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Computer Security Software Buyer's Guide
Table of Contents
- » What is the meaning of computer security?
- » What is Computer Security Software?
- » How does Computer Security Software work?
- » Is it worth investing money in Computer Security Software?
- » What are the features of Computer Security Software?
- » What are the benefits of Computer Security Software?
- » What are the key buying factors to be considered before choosing Computer Security Software?
- » How to choose a Good Computer Security Software?
- » Questions to ask a vendor when buying Computer Security Software
- » Pricing of the Computer Security Software
- » Conclusion
In just the last year i.e. there was a 350 % increase in ransomware attacks. Similar trends were forecasted in spoofing, phishing, and business email compromise attacks. The maximum risk has been because of cyber attacks, information breaches, loss of critical data, and data theft at the end of the third party. This has resulted in a loss of millions of dollars and intellectual property for the businesses across industries. One of the main reasons behind this exponential increase in these threats is the fast-paced change in technology and advancements in the Internet. This change and advancement in technology have increased the number of touch points available to cybercriminals to launch an attack. This is where the need for advanced PC software technologies to safeguard your network and devices arises.
» What is the meaning of computer security?
Computer security is the act of protecting your computers or laptops, along with the information they contain, from harmful outside programs and threats. For instance, viruses, malware, phishing attacks, and data theft. Also known as cybersecurity, it shields you from unauthorized use of your computer systems.
» What is Computer Security Software?
PC security, to simply explain, means securing your computer networks (whether public or private) against any unauthorized access and malicious cyber threats and attacks by cybercriminals. The most vulnerable are businesses that have access to sensitive customer information like their financial and personal information. These businesses especially need to protect their email systems, management information system, computer-aided design; computer-aided manufacturing, software, devices like laptops, notebooks, tablets, etc. that are connected to the Internet.
» How does Computer Security Software work?
In the scenario of your software or devices getting infected with any of these threats- viruses, phishing attacks, spyware threat, hacking, etc. changes are made on your files to access sensitive and critical information. These viruses copy themselves to other programs and multiply using codes. PC security software or Antivirus software protects the devices and programs by monitoring any changes to the computer’s files or memory for any specific virus activities.
To cope up with the ever-increasing cyber threats, which are getting more and more sophisticated with changing technology, PC security software and their detection techniques have also undergone a major change and their in-built updations and features. They broadly work in three ways- Signatures (spotting specific digital code of a virus and deleting it), behavioural (looking for not-normal behaviour of software, programs or operating systems), and heuristic detection (using algorithms to compare the signature of the viruses and the threats that they may cause).
» Is it worth investing money in Computer Security Software?
Cyber attacks have the potential to cause major damages to your business. Any data security breach may result in theft of your business information, theft of money and loss of trust that your consumers have put in you and loss of your reputation. Recovering from any of these results in further extensive financial damages and legal disputes that you might have to undergo while rectifying the impact of these cyber attacks therefore, the importance of investing in a robust IT security system or computer antivirus cannot be underscored to avoid theft and breaches of your business information, intellectual property, and other confidential information like trade secrets and sensitive information.
» What are the features of Computer Security Software?
No two cyber threat incidents or PC Security software are alike. It can get overwhelming and confusing while looking for the best antivirus software. Almost all-antivirus software has similar sounding features. The type of software that you choose has a great impact on your ability to steer clear of threats and avoid cyber attacks in the future. The best antivirus software should have these following features:
› Real-time scanning
One of the greatest features of the best antivirus software is that they repeatedly scan your devices for any malware or viruses. They do not need to be prompted and do away with the need for a manual scan. Best antivirus for PC conduct dynamic scans which lower the chances of viruses entering your networks and software and infecting them.
› Automatic cleaning
Some PC security software only quarantines the viruses instead of permanently deleting them from your software, devices, and systems and wait for the user to manually delete the viruses. The best antivirus for PC automatically quarantines the viruses and immediately deletes them before they cause more damage.
› Better capacities for multiple threats
Some antiviruses for PCs are designed to target and treat some specific types of threats only. This leaves your systems vulnerable to threats from other threats, which are not covered by your computer security software. You should ensure that your antivirus software can detect and delete a range of threats like Trojans, bots, spyware, malware, phishing attacks, etc.
› Automatic updations
With the advancements in technology and the Internet, cybercriminals are developing more and more sophisticated ways to harm computers. They are developing newer types of threats. Your antivirus software should update itself constantly to detect, track, and treat newer threats that might affect your systems.
» What are the benefits of Computer Security Software?
Data is one of the most important assets that a business or an individual owns. Customers trust businesses with sensitive information like their financial information and personal details. It is extremely important for businesses to protect this data from theft from virus, phishing, spam, bot, spyware, malware, rootkits, Trojans, and any other kind of cyber threats.
With changes in technology, cybercriminals are also developing newer threats that can bypass firewalls and damage your systems, networks, drives, and devices. Therefore, it becomes imperative for you to use the best antivirus for PC. We are listing some of the benefits of doing so:
› Protection from viruses
The most important advantage of installing a computer antivirus software is that it protects your systems and networks from attacks like that of Trojans, malware, viruses, spyware, bots, and phishing. This saves not only the critical data stored on your systems but also your devices from any virus related damages.
› Protection of personal information
Once you have installed computer antivirus software, you can be sure of all your personal information to be safe from any hacking efforts while surfing the Internet or making online purchases.
› Protection from spam
Once you have computer security software installed, you can reduce the number of spam emails and unsolicited information drastically. This is because most of the viruses and malware attacks are launched through attachments in spam emails.
