several common features. There's no Favorites system to group your most commonly used locations. No ping or load figures to help you choose the best servers. You can't switch protocols, either: it's strictly WireGuard-only.

Look a little further, though, and you'll find plenty of useful technical touches. The app can automatically connect when you access insecure networks, for instance. A kill switch protects your identity by blocking internet access if the VPN drops. Support for split tunneling enables controlling which apps use the VPN and which don't, and a flexible multi-hop system can route your traffic through two VPN servers to extract privacy. We were impressed, briefly, until we spotted another big omission.

Extra features

If you're hoping for a pile of bonus features - or any extras at all - then you're out of luck. There's no specialist banking protection here, no password manager, none of the items you might get with some packages. This focus on the fundamentals does at least keep Malwarebytes easy to use, though, and if you don't need that kind of extra, you might appreciate its simplicity and lack of clutter.

Protection

Malwarebytes has never been the best performer in conventional lab tests.

AV-Comparatives' July-October Real-World Protection test saw Malwarebytes placed 13th out of 17 contenders with a protection score of 99.6%. 

AV-Test was even less impressed, awarding Malwarebytes 5.5/6 for protection in its October 2021 Windows Home User test. That placed it 19th out of 21 apps: only K7 Security and eScan scored lower.

Malwarebytes hasn't submitted its software to SE-Labs consumer tests for a while. It does appear in the Q1 2021 Consumer Report, though, where it came last out of 15 with a Total Protection rating of 91% (Sophos, AVG, ESET and even Microsoft Defender scored 100%.)

That's not great. Okay, it's terrible. To try to verify this, maybe get some more detail, we put Malwarebytes through a few tests of our own.

The first involved test apps which exploited common Windows tools to create processes, download malicious files and generally behave in a suspect way. Malwarebytes ignored the behavior and, initially, the files. It blocked them all on launch, though, keeping us safe.

That's a good end-result, but others are more cautious. Top performer Trend Micro spotted our test app's dodgy-looking actions, and close their processes before they could download anything. Kaspersky and Bitdefender detected some of the behavior, and if they missed anything, spotted the malicious files when they were downloaded (no waiting for them to be executed.)

As a second, more high-stakes test, we pitted Malwarebytes against a simple ransomware simulator of our own creation. As the engine wouldn't have seen this before, we would see if its behavior monitoring alone could detect the threat.

The results weren't good, with Malwarebytes doing nothing at all as our simulator encrypted thousands of test documents.

Other vendors score much higher on this test. Trend Micro, Kaspersky and Bitdefender not only spotted our simulator by its actions alone, they also killed the process and recovered the handful of lost files, ensuring we didn't lose a byte of data.

We normally don't treat failing this test as a major black mark, because our test is a single sample, not even real malware, and it's unsafe to draw big conclusions from so little data.

In this case, though, it does broadly match what the labs are saying: Malwarebytes simply doesn't deliver the protection you'll get from the best vendors, and that has to be a concern.

Final verdict

Malwarebytes Premium is a likeable security app which will make your PC a little safer, but it's not the full antivirus replacement claimed on the website. Grab a copy of the free version (evaluated below), maybe, but run it alongside another antivirus app to ensure your safety.

Malwarebytes Premium + Privacy

Malwarebytes Premium + Privacy is, well, the name tells you everything: it's the commercial Malwarebytes Premium plus the company's VPN product, Malwarebytes Privacy.

Privacy uses Malwarebytes' own apps (Windows, Mac, Android and iOS are supported), but these connect to Mullvad's network underneath. That's fine with us; it's a solid VPN with excellent speeds and a strong focus on privacy.

The network looks a little small at 400+ servers in 30+ countries. They're well spread, though, with thirteen locations in the US alone, so there's a good chance you'll have a server near you.

The apps are basic in the extreme, but there are technical pluses underneath. Malwarebytes Privacy connects via the fast and secure WireGuard protocol, for instance, and its apps include a kill switch to protect you if the connection drops.

Pricing isn't bad at $100 to protect five devices and antivirus and VPN for a year - Mullvad charges $70+ for its VPN alone - but other top suites give you many more features.

Norton 360 Deluxe, for instance, includes antivirus, a VPN, parental controls, Dark Web monitoring, a password manager, webcam protection, hosted backup with 50GB of cloud storage, and more, and a five device license costs $35 in year one, $105 on renewal. If you're looking for than just antivirus and a VPN, that looks a significantly better deal.

Malwarebytes Privacy

Malwarebytes Privacy has a simple but familiar interface. The dashboard displays your current location; you can choose another from a simple text list, then connect and disconnect with a click. Easy.

Desktop notifications tell you when you're protected and when you're not, and the dashboard updates to display your new IP, and highlight its location on a world map.

Switching servers is convenient as there's no need to close the active connection, first. Just choose a new location from the list and the app reconnects.

The app is missing several common features. There's no Favorites system to group your most commonly used locations. No ping or load figures to help you choose the best servers. You can't switch protocols, either: it's strictly WireGuard-only.

Look a little further, though, and you'll find plenty of useful technical touches. The app can automatically connect when you access insecure networks, for instance. A kill switch protects your identity by blocking internet access if the VPN drops. Support for split tunneling enables controlling which apps use the VPN and which don't, and a flexible multihop system can route your traffic through two VPN servers for extract privacy. We were impressed, briefly, until we spotted another big omission.

Performance

While most VPN apps try to connect to your nearest server by default, Malwarebytes Privacy doesn't have an 'Automatic' or 'Fastest' option. It seems to choose Sweden as a default, wherever you are, leaving you to choose your preferred location manually. 

Connection times were reasonable, at around 5 seconds. And the WireGuard protocol is made for excellent performance, with UK download speeds reaching 780Mbps. We've seen faster - Surfshark reached 960Mbps in recent testing.

The core VPN engine scored well in some areas. If you're connected to location A and switch to location B, for instance, most VPN apps close the first connection, leaving you unprotected until they establish the new one. Malwarebytes Privacy seems to use a temporary kill switch, blocking internet traffic for just those few unprotected seconds until the VPN is restored. Smart.

Unfortunately, the actual kill switch was less useful. We sometimes found that when the kill switch was on, the app couldn't connect: it blocked our internet access so thoroughly, it couldn't even get online itself. Not so smart.

The bad news continued with our final unblocking tests, too, with Privacy failing to get us into BBC iPlayer, US Netflix, Amazon, or Disney+.

We've also highlighted the best antivirus

You’d be hard-pressed to find a list of the best antivirus software that doesn’t have Bitdefender on it. It's simply that good. Bitdefender is so quick at recognizing threats, it stops malware files before they have a chance to begin downloading. And if you try to visit a website with known threats, Bitdefender displays a prominent warning to help you avoid the danger. 

It isn't just Windows where Bitdefender is effective. It's also a good Mac antivirus software and its Android antivirus app does decently well.

Stellar protection isn’t the only perk Bitdefender offers. All of its options include some great security tools that make it more effective at keeping your entire system secure from threats like hackers and snoops. 

Most antivirus programs have several subscription options known as tiers, and Bitdefender is no exception. Each tier builds upon the one before with the cheapest tier offering basic malware protection and the highest tier being the ultimate, all-in-one protection solution.

Bitdefender starts with Bitdefender Antivirus Plus as its basic malware protection program, though it does include a fair number of extra security tools to make it an overall great program. 

Bitdefender Internet Security has the same excellent malware protection as its basic program but does include more features to make sure you're well protected against other threats like hackers and snoops.

The all-in-one solution, Bitdefender Total Security includes all available security tools offered by Bitdefender, and while it does have just about everything you could need to lock down your system, it's surprisingly light on your devices and doesn't typically cause noticeable slowdown.

The Bitdefender website is really confusing. Several comparison tables show differences in which devices are protected, starting price and the number of licenses included, and even discrepancies in which tools come with each subscription. So I’ve broken it down for you here to help you figure out which Bitdefender subscription is right for you. 

Plans and pricing

For the level of security, Bitdefender comes with, and how well it works on your system without bogging it down, the price is right on point and worth every penny. All subscriptions come with free 24/7 support, real-time protection, and automatic updates, so you don’t have to worry about manually connecting or downloading patches.

Bitdefender has three great paid subscription options that work on Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS devices. Plus, you can get multiple licenses to cover more than one device without paying an arm or a leg. All your devices can be managed from a single online account where you can also schedule scans or view protection reports. Bitdefender also has options of single-year, 2-year, and 3-year subscription plans, and choices of the number of devices to protect from one up to 10.

Starting at $29.99, Bitdefender Antivirus Plus can protect up to three devices. For a basic antivirus program, it includes some impressive advanced features like a file shredder, social media protections, and safe banking tools. You’re limited to 200/MB per day on its VPN, but the fact you even get VPN access at this level is impressive. Also, Antivirus Plus comes with a vulnerability scanner.

The mid-level program, Bitdefender Internet Security, builds on the impressive feature set of Antivirus Plus. Internet Security includes parental controls, webcam monitoring, and microphone protections to give your whole family extra privacy. Its starting cost is $34.99 for three devices, but you can bump that up to 10 devices for an additional cost.

The biggest subscription is Bitdefender Total Security. This package includes every tool, plus a system optimizer to help your devices run faster. It starts at $39.99 for a single year and five devices. 

Since there isn’t a big difference between Internet Security and Total Security, this $5 difference isn’t too bad for the first year. However, after the introductory period, the cost jumps to $95 to continue using Total Security. At this point, it may be more economical to use the Internet Security option, which is cheaper.

If you're not yet convinced, no problem: every product has a 30-day trial build available. There are no credit card details required, just register with your email address and you can check out Bitdefender's abilities for yourself.

Compare Bitdefender Subscriptions

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus

Installing Bitdefender Antivirus Plus is fast and almost automatic. It's as quick and easy as pointing, clicking the download button, and within, a couple of minutes, getting a reassuring 'Bitdefender is successfully installed' message. It walks you through every step to help you get started. 

You don't need to set up much because the most important functions are already on by default. But Bitdefender has in-program tutorials and guides to help you enable additional tools for added security of your device.

• Get Bitdefender Antivirus Plus for $36 off by clicking here if you live in the US or UK or alternatively click here if you live in Australia!

During my in-house tests, Bitdefender equipped my test system with 13 new background processes and Windows services, some filter drivers and assorted other low-level clutter. That's not unusual for an antivirus, but it can be a problem if it's a drag on your system speed.

AV-Comparatives is one of the third-party test labs that consistently test antivirus software. During its latest round of testing, Bitdefender didn't show any real problems when it came to slowing down computer processes while running. The only noticeable slowdown was seen while opening new applications. Bitdefender tended to slow down the initial opening but didn't affect the programs while being used.

I ran several self-protection tests to see if malware can disable key protections of Bitdefender. This included trying to delete or replace files, suspend or close key processes, stop core services, remove or edit scheduled tasks, unload filter drivers, and change key settings. Bitdefender has always been a very well-defended product, though, and this time was no different: the package shrugged off all attacks and carried on as normal.

Interface

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus is designed with simplicity in mind. Its dashboard is laid out intuitively with the most important tools displayed front and center.  This includes scan options and VPN access. Finding additional functions isn't hard using the sign bar with icon navigation buttons. 

Some tools are displayed but aren't available with Bitdefender Antivirus Plus. Clicking these will display a message encouraging you to upgrade to one of Bitdefender's higher-tiered programs in order to use that particular tool. Tools that aren't available do have a lock icon over them to help you see quickly which features aren't available to you.

If the standard dashboard layout doesn't quite suit your needs, you can customize it to remove default features or add new ones. Not interested in the VPN, maybe? In a click or two you could replace it with links to the full system scan, the password manager, disk clean-up module, or a host of other tools. If only everyone was this flexible.

Overall, Bitdefender Antivirus Plus offers a polished and professional interface that's easy and comfortable to use for beginners but also offers the configurability and control that experts need.

Antivirus

When you first start using Bitdefender Antivirus Plus, it will conduct a full system scan. This examines every part of your device to look for any unwanted intruders. Every antivirus software I've tested does this, but Bitdefender takes a lot more time to complete this compared to other programs. 

On average, it takes about 20 minutes for other antivirus to do a full system sweep. Bitdefender, however, takes over an hour. Thankfully I didn't notice any computer slowdown during this scan, so I could continue workings, browsing, playing online, etc., without interruption.

Another scan mode support is Quick Scan. Quick Scan checks the most commonly infected areas. You can schedule Quick Scans for once a day, or weekly if you'd like, and a deeper system scan less often. Bitdefender lets you check individual objects and files, plus it has a bootable rescue environment to assist in cleaning the most stubborn threats.

A Manage Scans tool lets you create new scan types, as well as configuring how the scan works, and setting it up to run on a schedule or on-demand only.  There is also a Custom Scan, which scans in any system location where there might be potential threats. Plus, a Vulnerability Scan, to check for privacy risks in application settings as well as for any critical software updates.

This doesn't quite provide the expert-level options that I've seen from vendors like Avast and Avira (you can't define specific file types to check or archive types you'd like to handle, for instance), but there's more than enough power here for most people. Unfortunately, you can't pin your custom scan type to the main dashboard, so it's always at least three clicks away.

Bitdefender's antivirus settings can't match the geek-level configurability of some of the competition, either, but they're well-judged and focus on the functions you're more likely to need.

