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Hackers are always looking for security holes so that they can install malware on your computer, and they’re constantly creating new malware in an attempt to keep ahead of the antivirus software designed to defend your data. This means that an antivirus program for your laptop is crucial to the safety of your data. 

**What to look for in antivirus software for laptops**

In order to avoid potential issues and clashes between different antivirus software, it’s best to commit to a single antivirus program. Of course, to do this you’ll want to know which antivirus is best for laptops. Below is a list of the qualities and features that comprise the best antivirus software:

**High malware detection rate**: Look for a malware detection rate of at least 95%. It should be able to detect previously known malware and zero-day malware, without an accompanying high rate of false positives (when benign software is mistakenly identified as a threat).

**A light system load**: The antivirus software shouldn’t noticeably slow down your laptop whether it’s running in the background or actively scanning.

**Friendly user interface and installation**: Most users prefer to just install their antivirus software and forget about it, but if you’re the type that likes to have a more hands-on approach, make sure your software’s UI is friendly.

![](https://cms.reasonlabs.com/cdn/shutterstock_691165771.jpg)

**Top-quality support**: Hopefully, you’ll never need it, but if you do, you want software with a stellar support reputation and one that’s available 24/7.

**Multilayer protection**: Today’s antivirus software should be able to stop cyber attacks on different levels. This means having multilayer protection that includes signature-based detection, heuristics-based detection, behaviour detection, and cloud-based detection. 

**A password manager:** Password managers can bolster your online security because they store your passwords in an encrypted format and the passwords can only be accessed via a master password. Some password managers can also help generate complex passwords.

**Real-time cyber protection**: Your laptop should be perpetually monitored for malware and viruses so your protection needs to be in real-time and always active, checking when files are created, opened, or copied. 

**24/7 email support**:  Your antivirus should also automatically screen emails before they’ve been open, provide phishing protection, and check websites before you load them.

**Safe browsing technology**: Secure browsing technology filters out potentially harmful Google search results and warns you when you click on a malicious page.

**Webcam protection and family protection features**: Hackers should be prevented from accessing your camera and children should be protected from inappropriate content.

**Anti-theft protection**: Another important feature is anti-theft protection. This feature should let you remotely lock and locate your laptop, as well as remove your personal data.

**An extra precaution to take to protect your laptop**

Because most modern laptops use Thunderbolt input/output ports for peripherals, laptops are particularly vulnerable to hackers who use the peripherals to take control of the laptop and breach the data it contains. The best way to protect against this type of attack is to use input-output memory management units (IOMMUs). OMMUs can restrict a peripheral’s access to “non-sensitive” areas of computer memory and thereby prevent it from accessing sensitive data on the laptop.

**A final note:**

Always remember to enable the automatic updates of your antivirus software. This is essential to keeping your data secure. The updates are what make it possible for the anti-virus to identify and neutralize the latest threats.

To combat the continuously evolving landscape of cybersecurity threats, antivirus software has been changing and expanding its scope to include a host of different tactics and strategies for protecting your computers, networks, and smart devices. In fact, antivirus software must now protect against not just viruses, but also malware, ransomware, phishing, spam, hacking, spyware and more. To accomplish this, today’s antivirus software use several methods to protect devices and data. Here is a brief look at how antivirus software works today:

### Behavioral Detection 

A relative newcomer to the cornucopia of virus detection techniques, behavioral detection differs from traditional methods in that instead of looking at what a piece of software is, it looks at what it does. For example, behavioral detection methods will compare an operating system’s functions to those of another program being executed on the computer. Any atypical behaviors identified are indicative of a virus or malware, so the program with the atypical behaviors will be quarantined and deleted by the antivirus. The behavioral-based approach can even identify previously unseen malware and look at an application’s potential to perform harmful functions.

### Data Mining 

The data mining method is another newcomer to the antivirus scene. Data mining is a way of analyzing information and making predictions based on the identification of patterns in large datasets. The datasets are used to determine if a file behavior is malicious or benign.

![](https://cms.reasonlabs.com/cdn/shutterstock_131647856-e1578839727378.jpg)

### Heuristic Detection

In contrast to signature-based detection of viruses, which looks for the specific digital code of a virus, the heuristic method doesn’t look for an exact signature match or digital code to detect new malware. Rather, heuristic-based detection examines files for suspicious commands or instructions. In other words, it identifies already known methods of virus programming; it does not look for specifically known viruses. When these previously known methods of virus programming are found in a file, the file is quarantined and deleted. While very effective, heuristic detection is more susceptible to false positives. 

### Machine Learning 

The machine learning method is essentially an artificial intelligence solution that uses its understanding of malicious or benign programs to analyze an application’s code and determine whether that software is harmful.

### Signature-based Detection

Computer viruses have signatures or a digital code, which are made up of a string of characters or numbers. Signature-based detection works by looking for these signatures and then quarantining and deleting them when they’re identified. The signature-based method is useful for growing a signature database that can be used to scan for threats. However, because the signature-based detection relies on known signatures to identify malware, it is not effective in identifying new, previously unknown threats.

### Conclusion

There are many different detection methods used in antivirus software, but no single one can detect all possible computer viruses and malware on its own. For this reason, today’s antivirus software implements many different methods, which significantly increases their ability to detect and neutralize threats.

#Cyber Preschool - FAQ

Which Antivirus is Best for Laptops?

How Antivirus Software Works

Which antivirus is best for PCs in India

What antivirus does Apple use?