› Data protection
As discussed above, businesses most of the time are privy to sensitive financial and personal information of consumers. Computer security software ensures that this sensitive data is protected from any threats of theft or damage. Installing this software also ensures that you protect your data from getting corrupted before viruses infect it.
› Extending the life of your computer systems
Cyber threats like malware, Trojans, and viruses are known to not only damage the data stored on your computers but also negatively impact the functioning of your computer systems. They slow down the speed of your computer system and might lead to them crashing down completely.
› Firewalls
Best antivirus software ensures that your systems and data are firewalls protected in two ways i.e. every outgoing and incoming information into your systems is scanned. In case any piece of information is found to be suspicious, it is immediately quarantined and deleted.
› Blocking of unnecessary advertisements
Most of the cyber threat attacks originate from the various pop-up advertisements on the websites that we browse and inadvertently open. Antivirus software ensures that these pop-up advertisements are blocked permanently.
› Protection of your passwords
The best antivirus for PC comes inbuilt with features that ensure that all your passwords are protected from any hacking attempts to steal your critical data.
» What are the key buying factors to be considered before choosing Computer Security Software?
It is extremely important to assess if your computer assets and networks are vulnerable or prone to threats of viruses. The most preferred target areas of cybercriminals seem to be payment gateways and emails of businesses. Once you decide that you absolutely need to purchase a computer antivirus, we suggest that you keep in mind the enclosed factors before investing in the best antivirus for PC.
› Does your company need the software?
These days most of the companies conduct their business online having virtual identities and other functions like selling online and saving some critical and sensitive financial and personal data pertaining to their consumers. Now, instead of viruses affecting our systems through hardware devices, they are inserted through emails and our networks. This is why most businesses absolutely need the best antivirus for PC.
› What are your requirements from the software?
Whether you have been previously attacked by viruses or are pre-empting an attack from malicious codes that you think will compromise the sensitive and critical data that your store, damage your files, steal your business information, or even allow remote access to your computer by cyber criminals, you need to decide what do you actually want the PC security software to do? Defining these requirements beforehand helps you in deciding as to what you really want and making an optimized investment for you to get optimum returns on your investments.
› What is your budget?
Having an earmarked budget to save you from the various cyber threats is a great idea. You need to be pre-emptive and take preventive action against any cyber crimes that may affect your business. In case, the budget is not set aside, you may end up not being protected against these threats or even overspending.
» How to choose a Good Computer Security Software?
It might get a little overwhelming and confusing for businesses to choose the best antivirus for PC due to the thousands of computer security software available in the market and they all make claims about their features. We are listing some ways that will help you in deciding the best option for your business:
› Software load
Some antivirus software slows down the speed of the computers. You should choose that antivirus software that doesn’t do that while performing a scan or running in the background.
› User-friendliness
The software that you choose should be easy to install and use. Preferably the antivirus software should automatically clean your system and networks instead of waiting for prompts.
› Good detection rate
The PC security software that you choose should detect almost 95 percent of the malware that is attacking your systems. However, you should ensure that these reports are not false positives that quarantine harmless files as viruses.
› Customer testimonials
A sure shot way to ascertain the features of antivirus software and its acceptability in the market is the number of positive ratings and reviews that it has got. Going through these testimonials from people who have already used this software, will give you an idea as to how good it will be for your business and its specific needs.
» Questions to ask a vendor when buying Computer Security Software
1. How effective is your computer security software?
2. Will the software affect the performance of the computers on my network in any way?
3. Does the system come in with an antivirus program?
4. Does the software extend protection against varying and ever-evolving malware, spyware and phishing attacks?
5. Is the solution, in its entirety, easy to learn and use?
6. How long does it take for the product to run a scan?
7. Does the system offer download protection as well as email scanning?
8. What will be the learning curve?
9. Can you specify the time it would take to implement the product?
10. How often do you update your software and launch new releases?
11. Will the software program run in the background continuously?
12. Does the product hog the resources of my systems?
13. Does the solution offer scheduled scans and backups?
14. How prompt would we get support in case there are any threats/attacks/issues?
15. Can you give a walkthrough of your risk management procedure?
16. How fast can the system get back on its feet if, at all, it gets compromised?
17. Does the software tick the box of compliance?
18. What kind of data security does your product offer?
19. Is the software capable of handling the future load?
20. Does the solution provide hassle-free migration?
21. Do you offer a trial version?
22. How is the product better than its competitor?
23. Is there an additional price for ongoing support?
24. Is the cost inclusive of deployment, onsite support, and training?
» Pricing of the Computer Security Software
Pricing is one of the most important considerations, especially for small businesses, while purchasing PC security software. The pricing of the PC Security Software depends on a number of factors like its features, availability, customer references, complexity, design elements, ability to analyze and give reports, coverage & tools, how many threats it can detect and treat, etc. The price ranges from $ 50 to $ 100 per license. It is highly recommended to try the basic free version of the software to understand its compatibility with your existing systems and networks. In case you are constrained by budgets, you can purchase antivirus programs that provide protection from low-level threats, but only if you don’t store any sensitive information like personal or financial information.
» Conclusion
We hope that by now you would have understood the nuances of computer security software and their features and benefits. It can be a difficult decision to make due to multiple options available in the market. However difficult the decision might be, we strongly recommend you to opt for antivirus software to protect your business from the ever-increasing cyber threats. If this problem is not arrested in time, it might result in larger problems down the road like financial problems, loss of reputation & goodwill, and legal problems.
To make an informed decision, you can go through some credible websites that conduct transparent surveys about the available antivirus brands in the market to get a bias-free opinion on the best antivirus for PC.