You don't get intimidating and overly technical options to scan RAR archives to a nested depth of 4, but not scan TARs, for instance – there's just a simple 'scan archives, yes or no?' setting.

Threat Timeline

During the review process, Bitdefender occasionally displayed its 'threat timeline', with what seems like a detailed explanation of how I nearly got infected. This all looks very impressive, a flow chart with times, app names, and big icons, but in my experience, it doesn't mean very much. 

One timeline started with Outlook launching, told me it then launched Chrome, which executed software_reporter_tool.exe, and Bitdefender then detected a threat. Anyone seeing this might assume they'd received a malicious email, clicked a link, Chrome opened, and launched an app, which in turn ran a malicious program.

But in reality, I ran Outlook as normal; Chrome only launched because I clicked a legitimate link; the link had nothing to do with software_reporter_tool.exe (that's a standard part of Chrome); and the supposed 'threat' (actually a false alarm) was never downloaded in that or any other internet session.

Giving users more information about the source of an infection is a good idea, but during my review at least, Bitdefender's threat timelines caused confusion more than they answered any questions.

Performance

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus scanning speeds are decent, with Quick Scans taking around 15-30 seconds on my test computer. Regular scans started at 50 minutes to check my target files (209,000 of them, 50GB in total.) That's a little slow, and for example, Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security took 15 minutes to scan the same data. 

Bitdefender only checks new and changed files in subsequent scans, though, and that makes a huge difference. Antivirus Plus took only 50 seconds to scan my test files in run #2, compared to nine minutes for Trend Micro.

The scanning engine is smart enough to manage simultaneous scans without difficulty, too. If you're running a lengthy full system scan, for instance, you can still run an on-demand scan of a recent download, or anything else you like. A window pops up to display the results of your second scan, while the first scan continues to run in the background.

The total sum of this is a polished set of malware-hunting tools which go well beyond the basics, but remain easy to use for not-so-technical types. Experts might wish for one or two more fine-tuning options, but in general, Bitdefender gets the configurability/ usability balance right.

Protection

To learn how well Bitdefender protects against malware, I looked at the real-world tests conducted by two of the biggest testing labs in the world, AV-Comparatives, and AV-Tests. Both use live malware in real-life scenarios in their testing and have years of data to compare against.

In the latest results by AV-Comparatives, Bitdefender blocked 99.94% of the threats used during testing. This placed Bitdefender in the top-rated solutions with a very good, higher-than-average protection score. A few of the programs that scored higher include Avast, AVG, Norton, and McAfee.

AV-Test uses a different testing methodology than AV-Comparaties but still simulates real-life usage. The latest AV-Test results show Bitdefender receiving perfect scores across the board. In fact, of the 18 programs reviewed by AV-Test, Bitdefender is among only six that earned perfect scores.

No individual reviewer can hope to compete with the testing labs for thoroughness, but I was keen to confirm their verdicts by seeing how Bitdefender Antivirus Plus handled a couple of ransomware threats. I used a few malware test files on my own test computers to learn first-hand how Bitdefender handles threats.

The first, a real-world ransomware specimen, was blocked almost immediately, with Bitdefender killing the process before it could cause any harm.

The second was a custom ransomware simulator of my own. It's about as simple a malware sample as you could get, but it's also something Bitdefender would never have seen before, allowing me to evaluate how Antivirus Plus performs when presented with brand-new threats.

I ran the test software, and in just a fraction of a second, Bitdefender's engine cut in and displayed an alert. Not only had it detected and killed the test process, but Bitdefender's Ransomware Remediation technology successfully restored the ten files the software had managed to encrypt.

While this was a great performance, it did show a few small issues.

Firstly, the Ransomware Remediation feature isn't turned on by default. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus prompts you to enable it, but if you're not paying attention, you could lose at least a handful of files in an attack.

Next, the package didn't quarantine the simulator, either, despite detecting it performing ransomware-like actions. I ran it multiple times, and when I scanned the executable later, Bitdefender flagged it as 'clean.'

The company told me that threats are removed only if they're detected by the signature layer. Mine was picked up by the behavior layer, which will kill an offending process, but not try to remove it.

Other antivirus software I tested went further, quarantining the test executable to prevent it from running again, and on balance that's the approach I prefer. But this isn't a major deal, as Bitdefender's gentler approach doesn't seem to have any practical effect on system security, as although I was able to repeatedly run the same threat, Bitdefender blocked it each time.

That's a major improvement over many competitors, which either miss the simulator entirely or aren't able to stop it from destroying at least some files (Norton Antivirus Plus lost 57.) Overall, Bitdefender provides very capable and effective all-around ransomware protection.

Blocking malicious sites

Bitdefender's web protection module monitors your internet access and blocks malicious and phishing links.

AV-Comparatives' tested Bitdefender for its July 2022 Anti-Phishing Certification Test. The results were a big improvement over the previous year's results with Bitdefender earning a 96% detection rate.

I've previously tested Bitdefender against 139 brand new suspect URLs (malicious and phishing) provided by independent security testing company MRG Effitas. These were so new – many reported only hours ago – that they hadn't all even been verified yet, making them a real challenge to block.

The results were very positive, though, with Bitdefender blocking 73% of my test links. For comparison, Avast Premium Security stopped 55% of the same set of links, while Windows Defender recognized just 30%.

Don't be distracted by the low percentages: this is a measure of how quickly a vendor responds to new threats, not your overall protection against any dangerous links. The main takeaway point from this test is Bitdefender was giving me significantly better protection than others against even the very latest malicious sites.

When you reach a legitimate site, Bitdefender's Anti-Tracker browser extension aims to detect and block the most intrusive web trackers, then displays a count of these in its address bar icon.

I pointed my browser at the newspaper site dailymail.co.uk and the extension reported blocking a chunky 35 trackers in two categories: Advertising (29) and Site Analytics (6). (Other categories include Social Media, Customer Interaction, and 'Essential.')

To compare Anti-Tracker's abilities with the ad-blocking competition, I revisited the same site with the excellent uBlock Origin activated, and this time Anti-Tracker blocked only five trackers. You can get much the same functionality for free, then, but it looks like Bitdefender Anti-Tracker does offer some additional privacy benefits. (And of course, as I did in my tests, you can run Anti-Tracker alongside your existing ad-blocker to get the best of all worlds.)

Password manager

Wallet is Bitdefender's password manager. Along with regular website logins, it's able to store credit card details, wireless network passwords, application logins, and license keys, email server credentials and details, and assorted personal information (name, date of birth, address, email, phone number(s), and more). Wallet is able to create multiple password databases and sync them across all your Bitdefender-equipped devices.

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus automatically installed the Wallet extension on Internet Explorer and Firefox and gave me the option to install it on Chrome, but paid no attention at all to Edge or Opera.

I found Wallet wasn't as easy to use as top competitors like Dashlane: it didn't add icons to text fields, didn't always capture username and password fields as I entered them, sometimes failed to fill in forms correctly, and couldn't automatically submit forms. However, it just about handled the basics and is a worthwhile addition to the package.

Online banking protection

Safepay is a secure and isolated browser that protects online banking and other transactions from snoopers – or maybe even malware that has somehow installed itself on your system.

Many other security vendors also claim to have similar secure browsers, but Bitdefender goes further than most. Safepay makes real efforts to isolate itself from other processes on your PC, running on a separate desktop and preventing screen grabbers and keyloggers from recording what you're doing.

I checked this by setting up a custom keylogger of my own and using a commercial screen capture tool to take snapshots of my activities every 15 seconds. Safepay worked perfectly, with no recorded keystrokes and plain white screenshots only.

Bitdefender has considered long-term storage, too. Once the session is closed, Safepay clears all temporary files and leaves no trace of my activities. 

Much like the safe browsing competition, Safepay doesn't support installing third-party extensions, as they open you up to many more privacy problems. But it does have a handful of useful built-in extras, including a virtual keyboard as an extra defense again keyloggers, and a pop-up blocker to protect you from web trickery.

Safepay isn't just some throwaway extra, then - it's a real highlight of the suite, and using it for the most confidential web tasks could go a long way to keeping you safe.

More features

A Vulnerability Scan checks your system for missing application updates and critical Windows patches, as well as weak Windows account passwords, and simple Wi-Fi network issues, and includes more checks for altered and poorly configured system settings.

I turned Autorun on, a risky setting that can automatically run software when you plug in a removable drive or media, and the Vulnerability Scan warned us and offered to fix the issue. It also spotted some far more obscure options - my system wasn't restricting access to site management policies for security zones, for instance - and, more usefully, spotted missing Java and Firefox updates.

This is a basic tool, with one or two usability issues. There's no 'Fix All' button, so you must choose an action for each individual item. You can't tell the Vulnerability Scan to ignore a particular issue, either; even if you're entirely happy with having unrestricted access to site management policies, it's going to warn you about the 'problem' each and every time.

Still, there is value here, particularly with the checks for missing updates, and overall, the Vulnerability Scan is a worthwhile addition to the suite.

VPN

Last, but not least, there's the VPN. You're limited to only 200MB, which is enough for the lightest of uses, picking up email or carrying out some confidential web transactions via public Wi-Fi. But it's easy to use, has servers that cover 51 countries, and support for Hotspot Shield's Catapult Hydra protocol ensures decent speeds. It's worth having, even in its limited form (but check out this full Bitdefender Premium VPN review if you'd like to go further.)

Final verdict

This is a strong all-around antivirus tool that does a good job of keeping even brand-new, undiscovered threats at bay and throws in some useful extras, too. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus is an absolute must for your PC security shortlist.

Bitdefender Internet Security

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus has way more functionality than most antivirus apps, but it's still missing some key security suite features. And that's where Bitdefender Internet Security comes in, adding essentials like a firewall, spam filter, and parental controls.

A privacy layer protects you from webcam hijacking by stopping unauthorized apps from accessing your webcam, and a microphone monitor identifies all the apps using the microphone.

As I mentioned at the outset, Bitdefender Internet Security is reasonably priced and only marginally more expensive than Antivirus Plus. For example, a three-device, one-year Internet Security license costs $10 more in year one ($34.99 vs $24.99), and $25 more on renewal ($84.99 vs $59.99). You could spend more than that on a commercial parental controls package or spam filter alone.

• Get Bitdefender Internet Security for $52 off by clicking here if you live in the US or UK or alternatively click here if you live in Australia!

Firewall

Bitdefender's firewall works exactly as you would hope, automatically blocking incoming attacks, intelligently deciding which apps are safe to allow online, and which apps really, really aren't. Most people can leave the firewall to do its work, never seeing any prompts, or having to tweak a single setting.

If you're more experienced in the ways of networks, you can take plenty of low-level control, drilling down to the rule level and tweaking settings for protocols, ports, IP addresses, and more.

Bitdefender exposes this functionality carefully, though, so newbies aren't hit with all the gory details immediately. A smartly designed interface begins by enabling users to block or allow network access for individual apps, for instance, with a simple on/ off switch. The Rule Editor enables setting custom local and remote IP addresses, ports, and more, but again, you're not hit with all that complexity unless you go looking for it, and on balance, it's relatively easy to use.

Spam filter

Internet Security comes with a simple spam filter, which in theory should have automatically added a tab to my Outlook setup. This didn't happen for me, and digging deeper, I found an Outlook alert reporting that 'Bitdefender Antispam... caused Outlook to crash. As a result, it was disabled.'

Enabling it manually, I found the filter has only a bare minimum of features, little more than Outlook's own junk filter (blacklists and whitelists, Is Spam and Not Spam options to mark misidentified emails, simple blocking of messages with Asian or Cyrillic characters).

This lack of control doesn't seem to affect functionality, though, with my brief tests suggesting the filter blocks more than 90% of junk mail, while falsely flagging less than 1% of legitimate emails as spam. This was only a very quick check, but it suggests that Bitdefender's filter matches the best of the specialist antispam competition.

Parental controls

Bitdefender's Parental Controls feature has a reasonable set of features for monitoring and controlling your children's digital activities. You're able to block websites by content, restrict application use, block device usage for specified periods (like bedtime) or set a daily limit of screen time which includes both mobile and desktop devices. 

After creating a profile for each child at Bitdefender Central (your account area on the Bitdefender website), your rules are enforced by Windows, Mac, Android and iOS clients. Return to Bitdefender Central at any time and you'll find reports on your child's activities: device usage, apps launched, websites visited, your child's latest phone contacts, and more.

The web dashboard displays your child's location on a map (assuming they're using an iOS or Android device.) Geofencing support enables marking an area as restricted and raises the alarm if your child goes where they really shouldn't.

It's a decent feature set, especially for a security suite, where normally you're left with the absolute basics only. It hasn't changed much over the past few years, though - the iOS app hasn't had a significantly named new feature for several years - and app store ratings of 2.1 (Android) and 1.7 (iOS) - suggest users aren't happy. If parental controls are a priority for you, run plenty of in-depth tests during your Bitdefender trial before you commit to spending any cash.

Webcam and microphone protection

A Webcam Protection module gives you control over which applications can access your webcam. This has more options than usual, with settings to block access to all but your chosen applications, block browsers only, or disable the webcam for everything. I tested this with my custom command line capture tool, and Internet Security correctly notified me that it was trying to access the webcam, and blocked it when requested.

The Microphone Monitor takes a slightly more basic approach, raising alerts for apps that access the microphone, but not allowing you to block them, or setting up rules to block all future microphone access.

This clearly isn't as useful as it could be, but it's vastly better than most competitors, who typically have no microphone-related features at all. I'm happy to see it added to the package, and hopefully, it'll gain features in upcoming releases.

Bitdefender Total Security

The top-of-the-range Bitdefender Total Security extends the range with a familiar set of PC maintenance tools, including modules to highlight large files, remove disk-hogging junk and optimize the boot process.

Total Security's clean-up tools found 1.2GB of hard drive junk on my test PC. Meanwhile, the free CCleaner located 3.4GB, and even the standard Windows Disk Cleanup could free up 1.53 GB.

The Privacy Cleaner aims to clear up your internet history, but it only covered Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Internet Explorer on my system. CCleaner does much better, this time, also deleting privacy-related traces of Edge, Brave, Windows, and assorted apps.

Bitdefender throws in a File Shredder to securely delete sensitive files, but again, there's nothing that you can't find elsewhere for free.

The real benefit of upgrading to Bitdefender Total Security is you get apps for Android, Mac, and iOS devices, as well as PCs. And although the new apps can't match the power of the Windows edition, they're well worth having.

The Mac app looks out for malware and adware and includes Time Machine protection to keep your backups safe from ransomware. Top-quality anti-phishing blocks access to malicious links, and the 200MB a day version of Bitdefender VPN is thrown in.

Bitdefender Mobile Security for iOS is mostly about detecting malicious websites, but it does this well, and that alone could save you from real problems. As a bonus, an account privacy tool raises an alert if your web accounts are involved in a privacy breach.

Bitdefender Mobile Security for Android includes everything you get in the Mac and iOS builds, and adds on-installation scanning for dangerous apps, an app locker to prevent others from accessing your personal data, and anti-theft to remotely locate, lock or wipe a missing device.

You can get a lot of this functionality elsewhere for free – there's no shortage of app locker or anti-theft apps, for instance – but as I discussed earlier, Bitdefender's malicious URL blocking outperforms much of the competition, and could justify the installation on its own.

If you're still in doubt, check the prices. A baseline Bitdefender Internet Security license protects up to three PCs for $35 in year one and $85 on renewal. Upgrading to Bitdefender Total Security protects up to five devices, which could be any mix of Windows, Mac, Android, or iOS, but only costs $40 in year one, and $95 on renewal.

Covering up to 10 devices with Total Security still only costs $45 in year one, and $105 on renewal, and you can save more money by adding years to the license.

• Get Bitdefender Total Security for $59 off by clicking here if you live in the US or UK or alternatively click here if you live in Australia!

There may be better deals around, depending on the features you need. Avira Prime is a little more expensive at $100 a year to protect five devices, for instance, and there's no introductory discount. But it also gives you unlimited access to Avira's Phantom VPN across all your devices, a very valuable extra.

If you're looking purely at antivirus and security, though, Bitdefender Total Security 2022 is an impressive package that is crammed with valuable features and functionality. If you're looking for a new all-platform antivirus, it's a must-see.

Want to compare Bitdefender to its rivals? Check out our best antivirus guide

Norton has remained a strong, antivirus software provider for many years, and it keeps packing in the security, even into its most basic subscriptions. Your digital and physical identities are protected with all tiers of Norton antivirus. You can also take advantage of Norton's secured, online cloud storage, and its password manager with any of its antivirus solutions.

One of the best tools available with higher-tiered programs is unlimited access to Norton Secure VPN. This program hides your IP address and online browser history so nothing can be traced back to you. It's just another great tool for protecting you in multiple aspects of your life.

Norton's antivirus software works on all devices and does a decent job stopping malware. Most of its long list of security tools also works on these devices, so you're always protected. This makes it a top-notch Mac antivirus and Android antivirus solution.

Norton 360 subscriptions, including Nortn 360 Standard and Norton 360 Deluxe, come with dark web monitoring. This service keeps an eye out for your email addresses, passwords, and other identifying information that may be compromised and alerts you so you can take precautions to better protect your online and physical identity.

You can choose a Norton 360 subscription with LifeLock identity theft protections or add this as a stand-alone service to any other Norton subscription. This tool takes identity theft monitoring to the next level and helps you restore your identity - both virtual and physical - if your information is stolen.

Other Norton tools available include parental controls and privacy monitoring. Plus, if you subscribe to Norton and take part in its auto-renewal program, you're covered by Norton's 100% Virus Protection Promise. This guarantee promises to keep your system clear of malware. If it ever does become infected, Norton's support team will work hard to clean up your device.

• You can sign up for Norton antivirus solutions here

Plans and pricing

At first glance, Norton may seem a little pricy compared to other antivirus programs, but competitors, such as Bitdefender, don't have the number of protection tools that Norton does, and definitely don't include advanced security features in its basic antivirus programs.

Even looking long-term at the subscription renewal prices, which jump pretty high after the introductory first year, still average out to a decent, per month cost considering what you get.

Norton AntiVirus Plus starts at $19.99 for the first year and jumps up to $59.99 for subsequent subscription years. It only covers a single device, but you do get 2GB of cloud backup and Norton's password manager. If you choose to auto-renew, AntiVirus Plus will cover your devices with its Ivrus ProtectionPromise.

With Norton 360 Standard, you get unlimited access to Norton Secure VPN and dark web monitoring services. You'll be alerted if Norton finds your personal information being bought or sold illegally along with some tips on how to secure your information. This software protects a maximum of three devices and starts at $39.99. After the first year to price increases to $89.99.

Norton 360 Deluxe lets you protect up to five different devices for $49.99 for the first year. It builds on the generous offerings of its Standard program by protecting against unauthorized access to your webcam through its Privacy Monitor. It includes parental controls and bumps up the amount of cloud backup space you get to 50GB.

After the first year, Norton 360 Deluxe increases its subscription price to $109.99

Upgrading to Norton 360 with LifeLock Select gives you the ultimate security for both your devices and your personal identity. LifeLock is a full identity theft protection service that also helps restore your identity if it is ever stolen. by letting you tap into its identity theft restoration specialists and a million-dollar insurance package.

Other perks to using Norton 360 with LifeLock include protection for up to 10 devices and 250GB of secured cloud backup storage. This offering starts at $99.99 for the first year with the price climbing to $179.99 for each subsequent year.

You don't have to make up your mind before buying. Each of Norton's antivirus software is available for you to try out for 7 days. You do need to provide a credit card, though it won't be charged until after the trial period is up. Just make sure you turn off the auto-renewal within the 7 days to avoid inadvertently being charged for the program before you're ready to fully commit.

Compare Norton Subscriptions

Norton AntiVirus Plus

Setup

Norton AntiVirus Plus has both an online and a desktop portion of the installation. For those new to antivirus, used to solely desktop applications, or that aren't very tech-savvy, the process may feel daunting. But Norton walks you through every step.

The package grabbed 1GB of storage space, average for a suite with this level of functionality, and added only two major background processes to my system.

Running PCMark Professional before and after installation, though, I found my score dropped by 4.8%. That's better than the 5.9% drop I saw with Sophos Home Premium, but most packages only see a 1-2% drop, and Avira and McAfee had barely any impact at all.

AV-Comparatives' October 2022 Performance Test showed Norton performing a little better, but it was still a mid-range. AV-Tests showed similar results with Norton landing squarely in the middle with an average performance score of 5.5/6.

Malware often tries to disable antivirus before launching a full attack, so the best antivirus makes real efforts to protect itself from attack. I test this by running various attacks of my own, including closing processes, deleting files, unloading drivers, and disabling services. I was able to close the process powering Norton's user dashboard, but the package's core files, services, and drivers were fully protected, and my security remained active at all times.

Antivirus

Norton AntiVirus Plus has an odd interface, split across two windows. 

Its My Norton screen looks good, but makes poor use of screen real estate, with the bulk of its dashboard taken up by a wallpaper image of someone trekking along a mountain trail, a handful of buttons to launch key tools, and most of the rest being just white space.

There's more functionality and control available, but you must open a separate Security window to access it, and I found it took longer than expected to find my way around Norton's many features.

Antivirus is relatively straightforward, though. Smart Scans are only a click away, whatever interface you're using. These run a Quick Scan for malware, identify network security problems and check for what Norton calls 'Advanced Issues' (in practice this just gave me a list of tracking cookies to delete.)

A separate Full System is on hand if you need it. And a highly flexible custom scan feature gives you all kinds of options. I set up an example to automatically scan my Downloads folder every three hours, for instance, but only when my system was idle and on AC power.

Scan times are reasonable, with 50GB of test data taking 29 minutes for the first scan, dropping to 4:13 next time, within the range I'd expect for this type of suite. Bitdefender's first scan was slower (50 minutes), but it dropped to 50 seconds next time; Avira began a little faster at 26 minutes, but there's no 'scan only new and changed files'-type optimization, and it took the same 26 minutes each time.

An option to run Norton's Power Eraser gets you a more aggressive detection and repair technique which might remove trickier threats. That's welcome (it's a capable tool), but you don't need to buy the package to get it. Norton Power Eraser is available for free on the Norton website.

But if you're unsure whether you’re infected and just want to find out more, a Norton Insight tool reports on the reputation of various files on your system. 

This works like a security-focused version of Task Manager. The main window lists running processes, with a Trust rating for each, an indication of how many others use them, their system impact and more.

This has some major benefits for expert users. Even if you've been infected by a threat so new that Norton can't detect it yet, Insight may still be able to point to a possible issue, highlighting active running processes or loaded modules which you don't recognize, and it's never seen before. If you've enough Windows experience to go manually hunting for malware, this is a very handy tool to have on your side.

Protection

AV-Comparatives' Real-World Protection Test is a comprehensive benchmark that pits 16 of the top antivirus engines against some of the very latest malware.

Norton’s results jumped up from previous results to earn a 99.99% overall protection score. The only place it seemed to struggle was with false positives, meaning it tagged legitimate files as malware. But it stayed consistent with blocking legitimate threats, including zero-day malware.

The latest AV-Test's Windows 10 Home User pitted Norton against 17 competitors. As far as protection, there wasn't anything Norton couldn't stop. it received perfect marks across the board for malware detection. With an overall industry standard of 99.4% detection, Norton clearly made sure to do better.

I ran some simple tests of my own, using common malware-like tricks to download malicious files with standard Windows tools. Norton AntiVirus Plus performed well, blocking most of my simulated attacks at the behavioral level before the files could be downloaded. And although it ignored my exploit attempts a couple of times, the file detection layer detected and quarantined the file just as soon as it hit my hard drive.

I wasn't finished yet, though. I've also created a custom ransomware-like program that spiders through a test folder tree, opening and encrypting common images, videos, and document types. As it's never been released, Norton couldn't have seen it before, making this a good test of its ability to detect and block ransomware by behavior alone.

I ran my test threat, Norton AntiVirus Plus detected and killed it, and a few seconds later, warned me about the problem. While that's good, I found my threat had encrypted 57 files before it was stopped. In previous tests, I found both Bitdefender recognized the danger after it had accessed a maximum of ten files. And even better, they recovered the originals, ensuring I didn't lose any data at all.

Browsing protection

Norton AntiVirus Plus uses multiple layers of protection to help keep you safe online.

Norton Safe Search is an Ask-powered search environment that highlights trusted and dubious websites; if you'd prefer to stick with Google, the Norton Safe Web extension adds site ratings to your search results; and if you hate weighing down your browser with security extensions, just ignore them - the main Norton engine detects and blocks malicious domains at the network level, anyway, allowing it to protect all your applications.

This all worked well for me, blocking the malicious URLs I tried without difficulty. I tried accessing them from a tiny browser I'd written myself, to confirm URLs were blocked at the networking level, and that worked, too; my app was blocked whenever it tried to access the page, with Norton displaying a detailed alert explaining why.

Firewall

Norton AntiVirus Plus, as the name suggests, isn't just about squashing malware. It also has some very useful bonus features.

An intelligent firewall lets you know if untrusted programs are trying to make an internet connection and asks if these should be allowed. While that's a potential hassle for the user, I found it only happened in the most extreme circumstances, and I was given plenty of information to help me decide.

Instead of the usual 'dubious.exe is trying to get online, allow? ' warnings, for instance, the firewall warned me that my test program wasn't digitally signed, had been released less than a week ago, and had very few users, as well as showing me the URL it was trying to reach. You're able to allow or block the connection in a couple of clicks, and optionally have the firewall remember your decision, ensuring you won't be asked again.

If you know what you're doing, heading off to the Settings dialog gets you access to all the gory low-level technical details, right down to the detailed rules governing each protocol and traffic type.

Backup

The big surprise with Norton AntiVirus Plus is its bundled backup tool. It is a hosted service that comes with 2GB of online backup space in AntiVirus Plus (it supports local destinations, too.)

The app is seriously short on features. If you're hoping to get control of archiving, encryption, or versioning, forget it - there's none of that here.

I've no complaints about ease of use, though. By default, the app backs up your Office documents, pictures, music, contacts, internet favorites, and so on. If that totals less than 2GB, you can back up your data to the web in a click; if it's more, you're able to exclude individual files, folders, or entire files, or you can choose a local drive as the destination, instead.

Backups can be run on demand, or scheduled to automatically run every day, week, or month, and a 'Run only at idle time' option should ensure it won't get in the way when you're busy.

There's not a lot of power here, and when Google Drive gives you 15GB storage for free, Norton's 2GB doesn't exactly seem generous. It's 2GB more than you'll get with most antivirus packages, though. Upgrading gets you more, for example, 50GB with Norton 360 Deluxe. The ability to set up a genuinely useful online backup in seconds is welcome, too, especially for users who aren't so technical, and the service does add some value to the package.

Performance

Norton AntiVirus Plus includes a handful of simple maintenance tools designed to speed up your PC. While it isn't a lot, each one is effective in helping your system run faster.

Optimize Disk is a disk defrag tool which rearranges how files are placed on your hard drive to maybe improve performance. At least, that's the theory: the technology doesn't make much of a difference with modern SSD drives. And when I tried the Optimize Disk on my test system, it appeared to be using the standard Windows defrag tool underneath, anyway. If you're interested, you can try that now, for free (click a drive in Explorer, click Drive Tools > Optimize.)

File Cleanup is one of the most underpowered junk file finders I've seen. Run the tool, it deletes Windows, Chrome and Internet Explorer temporary files, and - that's it. There's no attempt to confirm whether you really want to wipe these files, they're just deleted immediately, and it doesn't even tell you up-front how much space it's freed up. (The information is available, but you must click a couple of links to find it.)

There's really no reason for this tool to exist, as it doesn't fully clear your Chrome history, and even Windows' standard Disk Cleanup tool does a significantly better job of finding system leftovers. I ran Norton's File Cleanup, then tried Disk Cleanup, and it identified 1.43GB of extra files I could safely wipe. 

The pick of the performance tools, by far, is the Startup Manager. Not only does this display the programs set up to launch along with Windows, but it also tells you their level of resource usage, and how commonly they're found across Norton's other customers, and gives you the chance to delay the app's start or disable it entirely.

There's a surprising amount of detail about each app's performance, too. In a click or two you're able to check on a summary of an app's CPU and RAM use, disk reads and writes, and you can even view a scrolling graph showing the app's CPU usage over the past ten minutes.

The average user probably won't care much about any of that, but if you're more experienced, and genuinely looking to identify the most resource-grabbing processes on your system, Norton's performance monitoring is a helpful extra that you won't get with any of the competition.

Final verdict

Powerful, and with more features than some high-end suites, there's a lot to like about Norton AntiVirus Plus. The package didn't perform quite as well as the top suites in my anti-ransomware test, but it blocked the threat, and overall, it's a quality antivirus app and security suite. Well worth a try.

Norton 360 Standard

Norton 360 Standard, the baseline plan of the Norton 360 range, is essentially Norton AntiVirus Plus with webcam protection, an upgrade from 2GB to 10GB of backup space, and unlimited use of Norton Secure VPN for a single device.

This isn't just for PC and Mac anymore. Android and iOS apps enable protecting your phone or tablet, too.

Prices start low at $25 for a one-device, one-year license, rising to $85 on renewal. That first-year price is a good deal, especially if you'll use the VPN and don't mind the single-device restriction - most specialist VPN providers charge $40 or more for their one-year plans (although they'll typically cover five devices).

VPN

Unusually for a bundled VPN, Norton Secure VPN is fully integrated with the suite interface. There's no need to open extra app windows or scroll through long lists of countries to find what you need: just click the Turn On button and you're automatically connected to the fastest server outside of your country.

That scores well for anonymity, as websites will always think you're in another country, but it could be inconvenient if geoblocking leaves you unable to access some local sites. 

If that's an issue, you can switch back to the standard 'choose a country' list. There's a decent selection of 31 countries to choose from, but it's strictly country-only, with no region or city-level options. 

The location list doesn't have a Favorites system. The countries appear in a tiny box that only has room to display three locations at once, too, forcing you to spend more time scrolling to find what you need. 

The VPN has recently added a host of new settings. It can automatically connect when you access insecure networks; ad and tracker-blocking help preserve your web privacy; split tunneling enables deciding which apps use the tunnel, and which don't; and a kill switch tries to protect you if the connection drops.

Some of these features perform well. Auto-connect and split tunneling work as advertised, for instance. And the app now properly raised a notification if my connection dropped, ensuring I knew when my traffic was unprotected.

The kill switch wasn't as successful. It kicked in whenever I forcibly dropped the VPN connection, ensuring my real IP address didn't leak: good news. But the kill switch blocked my internet so well that the app couldn't reconnect: I had to turn it off before we could connect again. 

My performance tests showed Norton achieving 280-290Mbps on a 1Gbps connection from a UK data center. That's good for an IKEv2 connection, but NordVPN and many WireGuard-equipped VPNs reached 750Mbps and more.

It was a similar mixed story on unblocking, where the VPN got me into BBC iPlayer and Amazon Prime, but not US Netflix or Disney+.

Put it all together and Norton Secure VPN is far from the worst service I've seen. But it's not a great one, either. The VPN adds some value to Norton 360, but it doesn't begin to compete with the best of the specialist VPN providers.

Webcam protection

Norton 360 includes its SafeCam webcam protection, which alerts you to untrusted apps trying to access your camera, and gives you the chance to allow or block them

That's not as much hassle as it sounds. By default, SafeCam automatically allows known good apps to access the camera, so you'll rarely see any alerts. And if SafeCam does ask permission for something, choose the 'always allow' or 'always block' options, it'll remember your decision, and you won't be prompted again

I found this worked exactly as it should: my most trustworthy tool automatically allowed its capture, while my little-known app raised an alert. That works as a default setting for me, but if you prefer, you can turn off the 'automatically allow good apps' option to be prompted for everything, or you can turn off SafeCam entirely.

Mobile apps

Norton 360 Mobile Security for Android is a capable app that includes all the key tools from the desktop edition and adds a pile of more mobile-friendly extras.

Automatic and on-demand scanning catches malware before it can launch, for instance, while web protection keeps you away from dangerous links. Testing shows Norton's engine is very accurate, with AV-Test's Android reports rating it a maximum 6/6 for protection in all six tests over the past year (November 2020-September 2021.)

The app includes Norton's Secure VPN, allowing you to protect your wireless traffic with a tap.

Elsewhere, Norton 360 helps you avoid issues by displaying key details on apps from within Google Play before you install them. You'll see if the app has privacy risks, includes intrusive ads, makes excessive use of your battery and data, and more.

Recent additions include SMS filtering which checks texts for dubious phishing links, and the ability to detect and warn you if you're connected to a potentially unsure network.

Norton Mobile Security for iOS is simpler. You still get Norton's excellent web protection, along with the new SMS filtering, and a Wi-Fi security layer to alert you to dangerous networks: more than enough to be useful.

The mobile apps don't quite have all the features you'll see with competing apps (there's no anti-theft, for instance), but there's still a lot to like here. And if you're unsure, check them out - they have trial versions available.

More features

Norton 360's spam filter doesn't get much attention on the website, maybe because it's relatively basic. It mostly only integrates with Outlook, for instance (although it will work with Windows Mail on Windows 7), and it's strictly POP3 and SMTP only - there's no support for POP3 with SSL, IMAP, or Exchange accounts.

The filter has no way to tweak its strength, either. If you don't get the results you need, your only option is to add email addresses to Allowed and Blocked lists.

I've seen better spam filters, but you don't have to use them. If it doesn't work for you, turn it off and find an alternative.

Users in some countries - Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, UK, US - also get Norton's Dark Web Monitoring, one of the features of its LifeLock Identity Theft Protection service. Set it up and LifeLock monitors Dark Web sites where stolen data is regularly traded, and if your email address turns up, you'll get a warning.

Many vendors offer similar-sounding features, but if you're comparing packages, be sure to check the details.

Smaller AVs sometimes advertise 'data breach monitoring', for instance, but expect you to run searches yourself. In many cases, they use the Have I Been Pwned database, too, which you can check yourself, for free, whenever you like.

Norton's Dark Web Monitoring is powered by a commercial identity theft protection service, and there's no manual searching required. You just get on with your life, and the package keeps watch in the background and raises an alert if your details turn up in a breach. Much more convenient.

Final verdict

Norton 360 Standard is all about its Secure VPN. If you'll use it, and don't mind the single-device restriction, it looks like a very good buy. If the VPN doesn't work for you, there's not enough else here to justify choosing the suite. Either look at upgrading to a higher Norton 360 plan, adding support for more devices and the full identity theft protection plan, or expand your horizons and check out some other vendors.

Norton 360 Deluxe

Upgrading from Norton 360 Standard to Deluxe is mostly about the numbers. 

Forget the measly single device license, for instance - Deluxe covers up to five PCs, Macs, phones, or tablets. You're able to install and use the VPN on all those devices, too. And your online backup space leaps from 10GB to a generous 50GB.

That's more than enough to justify the price of $35 in year one, $105 on renewal. (Norton 360 Standard is only $10 cheaper initially at $25 for the first year, and $85 afterward.

There's more, though, in the shape of Norton's Parental Control system. It goes way beyond the usual security suite basics with detailed content filtering, GPS tracking for mobile devices, and in-depth monitoring which allows you to see everything from the search terms your kids use to the websites they visit and the videos they watch. It's a worthwhile addition to the suite, but beware, this doesn't work with Macs.

It all makes for a quality suite that compares well with the competition. Bitdefender Total Security is a great suite that outperforms Norton in some areas (it stopped my ransomware simulator and recovered all damaged files, for instance), but it doesn't have the Norton 360 VPN, online backup, or dark web monitoring, and yet it's priced at a very similar $35 for a five device, one-year license, and $90 on renewal.

If there's the slightest chance that you might benefit from covering more than a single device, then, Norton 360 Deluxe looks like the best general-purpose option in the range. One for your shortlist.

Norton 360 with LifeLock

Upgrading from Norton 360 Deluxe to Norton 360 with LifeLock Select gets US users full-featured identity theft protection and other welcome benefits.

The baseline Norton 360 with LifeLock Select plan covers the identity theft basics - credit monitoring, SSN and credit alerts, stolen wallet protection, up to a million dollars to compensate you for lost funds and expenses, and US-based identity theft restoration specialists to help you recover from any problems. It's priced at $100 in year one, $150 on renewal

The top-of-the-range Norton 360 with LifeLock Ultimate Plus supports unlimited devices, includes 500GB backup space, increases the compensation you can get for identity theft expenses and losses, and adds features like credit reports from three bureaus, and 401(k) and investment activity alerts. It's $262 for the first year, $350 after that

There's a lot of value here, even if you're not entirely sure about the identity theft protection. Use Norton 360 with LifeLock Ultimate Plus to cover 20 devices for a year, for instance, and you're paying just $12.60 each.

LifeLock is the headline feature, of course, but there isn't enough space to fully cover that here. If you're interested, go take a look at the Norton site to find out exactly what you get with each package, then compare it with the competition, and see who comes out on top.

We've also highlighted the best antivirus

Trend Micro's consumer security range looks a lot like most of the competition: a single Windows-only antivirus product here, a more powerful internet security suite over there, and a high-end product with extra functionality and support for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices. In fact, it's among the best Mac antivirus today.

Plans and pricing

Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security doesn't come with very much, In fact, it will only protect one Windows machine and doesn't give you the option to add more. But for $19.95, it's not a bad place to start if you want to give it a fair chance. 

There are other basic antivirus programs, like Bitdefender Antivirus Plus, that come in about the same price point, gives you more devices to protect, and a few extra security tools. If you decide you want to continue using Antivirus+ Security after the first year, the price will increase to $39.95 each year you want to renew.

Trend Micro Internet Security also only protects Windows computers, but it does give you the option to protect three of them with a single license. There are a few extra tools thrown in, too like parents control, a system optimizer, and social media protections.

You can get Internet security for $39.95, but renewing after the first year will cost you $79.95.

Trend Micro Maximum Security adds a password manager to its subscription and lets you protect five devices. Unlike Antivirus+ Security and Internet Security, Maximum Security works on most devices including Mac, Android, and iOS mobile devices, and on Chromebooks.

You can use Maximum Security for a year at the introductory price of $49.95. After that, the yearly subscription cost increases to $89.95.

The top-of-the-line Trend Micro Premium Security supports ten devices and adds an unlimited VPN, alerts if your details appear in a data breach, and 24/7 tech support and 'emergency assistance',  including remote assistance to remove a virus. 

It's not significantly more expensive, either, at $59.95 in year one, and $129.95 on renewal. But if you don't need support for all that hardware, Norton 360 Deluxe covers up to five devices and includes a VPN, dark web monitoring, firewall, and 50GB backup space, plus costs $10 less for the first year, and $20 less on renewal.

Compare Trend Micro subscriptions

• You can sign up for Trend Micro's antivirus solutions here

Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security

Setup

Getting started with Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security is easy. There's a trial build available, installation is largely automatic, and you don't even have to provide your email address to try it out. (You're prompted to enter your email address at the end of the process to get product news and updates, but this is optional. I left the box blank, and the installer didn't complain.)

The Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security installation grabs more system resources than most, with more than 1GB of data and executable files, a further 1GB in an Installer folder, seven background processes, and assorted other drivers.

That generally isn't good for speeds, and sure enough, AV-Comparatives' October 2022 Performance Test placed Trend Micro 6th out of 17. Essentially that means you can expect to see some slowdown when using this program, especially on the first launch of an application, or when webpages are first loading.

I completed my first checks by simulating the type of attacks malware might use to try and disable Trend Micro's protection, including deleting files, killing processes, stopping services, unloading drivers and more. The results weren't bad at all.

It managed to damage the package enough that its interface refused to load, even after a reboot. But the underlying engine remained intact, and still detect and blocked all types of threats. And once Antivirus+ Security was reinstalled, the interface returned.

On the plus side, the app blocked all my other low-level trickery with extreme ease, and often more effectively than most.

For example, one test checks whether an antivirus can be silently uninstalled (don't laugh: amazingly, some can.) Antivirus+ Security didn't just block the attempt, it closed down my testing tool and raised a notification to warn me: the best response I've seen.

Interface

Trend Micro's Windows interface has a friendly and appealing look. There are large, animated icons, a big scan button, a clear description of your security status, along with text captions and tooltips to make it clear how everything works. You can even customize the console with a new background image.

Checking the Settings dialog revealed the same focus on clarity, with nothing too intimidating present. Instead of the usual technical jargon, options are spelled out in detail and in plain English, like "Prevent programs on portable drives from launching automatically" or "Check if programs try to make unauthorized changes to system settings which could threaten your security".

Experts might wish for more low-level control, but if you're normally left baffled by at least some antivirus settings, Trend Micro's simplified approach could be a refreshing change.

Antivirus

Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security's Scanning options are straightforward. You're able to run quick, full or custom scans, where you can specify particular drives or folders to check. There's very little control over any of this, and no Avast-like ability to add other scan types and define precisely how they work. But it's easy to use, and if you're not the type who normally delves deep into antivirus settings, you'll probably be happy enough.

You're able to scan files from their right-click Explorer menu, too, although with one or two restrictions. I noticed that Antivirus+ Security doesn't support simultaneous scans, and the Explorer 'Scan with Trend Micro' option is greyed out when you're running a scan from the main console.

That's probably not something you'll notice often, but it's still a potential nuisance and not an issue you'll get with more flexible products.

Antivirus+ Security scanned 50GB of test executables in just 16 minutes, much faster than most of the competition. This dropped to nine minutes on the second scan, presumably through some 'scan only new and changed files'-type optimization.

That's good, but a few vendors go further. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus spent a lengthy 49 minutes on its first run, but this dropped to under a minute by the second.

Folder Shield

Trend Micro's protection doesn't stop with real-time behavior monitoring and on-demand scanning. Folder Shield, an anti-ransomware layer, watches your Documents, OneDrive and Pictures folders, as well as any connected USB drives, and alerts you about any attempt to modify files by trusted processes. You can add more folders, as necessary.

Folder Shield isn't a new idea – Windows' Controlled Folders feature is a more basic version; Avast's Ransomware Shield is similar  – but it's a welcome extra layer of protection that could block even brand-new undiscovered ransomware.

Protection

AV-Comparatives' real-world protection test is a tough benchmark that pits 16 top antivirus engines against some of the very latest malware. In the past Trend Micro has put up some impressive detection and protection rates, but in the latest round of testing, it really took a deep dive.

In its March 2023 findings, AV-Comparatives gave Trend Micro an overall protection score of 97.19% and placed it dead last among all the antivirus tested. While on the surface that doesn't seem too bad, when each part of the test is broken down you can see where Trend Micro struggled.

To begin with, of the 10,015 malware used for testing, Trend Micro let 281 of them slip through. Add in that only achieved an offline detection rate of 60.9%, the lowest score in this area, and tagged 10 legitimate files are threats, it's clear that in this case 97.19% just isn't good enough.

But AV-Comparatives isn't the only metric I use to determine the overall effectiveness of any antivirus' detection ability. Along with my own observations, I also look at AV-Test, another third-party security software testing lab.

In the latest round of testing, AV-Test gives Trend Micro perfect scores for protection. It, too, looks at how well it detects and blocks malware, identifies new threats that haven't been officially recognized or added to malware databases, and how often it gives false positives.

I should note that I've seen Trend Micro's false alarms in my own tests, so there does seem to be an issue here. It may vary considerably depending on your applications and how you use your system, though, so don't let this put you off trying the product; it might not be an issue for you in real-world use.

Malware tests

To get a complete idea of Antivirus+ Security's abilities, I put the program through some tests of my own.

As I expected, there were no file detection issues, and the engine detected and blocked even the latest malicious binaries.

I also ran some more interesting behavior tests, where test binaries perform a range of very suspicious actions (run a command shell, which launches wmic.exe, which fires up PowerShell with a one-line command to download a malicious file, for instance.) 

Antivirus+ Security performed well, jumping on many executables and closing them based on behavior alone before the file could be downloaded. That's more aggressive than some - Total AV waited for the downloaded and blocked it, but ignored the behavior and left the executables untouched - and perhaps explains why Trend Micro can raise more false positives. But I feel it's good news overall, as blocking suspect behavior as well as known dangerous files should protect you from even brand-new and undiscovered threats.

Ransomware test

My toughest antivirus test pits the reviewed product against my own custom ransomware simulator. As I've written this myself, Trend Micro wouldn't be able to detect the threat from its file signature, and could only rely on behavior monitoring. 

Many antivirus products fail this test, but Trend Micro achieved another big success. Not only did it kill the process after only three documents had been encrypted, but it also recovered those documents in full, ensuring I didn't lose any data at all. 

That puts Trend Micro alongside Bitdefender as the only vendor with products that both blocked my test threat and recovered any lost files. As an example of how important that might be, Norton AntiVirus Plus also detected and killed the simulator, but not before it managed to trash 57 documents, all of which were unrecoverable: oops. Stopping ransomware isn't just about the initial detection; speed and document recovery matter, too, and Trend Micro is one of the top contenders in both areas.

URL filtering

Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security includes several levels of browsing protection. 

Trend Micro's Social Networking Protection uses browser extensions to display a 'risk rating' of links on popular social networks, for instance (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Weibo, and more.) But there's also automatic checking of URLs before they're accessed, and even if a page passes that test, its content is scanned by the core Trend Micro engine.

AV-Comparatives' hasn't done any Anti-Phishing Certification Tests for a while, but the 2020 report put Trend Micro on top, blocking an excellent 95% of phishing sites. Other contenders included Bitdefender (94%), Avira (91%), and AVG and Avast (86%).

My smaller manual tests also found the app performed well, blocking many of even the very latest phishing sites.

I did notice one potential issue, though. Antivirus+ Security did a great job of protecting my browsing in Chrome, Edge and Firefox, but it didn't help with smaller browsers. After launching Brave, I was able to visit as many dangerous sites as I liked, without Antivirus+ Security raising any alarm.

Pay Guard

Trend Micro's Pay Guard aims to provide a more secure environment for carrying out online banking, shopping and other sensitive transactions, making it more difficult for malware to monitor or log what you're doing. This is also a familiar idea, but Trend Micro implements it a little differently.

While Bitdefender Safepay and similar packages create their secure environment within a custom hardened browser running on a separate desktop, Antivirus+ Security uses your default browser (as long as it's Chrome, Firefox, Edge or IE) with its most secure settings. 

This isn't as isolated from other apps. Keyloggers and screen capture tools weren't able to capture what I did in Safepay, for instance, but had no problem recording all Pay Guard activities.

Pay Guard is easier and more convenient to use, though. It can be set up to launch automatically when you access sensitive sites, maybe your bank and credit card companies. And it does offer useful security benefits, opening in a private browsing window, with no extensions loaded, and no trace of your transactions left when it closes.

Spam filter

Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security has a surprise bonus tool in its spam filter, a feature normally reserved for security suites. It's not easy to find, though - it's disabled by default and not highlighted on the main dashboard - and you may not even realize it exists unless you find the right area of the Settings dialog and click the appropriate checkbox.

After enabling the feature, I began to realize why Trend Micro wasn't shouting about it. It's not a network-level, system-wide filter, for instance; it only works with Outlook, scanning POP3, SMTP, and Exchange messages

Performance wasn't great for me, either, with the filter regularly flagging legitimate emails as junk. You can address this by adding trusted addresses to an Approved Senders whitelist, though, or maybe reducing the filter strength. It's also possible you'll see better results, as these depend very much on the type of email you get. Take the trial, and see how it does.

Final verdict

Trend Micro has produced a user-friendly antivirus with excellent anti-ransomware abilities, but experts might be frustrated by the lack of advanced features and configuration options.

Trend Micro Internet Security

Trend Micro Internet Security extends the Antivirus+ product with parental controls, social media privacy tools, and a handful of PC maintenance and speedup features.

The suite's main selling point is its extended license, covering up to three PCs for only a little more than Antivirus+ Security: $40 for one year, $80 on renewal, or $60 for a two-year license, rising to $125 when you renew.

That looks a little underpowered to us, for what you're getting. Bitdefender Internet Security has many more features - firewall, password manager, webcam protection, and more - but the three-device license is priced the same, at $30 in year one, $80 on renewal. 

You can extend Bitdefender licenses to cover up to ten devices over three years, too, potentially saving even more. Trend Micro Internet Security is normally a three-device, one or two-year deal. (Confusingly, some regions are more flexible than others. Trend Micro's UK plans allow you to buy a cheaper one-device Internet Security license; the US plans only support three.)

Still, if Trend Micro Internet Security has everything you're after, Bitdefender specs may not matter very much. What's really important is exactly what its new features can do, and that's what I wanted to find out.

Parental Controls

Trend Micro's Family feature is an interesting parental controls tools that offer a little more functionality than you'll get with many other suites.

Content filtering enables blocking websites by their content type, for instance. A long list of well-chosen categories gives you plenty of control over how the system should work. You don't just get a single checkbox to block or allow all websites classed as 'Adult', for instance - you can opt to block pornography and erotic links, but allow sites covering sex education or with swimsuit pictures.

More general tools include options to prevent users accessed sites that Trend Micro hasn't rated. You can have unsuitable images filtered out from search engine results, or even block access to search engines entirely. 

You're able to schedule internet access and set maximum device time usage per user account. It's not very flexible - you must set times in whole hours only - but the familiar calendar interface means it's easy enough to use.

Unusually for a Windows security suite, you can also block access to specific applications by schedule. Add an app and initially, it's blocked at all times, but you can freely tweak that to, say, only allow it to be launched at weekends. (You can also override the block by entering your own password.)

There's a significant limitation here, in that Trend Micro Internet Security only covers desktops. If your child has access to a phone or a tablet, they can switch devices whenever they hit any enforced limits on the PC.

But if you can live with that, Trend Micro's parental controls tools give you fractionally more features than you'll see with some competitors, and are a worthwhile addition to the suite.

PC Health

Trend Micro claims its PC Health feature can 'fix common problems and get everything running at top speed', but it doesn't take long to realize that might be a little, well, unrealistic.

Trend Micro Internet Security automatically checks your PC Health when you run a regular antivirus scan, or you can choose to run a separate scan. Either way, the process doesn't take long, and within seconds I was looking at results in five categories.

A 'Security Vulnerabilities' section lists missing program updates, though only from Microsoft and Adobe; Avira's Software Updater also covers updates for Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Java, TeamViewer, Paint.Net, and other popular tools.

The Vulnerabilities section apparently also looks for poorly configured Windows firewall and user account settings. If you've tried similar tools before, you'll know they always come up with some obscure Registry setting that could be tightened, just a little. In this case, it had no suggestions at all.

A 'Potentially Incompatible Programs' section warns you of apps that might interfere with Internet Security or 'affect the performance of your computer.' Again, it found nothing to report on my system.

The 'Reduce Computer Startup Time' section displays startup programs that Trend Micro thinks could be disabled (or launched later) to reduce boot time. Task Manager reported 20 startup programs on my test system, but Trend Micro recommended delaying the launch of only four. But as it measured the total load time of all four programs as under 1.5 seconds, this wouldn't make any noticeable difference.

The 'Regain Disk Space' section handles all your system cleanup tasks and reported a total of 12.13GB to clean up across four categories: Temporary Application Files, Windows Update History, Temporary Web Browser Files, and Temporary Windows Files.

That's a good total, beating even what CCleaner could find on the same system (7.4GB), but the report had no real detail. The app claimed it could delete 1.44GB of 'Temporary application files', for instance, but didn't tell me what they were, so I had no way to check whether I needed these files or not.

Finally, a 'Clean Privacy Data' feature can apparently remove personal data from 'web browsers, instant messaging applications, media players and Windows.' Sounds great, but as it found absolutely nothing at all on my test system (and it didn't in my last two reviews, either), I was left wondering how thorough it is.

PC Health promises a lot but fails to deliver in almost every area. You'll get better results with the best-of-breed PC maintenance freeware, such as CCleaner. Or, if you're an experienced user and you'd like your security suite to have some real speedup power, check out Avira Prime. Its system cleaner is one of the few I've seen that can stand up to the stand-alone competition.

Privacy Scanner

Trend Micro Internet Security enhances your privacy with three main tools.

Privacy Scanner includes options to check the privacy settings of your web browsers, and your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts. These are available from the main Trend Micro interface, but for some reason, it launched Internet Explorer rather than Chrome, as my default browser. 

Privacy Scanner is also available from Trend Micro's free Chrome and Firefox browser extensions, so I installed that instead. This was detected when I logged in to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and was then able to scan my account settings for issues.

The Scanner offered 8 recommendations for Facebook (changing who could see my posts, who could see posts I'd tagged, and so on) 3 for Twitter and 1 for LinkedIn. 

A 'Fix all' button automatically changes all settings to give maximum privacy, or I was able to change individual account settings as required.

This could be handy as a way to highlight weak privacy settings, but with Privacy Scanner still supporting IE, and ignoring Edge, it looks like it really needs an update.

Social Networking Protection

Trend Micro's Social Networking Protection is a simple feature that highlights risky links in social media feeds, web search results, and other web pages.

This feature is enabled by default in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome, as long as you install Trend Micro's extensions.

This worked well when I tried it, highlighting safe URLs in reassuring green, and dangerous links in alarming red. Although I didn't test this feature in-depth, Trend Micro's engine does a good job of blocking URLs, so I expect it will be just as accurate. 

Data Theft Prevention

Trend Micro's final privacy feature, Data Theft Prevention, aims to stop confidential information from ever leaving your PC.

The idea is that you create a list of information you don't want to share without permission on websites and in emails: credit card or bank account details, addresses, telephone numbers, whatever they might be. Trend Micro then monitors outgoing connections and alerts you to any attempt to send those details.

While this sounds great, it only works with unencrypted connections and data. If an app connects using HTTPS or sends your data in a ZIP file, for instance, Data Theft Prevention won't be able to monitor what's going on.

There's no harm in setting it up, and the feature might prevent some basic malware from stealing your personal details. I wouldn't rely on that, though, and Data Theft Prevention really doesn't add much to the suite.

Final verdict

Trend Micro Internet Security doesn't make any huge mistakes, but it doesn't provide any compelling reasons to buy it, either. The feature set is small, and although there are a few original touches, most tools are average at best.

If you've already decided you're buying a Trend Micro product, and Internet Security's feature set suits your needs, check out the trial anyway. It will make you a little safer, and it's fair value if you're covering more than one device.

But if you're not already committed to the company, there's probably nothing in Trend Micro Internet Security that will change your mind, and you'll be better off with something else.

Trend Micro Maximum Security

There isn't a lot of difference between Internet Security and Maximum Security. The big addition is multi-platform support, with apps available for Android, iOS, and Mac. The other is the inclusion of a password manager. For any more cool perks or security tools, you'll have to upgrade to Trend Micro's top subscription.

Trend Micro Maximum Security isn't too bad of a deal considering what you do get. To protect up to five devices it only costs $50 for the first year and $90 on renewal. And you still get all the features of both Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security and Internet Security including parental controls. social media protections, and its signature online banking tool, Pay Guard.

 Multi-platform

With the ability to cover five devices with a single Maximum Security license, its multi-platform support could be the highlight of the package.

The Mac build covers all the core features you need, and more: antivirus, browsing protection, a spam filter, parental controls, social networking protection, the Privacy Scanner to check your social network account settings, and the ransomware-blocking Folder Shield.

It doesn't have some of the Windows extras - Pay Guard banking protection, any equivalent to PC Health's cleanup tools - but is a decent package overall.

The Android app is better than most, with equivalents to most of the features in the Windows edition, and a number of mobile-specific tools (a Privacy Scanner highlighting apps that can access your personal data, an app locker, a Secret Snap feature to capture a picture of unauthorized users trying to access your device.)

The app scores well with the top labs. AV-Test's Home User Android test awarded it a maximum 6/6 for Protection, Usability, and Performance in its last report. With a Play Store rating of 4.6, users seem to like it, too.

Trend Micro's iOS app can't match the Android edition, but it still outperforms many competitors, with malicious website blocking (including a secure QR code scanner), parental controls, private browsing, and tools that divert suspect texts, block ads and trackers and alerts you to unsafe wireless networks. Works for me.

Password Manager

At first glance, Trend Micro's Password Manager looks a little better than most of the security suite competition. It doesn't just generate stored passwords, store and sync them across your devices, and automatically complete login pages, for instance. There's also support for much more capable form filling, with data types including your name, birth date, email address, phone number, physical address, and credit card details.

Try using the service, though, and you'll find there's not much depth to any of this. Import options are limited to browsers, LastPass, and Kaspersky Password Manager, oddly. You can only enter a single example of many form data types (only a single address or password manager.) And you can forget about advanced features like secure password sharing or two-factor authentication.

The most significant problem during this review is the password manager simply didn't work, at all. I used its browser extension and web console to enter passwords, a name, addresses, and other data, but it apparently didn't recognize any forms and failed to auto-complete anything.

I've seen the password manager work successfully in all previous reviews, so I'm going to be generous and treat this as a temporary glitch or an issue with my testing system. But a rating of 2.5/5 on the Chrome store and the last update suggests there might be bigger problems in the background.

There may still be hope, though, especially if you'll mostly use mobile apps (the Android edition has more features, is updated more regularly, and scores 4.3/5 on the Play Store.) Try Password Manager out, it might be enough if your needs are simple, but it doesn't begin to compete with the stand-alone competition.

Final verdict

You don't see a real jump in overall security between Trend Micro Internet Security and Maximum Security. A password manager is a pretty handy tool to have in your arsenal, though, and it is helpful to be able to use your multiple licenses to protect more than just a Windows computer. Not to mention the jump only costs you $10 more than Internet Security, so value wise it's a pretty good steal.

Trend Micro Premium Security

If Trend Micro hasn't satisfied your security needs so far, maybe Trend Micro Premium Security will do the trick.

A welcome welcome touch found in Premium Security in a small Vault tool that enables using password-protected folders to prevent others from viewing your most confidential files.

This doesn't have quite the power you might expect from a high-end suite. There's no configurable firewall, for instance, and no webcam or microphone protection.

Trend Micro Premium Security is significantly more expensive than the competition, too. A one-year, 10-device license costs $60 for the first term and $130 on renewal; Bitdefender Total Security is priced at $43 in year one, and $110 on renewal, for the same number of devices and several security features missing from Trend Micro.

So, is Premium Security really worth the extra? I installed it to find out.

Vault

Trend Micro's Vault is a very simple tool that enables the creation of password-protected encrypted containers for storing sensitive files.

Choose your preferred password, open the vault and it displays a widget on your desktop. Drag and drop your most confidential files onto the widget and they're moved there. Close the vault and they're inaccessible to anyone who doesn't know the password.

Reopen the vault later and you can access it from Explorer, then open, edit, and save documents more or less as usual. (The process is slower than usual, thanks to the encryption overhead, but there's nothing unacceptable.)

So far, so very similar to a lot of other encryption tools. But Vault does have one slightly surprising extra. If your computer is lost or stolen, report this on the Trend Micro website and it'll be sealed. Even if the thief knows the password, they won't be able to open the vault until the computer is reported found.

Final verdict

Trend Micro Premium Security leaves out many features you might expect from a high-end security suite, like a firewall, backup, or webcam protection. Its multi-platform support and 10-device license and secure vault puts it ahead of the lesser packages, though, and the suite is also easy to use, with an accurate engine, quality URL blocking, and some capable mobile apps. If its feature set matches your needs, take the 30-day trial for a spin, and see how it works for you. 

We've also highlighted the best antivirus

Trend Micro's consumer security range looks a lot like most of the competition: a single Windows-only antivirus product here, a more powerful internet security suite over there, and a high-end product with extra functionality and support for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices. In fact, it's among the best Mac antivirus today.

Plans and pricing

Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security doesn't come with very much, In fact, it will only protect one Windows machine and doesn't give you the option to add more. But for $19.95, it's not a bad place to start if you want to give it a fair chance. 

There are other basic antivirus programs, like Bitdefender Antivirus Plus, that come in about the same price point, gives you more devices to protect, and a few extra security tools. If you decide you want to continue using Antivirus+ Security after the first year, the price will increase to $39.95 each year you want to renew.

Trend Micro Internet Security also only protects Windows computers, but it does give you the option to protect three of them with a single license. There are a few extra tools thrown in, too like parents control, a system optimizer, and social media protections.

You can get Internet security for $39.95, but renewing after the first year will cost you $79.95.

Trend Micro Maximum Security adds a password manager to its subscription and lets you protect five devices. Unlike Antivirus+ Security and Internet Security, Maximum Security works on most devices including Mac, Android, and iOS mobile devices, and on Chromebooks.

You can use Maximum Security for a year at the introductory price of $49.95. After that, the yearly subscription cost increases to $89.95.

The top-of-the-line Trend Micro Premium Security supports ten devices and adds an unlimited VPN, alerts if your details appear in a data breach, and 24/7 tech support and 'emergency assistance',  including remote assistance to remove a virus. 

It's not significantly more expensive, either, at $59.95 in year one, and $129.95 on renewal. But if you don't need support for all that hardware, Norton 360 Deluxe covers up to five devices and includes a VPN, dark web monitoring, firewall, and 50GB backup space, plus costs $10 less for the first year, and $20 less on renewal.

Compare Trend Micro subscriptions

• You can sign up for Trend Micro's antivirus solutions here

Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security

Setup

Getting started with Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security is easy. There's a trial build available, installation is largely automatic, and you don't even have to provide your email address to try it out. (You're prompted to enter your email address at the end of the process to get product news and updates, but this is optional. I left the box blank, and the installer didn't complain.)

The Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security installation grabs more system resources than most, with more than 1GB of data and executable files, a further 1GB in an Installer folder, seven background processes, and assorted other drivers.

That generally isn't good for speeds, and sure enough, AV-Comparatives' October 2022 Performance Test placed Trend Micro 6th out of 17. Essentially that means you can expect to see some slowdown when using this program, especially on the first launch of an application, or when webpages are first loading.

I completed my first checks by simulating the type of attacks malware might use to try and disable Trend Micro's protection, including deleting files, killing processes, stopping services, unloading drivers and more. The results weren't bad at all.

It managed to damage the package enough that its interface refused to load, even after a reboot. But the underlying engine remained intact, and still detect and blocked all types of threats. And once Antivirus+ Security was reinstalled, the interface returned.

On the plus side, the app blocked all my other low-level trickery with extreme ease, and often more effectively than most.

For example, one test checks whether an antivirus can be silently uninstalled (don't laugh: amazingly, some can.) Antivirus+ Security didn't just block the attempt, it closed down my testing tool and raised a notification to warn me: the best response I've seen.

Interface

Trend Micro's Windows interface has a friendly and appealing look. There are large, animated icons, a big scan button, a clear description of your security status, along with text captions and tooltips to make it clear how everything works. You can even customize the console with a new background image.

Checking the Settings dialog revealed the same focus on clarity, with nothing too intimidating present. Instead of the usual technical jargon, options are spelled out in detail and in plain English, like "Prevent programs on portable drives from launching automatically" or "Check if programs try to make unauthorized changes to system settings which could threaten your security".

Experts might wish for more low-level control, but if you're normally left baffled by at least some antivirus settings, Trend Micro's simplified approach could be a refreshing change.

Antivirus

Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security's Scanning options are straightforward. You're able to run quick, full or custom scans, where you can specify particular drives or folders to check. There's very little control over any of this, and no Avast-like ability to add other scan types and define precisely how they work. But it's easy to use, and if you're not the type who normally delves deep into antivirus settings, you'll probably be happy enough.

You're able to scan files from their right-click Explorer menu, too, although with one or two restrictions. I noticed that Antivirus+ Security doesn't support simultaneous scans, and the Explorer 'Scan with Trend Micro' option is greyed out when you're running a scan from the main console.

That's probably not something you'll notice often, but it's still a potential nuisance and not an issue you'll get with more flexible products.

Antivirus+ Security scanned 50GB of test executables in just 16 minutes, much faster than most of the competition. This dropped to nine minutes on the second scan, presumably through some 'scan only new and changed files'-type optimization.

That's good, but a few vendors go further. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus spent a lengthy 49 minutes on its first run, but this dropped to under a minute by the second.

Folder Shield

Trend Micro's protection doesn't stop with real-time behavior monitoring and on-demand scanning. Folder Shield, an anti-ransomware layer, watches your Documents, OneDrive and Pictures folders, as well as any connected USB drives, and alerts you about any attempt to modify files by trusted processes. You can add more folders, as necessary.

Folder Shield isn't a new idea – Windows' Controlled Folders feature is a more basic version; Avast's Ransomware Shield is similar  – but it's a welcome extra layer of protection that could block even brand-new undiscovered ransomware.

Protection

AV-Comparatives' real-world protection test is a tough benchmark that pits 16 top antivirus engines against some of the very latest malware. In the past Trend Micro has put up some impressive detection and protection rates, but in the latest round of testing, it really took a deep dive.

In its March 2023 findings, AV-Comparatives gave Trend Micro an overall protection score of 97.19% and placed it dead last among all the antivirus tested. While on the surface that doesn't seem too bad, when each part of the test is broken down you can see where Trend Micro struggled.

To begin with, of the 10,015 malware used for testing, Trend Micro let 281 of them slip through. Add in that only achieved an offline detection rate of 60.9%, the lowest score in this area, and tagged 10 legitimate files are threats, it's clear that in this case 97.19% just isn't good enough.

But AV-Comparatives isn't the only metric I use to determine the overall effectiveness of any antivirus' detection ability. Along with my own observations, I also look at AV-Test, another third-party security software testing lab.

In the latest round of testing, AV-Test gives Trend Micro perfect scores for protection. It, too, looks at how well it detects and blocks malware, identifies new threats that haven't been officially recognized or added to malware databases, and how often it gives false positives.

I should note that I've seen Trend Micro's false alarms in my own tests, so there does seem to be an issue here. It may vary considerably depending on your applications and how you use your system, though, so don't let this put you off trying the product; it might not be an issue for you in real-world use.

Malware tests

To get a complete idea of Antivirus+ Security's abilities, I put the program through some tests of my own.

As I expected, there were no file detection issues, and the engine detected and blocked even the latest malicious binaries.

I also ran some more interesting behavior tests, where test binaries perform a range of very suspicious actions (run a command shell, which launches wmic.exe, which fires up PowerShell with a one-line command to download a malicious file, for instance.) 

Antivirus+ Security performed well, jumping on many executables and closing them based on behavior alone before the file could be downloaded. That's more aggressive than some - Total AV waited for the downloaded and blocked it, but ignored the behavior and left the executables untouched - and perhaps explains why Trend Micro can raise more false positives. But I feel it's good news overall, as blocking suspect behavior as well as known dangerous files should protect you from even brand-new and undiscovered threats.

Ransomware test

My toughest antivirus test pits the reviewed product against my own custom ransomware simulator. As I've written this myself, Trend Micro wouldn't be able to detect the threat from its file signature, and could only rely on behavior monitoring. 

Many antivirus products fail this test, but Trend Micro achieved another big success. Not only did it kill the process after only three documents had been encrypted, but it also recovered those documents in full, ensuring I didn't lose any data at all. 

That puts Trend Micro alongside Bitdefender as the only vendor with products that both blocked my test threat and recovered any lost files. As an example of how important that might be, Norton AntiVirus Plus also detected and killed the simulator, but not before it managed to trash 57 documents, all of which were unrecoverable: oops. Stopping ransomware isn't just about the initial detection; speed and document recovery matter, too, and Trend Micro is one of the top contenders in both areas.

URL filtering

Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security includes several levels of browsing protection. 

Trend Micro's Social Networking Protection uses browser extensions to display a 'risk rating' of links on popular social networks, for instance (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Weibo, and more.) But there's also automatic checking of URLs before they're accessed, and even if a page passes that test, its content is scanned by the core Trend Micro engine.

AV-Comparatives' hasn't done any Anti-Phishing Certification Tests for a while, but the 2020 report put Trend Micro on top, blocking an excellent 95% of phishing sites. Other contenders included Bitdefender (94%), Avira (91%), and AVG and Avast (86%).

My smaller manual tests also found the app performed well, blocking many of even the very latest phishing sites.

I did notice one potential issue, though. Antivirus+ Security did a great job of protecting my browsing in Chrome, Edge and Firefox, but it didn't help with smaller browsers. After launching Brave, I was able to visit as many dangerous sites as I liked, without Antivirus+ Security raising any alarm.

Pay Guard

Trend Micro's Pay Guard aims to provide a more secure environment for carrying out online banking, shopping and other sensitive transactions, making it more difficult for malware to monitor or log what you're doing. This is also a familiar idea, but Trend Micro implements it a little differently.

While Bitdefender Safepay and similar packages create their secure environment within a custom hardened browser running on a separate desktop, Antivirus+ Security uses your default browser (as long as it's Chrome, Firefox, Edge or IE) with its most secure settings. 

This isn't as isolated from other apps. Keyloggers and screen capture tools weren't able to capture what I did in Safepay, for instance, but had no problem recording all Pay Guard activities.

Pay Guard is easier and more convenient to use, though. It can be set up to launch automatically when you access sensitive sites, maybe your bank and credit card companies. And it does offer useful security benefits, opening in a private browsing window, with no extensions loaded, and no trace of your transactions left when it closes.

Spam filter

Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security has a surprise bonus tool in its spam filter, a feature normally reserved for security suites. It's not easy to find, though - it's disabled by default and not highlighted on the main dashboard - and you may not even realize it exists unless you find the right area of the Settings dialog and click the appropriate checkbox.

After enabling the feature, I began to realize why Trend Micro wasn't shouting about it. It's not a network-level, system-wide filter, for instance; it only works with Outlook, scanning POP3, SMTP, and Exchange messages

Performance wasn't great for me, either, with the filter regularly flagging legitimate emails as junk. You can address this by adding trusted addresses to an Approved Senders whitelist, though, or maybe reducing the filter strength. It's also possible you'll see better results, as these depend very much on the type of email you get. Take the trial, and see how it does.

Final verdict

Trend Micro has produced a user-friendly antivirus with excellent anti-ransomware abilities, but experts might be frustrated by the lack of advanced features and configuration options.

Trend Micro Internet Security

Trend Micro Internet Security extends the Antivirus+ product with parental controls, social media privacy tools, and a handful of PC maintenance and speedup features.

The suite's main selling point is its extended license, covering up to three PCs for only a little more than Antivirus+ Security: $40 for one year, $80 on renewal, or $60 for a two-year license, rising to $125 when you renew.

That looks a little underpowered to us, for what you're getting. Bitdefender Internet Security has many more features - firewall, password manager, webcam protection, and more - but the three-device license is priced the same, at $30 in year one, $80 on renewal. 

You can extend Bitdefender licenses to cover up to ten devices over three years, too, potentially saving even more. Trend Micro Internet Security is normally a three-device, one or two-year deal. (Confusingly, some regions are more flexible than others. Trend Micro's UK plans allow you to buy a cheaper one-device Internet Security license; the US plans only support three.)

Still, if Trend Micro Internet Security has everything you're after, Bitdefender specs may not matter very much. What's really important is exactly what its new features can do, and that's what I wanted to find out.

Parental Controls

Trend Micro's Family feature is an interesting parental controls tools that offer a little more functionality than you'll get with many other suites.

Content filtering enables blocking websites by their content type, for instance. A long list of well-chosen categories gives you plenty of control over how the system should work. You don't just get a single checkbox to block or allow all websites classed as 'Adult', for instance - you can opt to block pornography and erotic links, but allow sites covering sex education or with swimsuit pictures.

More general tools include options to prevent users accessed sites that Trend Micro hasn't rated. You can have unsuitable images filtered out from search engine results, or even block access to search engines entirely. 

You're able to schedule internet access and set maximum device time usage per user account. It's not very flexible - you must set times in whole hours only - but the familiar calendar interface means it's easy enough to use.

Unusually for a Windows security suite, you can also block access to specific applications by schedule. Add an app and initially, it's blocked at all times, but you can freely tweak that to, say, only allow it to be launched at weekends. (You can also override the block by entering your own password.)

There's a significant limitation here, in that Trend Micro Internet Security only covers desktops. If your child has access to a phone or a tablet, they can switch devices whenever they hit any enforced limits on the PC.

But if you can live with that, Trend Micro's parental controls tools give you fractionally more features than you'll see with some competitors, and are a worthwhile addition to the suite.

PC Health

Trend Micro claims its PC Health feature can 'fix common problems and get everything running at top speed', but it doesn't take long to realize that might be a little, well, unrealistic.

Trend Micro Internet Security automatically checks your PC Health when you run a regular antivirus scan, or you can choose to run a separate scan. Either way, the process doesn't take long, and within seconds I was looking at results in five categories.

A 'Security Vulnerabilities' section lists missing program updates, though only from Microsoft and Adobe; Avira's Software Updater also covers updates for Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Java, TeamViewer, Paint.Net, and other popular tools.

The Vulnerabilities section apparently also looks for poorly configured Windows firewall and user account settings. If you've tried similar tools before, you'll know they always come up with some obscure Registry setting that could be tightened, just a little. In this case, it had no suggestions at all.

A 'Potentially Incompatible Programs' section warns you of apps that might interfere with Internet Security or 'affect the performance of your computer.' Again, it found nothing to report on my system.

The 'Reduce Computer Startup Time' section displays startup programs that Trend Micro thinks could be disabled (or launched later) to reduce boot time. Task Manager reported 20 startup programs on my test system, but Trend Micro recommended delaying the launch of only four. But as it measured the total load time of all four programs as under 1.5 seconds, this wouldn't make any noticeable difference.

The 'Regain Disk Space' section handles all your system cleanup tasks and reported a total of 12.13GB to clean up across four categories: Temporary Application Files, Windows Update History, Temporary Web Browser Files, and Temporary Windows Files.

That's a good total, beating even what CCleaner could find on the same system (7.4GB), but the report had no real detail. The app claimed it could delete 1.44GB of 'Temporary application files', for instance, but didn't tell me what they were, so I had no way to check whether I needed these files or not.

Finally, a 'Clean Privacy Data' feature can apparently remove personal data from 'web browsers, instant messaging applications, media players and Windows.' Sounds great, but as it found absolutely nothing at all on my test system (and it didn't in my last two reviews, either), I was left wondering how thorough it is.

PC Health promises a lot but fails to deliver in almost every area. You'll get better results with the best-of-breed PC maintenance freeware, such as CCleaner. Or, if you're an experienced user and you'd like your security suite to have some real speedup power, check out Avira Prime. Its system cleaner is one of the few I've seen that can stand up to the stand-alone competition.

Privacy Scanner

Trend Micro Internet Security enhances your privacy with three main tools.

Privacy Scanner includes options to check the privacy settings of your web browsers, and your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts. These are available from the main Trend Micro interface, but for some reason, it launched Internet Explorer rather than Chrome, as my default browser. 

Privacy Scanner is also available from Trend Micro's free Chrome and Firefox browser extensions, so I installed that instead. This was detected when I logged in to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and was then able to scan my account settings for issues.

The Scanner offered 8 recommendations for Facebook (changing who could see my posts, who could see posts I'd tagged, and so on) 3 for Twitter and 1 for LinkedIn. 

A 'Fix all' button automatically changes all settings to give maximum privacy, or I was able to change individual account settings as required.

This could be handy as a way to highlight weak privacy settings, but with Privacy Scanner still supporting IE, and ignoring Edge, it looks like it really needs an update.

Social Networking Protection

Trend Micro's Social Networking Protection is a simple feature that highlights risky links in social media feeds, web search results, and other web pages.

This feature is enabled by default in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome, as long as you install Trend Micro's extensions.

This worked well when I tried it, highlighting safe URLs in reassuring green, and dangerous links in alarming red. Although I didn't test this feature in-depth, Trend Micro's engine does a good job of blocking URLs, so I expect it will be just as accurate. 

Data Theft Prevention

Trend Micro's final privacy feature, Data Theft Prevention, aims to stop confidential information from ever leaving your PC.

The idea is that you create a list of information you don't want to share without permission on websites and in emails: credit card or bank account details, addresses, telephone numbers, whatever they might be. Trend Micro then monitors outgoing connections and alerts you to any attempt to send those details.

While this sounds great, it only works with unencrypted connections and data. If an app connects using HTTPS or sends your data in a ZIP file, for instance, Data Theft Prevention won't be able to monitor what's going on.

There's no harm in setting it up, and the feature might prevent some basic malware from stealing your personal details. I wouldn't rely on that, though, and Data Theft Prevention really doesn't add much to the suite.

Final verdict

Trend Micro Internet Security doesn't make any huge mistakes, but it doesn't provide any compelling reasons to buy it, either. The feature set is small, and although there are a few original touches, most tools are average at best.

If you've already decided you're buying a Trend Micro product, and Internet Security's feature set suits your needs, check out the trial anyway. It will make you a little safer, and it's fair value if you're covering more than one device.

But if you're not already committed to the company, there's probably nothing in Trend Micro Internet Security that will change your mind, and you'll be better off with something else.

Trend Micro Maximum Security

There isn't a lot of difference between Internet Security and Maximum Security. The big addition is multi-platform support, with apps available for Android, iOS, and Mac. The other is the inclusion of a password manager. For any more cool perks or security tools, you'll have to upgrade to Trend Micro's top subscription.

Trend Micro Maximum Security isn't too bad of a deal considering what you do get. To protect up to five devices it only costs $50 for the first year and $90 on renewal. And you still get all the features of both Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security and Internet Security including parental controls. social media protections, and its signature online banking tool, Pay Guard.

 Multi-platform

With the ability to cover five devices with a single Maximum Security license, its multi-platform support could be the highlight of the package.

The Mac build covers all the core features you need, and more: antivirus, browsing protection, a spam filter, parental controls, social networking protection, the Privacy Scanner to check your social network account settings, and the ransomware-blocking Folder Shield.

It doesn't have some of the Windows extras - Pay Guard banking protection, any equivalent to PC Health's cleanup tools - but is a decent package overall.

The Android app is better than most, with equivalents to most of the features in the Windows edition, and a number of mobile-specific tools (a Privacy Scanner highlighting apps that can access your personal data, an app locker, a Secret Snap feature to capture a picture of unauthorized users trying to access your device.)

The app scores well with the top labs. AV-Test's Home User Android test awarded it a maximum 6/6 for Protection, Usability, and Performance in its last report. With a Play Store rating of 4.6, users seem to like it, too.

Trend Micro's iOS app can't match the Android edition, but it still outperforms many competitors, with malicious website blocking (including a secure QR code scanner), parental controls, private browsing, and tools that divert suspect texts, block ads and trackers and alerts you to unsafe wireless networks. Works for me.

Password Manager

At first glance, Trend Micro's Password Manager looks a little better than most of the security suite competition. It doesn't just generate stored passwords, store and sync them across your devices, and automatically complete login pages, for instance. There's also support for much more capable form filling, with data types including your name, birth date, email address, phone number, physical address, and credit card details.

Try using the service, though, and you'll find there's not much depth to any of this. Import options are limited to browsers, LastPass, and Kaspersky Password Manager, oddly. You can only enter a single example of many form data types (only a single address or password manager.) And you can forget about advanced features like secure password sharing or two-factor authentication.

The most significant problem during this review is the password manager simply didn't work, at all. I used its browser extension and web console to enter passwords, a name, addresses, and other data, but it apparently didn't recognize any forms and failed to auto-complete anything.

I've seen the password manager work successfully in all previous reviews, so I'm going to be generous and treat this as a temporary glitch or an issue with my testing system. But a rating of 2.5/5 on the Chrome store and the last update suggests there might be bigger problems in the background.

There may still be hope, though, especially if you'll mostly use mobile apps (the Android edition has more features, is updated more regularly, and scores 4.3/5 on the Play Store.) Try Password Manager out, it might be enough if your needs are simple, but it doesn't begin to compete with the stand-alone competition.

Final verdict

You don't see a real jump in overall security between Trend Micro Internet Security and Maximum Security. A password manager is a pretty handy tool to have in your arsenal, though, and it is helpful to be able to use your multiple licenses to protect more than just a Windows computer. Not to mention the jump only costs you $10 more than Internet Security, so value wise it's a pretty good steal.

Trend Micro Premium Security

If Trend Micro hasn't satisfied your security needs so far, maybe Trend Micro Premium Security will do the trick.

A welcome welcome touch found in Premium Security in a small Vault tool that enables using password-protected folders to prevent others from viewing your most confidential files.

This doesn't have quite the power you might expect from a high-end suite. There's no configurable firewall, for instance, and no webcam or microphone protection.

Trend Micro Premium Security is significantly more expensive than the competition, too. A one-year, 10-device license costs $60 for the first term and $130 on renewal; Bitdefender Total Security is priced at $43 in year one, and $110 on renewal, for the same number of devices and several security features missing from Trend Micro.

So, is Premium Security really worth the extra? I installed it to find out.

Vault

Trend Micro's Vault is a very simple tool that enables the creation of password-protected encrypted containers for storing sensitive files.

Choose your preferred password, open the vault and it displays a widget on your desktop. Drag and drop your most confidential files onto the widget and they're moved there. Close the vault and they're inaccessible to anyone who doesn't know the password.

Reopen the vault later and you can access it from Explorer, then open, edit, and save documents more or less as usual. (The process is slower than usual, thanks to the encryption overhead, but there's nothing unacceptable.)

So far, so very similar to a lot of other encryption tools. But Vault does have one slightly surprising extra. If your computer is lost or stolen, report this on the Trend Micro website and it'll be sealed. Even if the thief knows the password, they won't be able to open the vault until the computer is reported found.

Final verdict

Trend Micro Premium Security leaves out many features you might expect from a high-end security suite, like a firewall, backup, or webcam protection. Its multi-platform support and 10-device license and secure vault puts it ahead of the lesser packages, though, and the suite is also easy to use, with an accurate engine, quality URL blocking, and some capable mobile apps. If its feature set matches your needs, take the 30-day trial for a spin, and see how it works for you. 

We've also highlighted the best antivirus

When it comes to finding the best cloud hosting platform for your business or personal projects, the options can seem overwhelming. However, there is one name that consistently rises to the top; Cloudways. 

With its robust infrastructure and intuitive user interface, Cloudways has become a go-to choice for anyone looking to harness the potential of cloud hosting. Offering a seamless experience and unmatched performance, 

This platform has gained a reputation for its reliability and flexibility. This review will delve deeper into the features of Cloudways that made it a standout player in the cloud hosting industry.

• Want to try Cloudways? Check out the website here

Cloudways features

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For WordPress users, Cloudways offers a free WordPress cache plugin called Breeze. This plugin is designed in-house to provide superior performance compared to other plugins in the industry. With simplicity at no cost, Breeze comes pre-installed on Cloudways, making it easy for you to optimize your WordPress website.

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If you're running a Magento 1.0 store, Cloudways has you covered with a free Magento Full Page Cache. This built-in cache significantly boosts the performance of your Magento store, allowing for faster page loads and smoother user experiences.

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To stay ahead of the curve, Cloudways also supports HTTP/3 with the Cloudflare enterprise add-on. HTTP/3 is the next evolution of the HTTP protocol and offers improved performance and security. By activating the Cloudflare enterprise add-on, you'll be ready for the broader browser support of HTTP/3.

Security is a top priority for Cloudways. All Cloudways hosted servers are protected by dedicated firewalls at the operating system level. These firewalls filter out malicious traffic and keep intruders at bay, ensuring the safety and integrity of your website. Cloudways makes it easy to secure your website with 1-click free SSL installation using Let's Encrypt SSL. This trusted certificate fulfills all your HTTPS requirements for free, enhancing the security of your website and instilling trust in your visitors.

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Cloudways takes security seriously and performs regular security patching on your server. By keeping your server up to date with the latest patches, you ensure a secure managed cloud server and mitigate vulnerabilities that could be exploited by malicious actors.

To further enhance account security, Cloudways provides two-factor authentication (2FA). This additional layer of safety protects your Cloudways account from unauthorized access, adding an extra level of protection to your server.

With the help of Cloudways' technology partner, Malcare, you can protect your WordPress websites from malicious bots, brute force login attacks, and Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks. This ensures that your website remains accessible to legitimate users and prevents performance issues caused by such attacks.

Cloudways offers advanced DDoS protection through the Cloudflare Enterprise add-on. This add-on provides enterprise-grade mitigation of DDoS attacks in under 3 seconds, protecting your application/website and keeping it online at all times. It defends against attacks on layers 3, 4, and 7, providing comprehensive protection against various attack vectors.

To safeguard your websites from emerging threats, Cloudways offers a web application firewall (WAF) with the Cloudflare Enterprise add-on. This secure firewall analyzes millions of sites and processes 32 million requests per second to identify and block attackers intelligently. With the WAF, you can ensure that your websites are protected from evolving security risks.

Cloudways simplifies the process of updating your WordPress websites with the SafeUpdates add-on. This add-on automatically detects, tests, and performs plugin, theme, and core updates for you. It helps keep your websites secure and running smoothly, saving you time and effort.

For agencies or individuals managing multiple websites, Cloudways allows you to launch 10+ apps through 1-click deployment. With this feature, you can deploy multiple WordPress and Magento sites on a single server, providing convenience and streamlining your workflow.

Cloudways supports all PHP-based applications. Its platform combines the freedom of dedicated servers with the ease and agility of PHP PaaS (Platform as a Service). This flexibility ensures that you can host and run your preferred PHP applications without any limitations.

Switching between PHP versions is effortless with Cloudways. In just a click, you can switch between the latest versions of PHP 5.6, 7.6, and 8.1. This allows you to adapt to the requirements of your applications and take advantage of the latest PHP features and improvements.

Cloudways supports the latest versions of MySQL and MariaDB on all its servers. You can choose the database that works best for your application and switch between them as needed. This flexibility ensures compatibility with your preferred database system.

Cloudways offers enhanced service level agreements (SLAs) for those who require advanced support. With the Advanced Support package, you gain doubled live chat access and reduced online ticket response times to 3 hours for normal priority or 30 minutes for high priority. For those who require premium SLAs, Cloudways has even more efficient support options available.

In addition to its comprehensive feature set, Cloudways offers server customization and configuration options. Whether you need assistance with deploying custom packages, caching configurations, or server settings, Cloudways' expert support team is ready to help you achieve your desired setup.

Ease of Use 

Cloudways makes the process of signing up incredibly easy and straightforward. All you have to do is visit its official website, where you'll be prompted to provide your email address and other necessary details. 

However, one aspect that might strike you is the requirement to verify your identity by sending an email to verify@cloudways.com along with your government-issued IDs and social media handles. This might be a cause for concern for individuals who prioritize their privacy and are cautious about sharing personal identification information.

Once you're past the verification stage, you'll be greeted with an interface that is designed to be user-friendly and intuitive. Navigating through the various menus and options is a breeze, thanks to the well-organized layout. 

In my personal experience, I've found Cloudways to be incredibly simple and straightforward to use. The interface is clean and uncluttered, allowing you to easily locate the features and tools you need without any unnecessary complications. 

Speed

When it comes to speed and overall user experience, Cloudways excels in delivering consistent performance. 

One of the key factors contributing to Cloudways' impressive speed is its choice of hosting providers. Cloudways partners with leading cloud infrastructure providers such as DigitalOcean, AWS, Google Cloud, Vultr, and Linode. This allows you to select the provider that best suits your needs in terms of geographic location and server specifications. These providers offer high-performance servers with robust hardware and network capabilities, resulting in faster website loading times and improved user experience.

In addition to the choice of hosting providers, Cloudways implements various performance-enhancing features. The platform utilizes advanced caching technologies like Varnish, Redis, and Memcached to optimize the delivery of static and dynamic content. This helps reduce server response time and improve overall website speed.

Furthermore, Cloudways offers an integrated Content Delivery Network (CDN). CDN helps distribute your website's content across multiple servers located strategically around the globe. This reduces latency and ensures that visitors from different regions can access your website quickly, regardless of their geographical location. To ensure a smooth and seamless experience, Cloudways also provides 24/7 customer support.

Pricing

Cloudways offers cloud hosting services from several companies for which you can pay monthly or by the hour. With an hourly pay-as-you-go system, you’ll be charged for what you’re actually using, which means you can upscale/downscale a plan or add/remove features from your account and be charged only for the time you were using them.

With a monthly billing system, DigitalOcean’s plans start at $11.00 per month,  with AWS $38.56 per month, and with Google Cloud it starts at $37.45 per month.

Since Cloudways offers all the same features on all its plans, whether you went with DigitalOcean’s lowest-priced plan or highest-priced from Google Cloud, you can expect to get the following features: 24/7/365 customer support, 24/7 real-time monitoring, a free SSL certificate, one free managed migration, unlimited application installs, automated backups, staging environment, advanced optimizations of cache, auto-healing, regular security patching, HTTP/2 enabled servers, and SSH and SFTP access.

Although Cloudways doesn’t offer a money-back guarantee, there’s a 3-day free trial, and you won’t have to enter your credit card details to make use of it.

As for payment methods, Cloudways accepts credit/debit cards (Visa, MasterCard, and American Express), and PayPal (which is only available to customers that have upgraded their account from trial to full).

Customer support

Cloudways offers multiple channels for customer support, ensuring that you can easily reach out for assistance whenever needed. The live chat support feature enables real-time communication with a Cloudways support representative. 

This can be accessed directly from the Cloudways website or within the control panel. The live chat option is particularly beneficial if you require immediate assistance or have urgent queries.

As for self-support, you’ll find most of the common questions covered in their FAQ section, while everything else is answered in the knowledgebase. Besides bristling with how-tos, the knowledgebase is remarkably beginner-friendly as it features a “Getting Started” category as well as a collapsible section that explains all basic technical terms that are used throughout the guides.

Cloudways also provides a system status page where you can get informed about outages and scheduled maintenance, and a community forum where most of the questions are answered by the employees. Unfortunately, the forum has seen better days in terms of activity.

The competition

Cloudways seeks to simplify the cloud hosting experience by offering a simple setup, 24/7 support, management services, and lots of step-by-step guides. However, DreamHost goes a bit further by offering domain registrations (and a free domain name), email, as well as shared, managed WordPress, VPS, and dedicated server hosting solutions. Yes, DreamHost offers more options overall, but if you’re looking for a cloud, Cloudways comes a bit stronger and offers more comprehensive support. 

While Cloudways specializes in managed cloud services, InMotion Hosting offers a whole variety of hosting solutions attracting a wider audience. In addition to that, InMotion Hosting’s plans are more pocket-friendly, richer with features (free cPanel license included), and come with a money-back guarantee (ranging from 30 to 90 days), which will attract both individuals and small business owners. On the other hand, Cloudways is more geared towards developers and users with a lot of technical know-how in general. 

As is the case with hosts we’ve mentioned so far, in comparison with Cloudways, HostGator offers a wider variety of solutions, novice-friendly features, and cheaper pricing. However, Cloudways has superior server infrastructure, a higher level of server customization, and completely managed hosting services with all its plans, which is something you won’t get with HostGator.

Like with HostGator, Bluehost offers a full range of hosting solutions, but since all its data centers are situated in the USA, you won’t get much flexibility in terms of targeted audience. In contrast, with Cloudways you are free to choose between more than 60 locations around the globe. 

Is Cloudways cloud hosting right for you?

Determining whether Cloudways cloud hosting is the right choice for you depends on the evaluation of various factors pertaining to your specific requirements, including the nature of your website or application, your technical proficiency, scalability needs, budget considerations, desired level of control, and customization.

Cloudways, as a managed cloud hosting platform, offers a range of features and benefits that can cater to the needs of different users, such as developers, small and medium-sized businesses, and even larger enterprises. With Cloudways, you gain access to a wide selection of cloud infrastructure providers, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), DigitalOcean, Vultr, and Linode, enabling you to choose the one that aligns best with your specific requirements and preferences.

One significant advantage of Cloudways is its emphasis on simplicity and ease of use. The platform incorporates a user-friendly control panel that allows you to manage and deploy your applications with minimal effort, facilitating tasks such as server configuration, application installation, and scaling resources to accommodate varying traffic demands. However, if you need a web hosting provider that offers email hosting, and domain registration, then Cloudways may not be the right choice for you.

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