Top 10 Free Antivirus

1)  Avast Antivirus  is a family of internet security applications developed by Avast for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. The Avast Antivirus products include free and proprietary versions that provide computer security, browser security, antivirus software, firewall, anti-phishing, antispyware, and anti-spam among other services

As of 2017, Avast is the most popular antivirus on the market,and it had the largest share of the market for antivirus applications.

Test and review

In February 2018 test of various antimalware products by AV-TEST Avast Free Antivirus has earned 6 out of 6 points in "Protection" category, detecting 100% of malware samples used in this test and earning an "AV-TEST Certified" seal. Avast's Mobile Security & Antivirus app has also performed well and detected 100% of malware samples in January 2018 test of Android malware by AV-Comparatives. Best features of avast that standout it from other softwares are: Clean Applications Data, Clean Uninstalled Documents, Scan and Clean Unnecessary Entries and Turn-off Time Taking Boot Applications.

2) AVG AntiVirus (previously known as AVG, abbreviation of Anti-Virus Guard) is a family of antivirus software developed by AVG Technologies, a subsidiary of Avast It is available for Windows, macOS and Android.

The AVG Free Edition helped raise awareness of the AVG product line.In 2006, the AVG security package grew to include anti-spyware, as AVG Technologies acquired ewido Networks, an anti-spyware group. That same year, Microsoft announced that AVG components would be available directly within the Windows Vista operating system. AVG Technologies acquired Exploit Prevention Labs (XPL) in December 2007, and incorporated that company's LinkScanner safe search and surf technology into the AVG 8.0 security product range released in March 2008. In January 2009, AVG Technologies acquired Sana Security, a developer of identity theft prevention software. This software was incorporated into the AVG security product range released in March 2009.

According to AVG Technologies, the company has more than 200 million active users worldwide, including more than 100 million who use their products and services on mobile devices

On 7 July 2016, Avast announced an agreement to acquire AVG for $1.3 billion.

AVG features most of the common functions available in modern antivirus and Internet security programs, including periodic scans, scans of sent and received emails (including adding footers to the emails indicating this), the ability to repair some virus-infected files, and a quarantine area (virus vault) in which infected files are held.

3) Kaspersky Lab develops and markets antivirus, internet security, password management, endpoint security, and other cybersecurity products and services. It is the fourth or fifth largest endpoint security vendor and the third largest consumer IT security software company. It is the sixth largest overall IT security company.Its revenues are about 15 percent from Russian companies domestically, one-third from European organizations and one-fourth from U.S. organizations.The software has about 400 million users in all.

Kaspersky's consumer software include the Antivirus, Internet Security and Total Security products.The Antivirus software includes malware protection, monitors the PC for suspicious program behavior, and warns users about potentially dangerous websites. The Internet Security software adds privacy features, parental controls, anti-phishing tools Total Security adds parental controls, adult website filters, diagnostic tools, a Password Manager application, and other features.Kaspersky's software is available for Macs, PCs, Android, iOS, Windows 

4) Avira was founded in 2006, but the anti virus application is under active development since 1986 through its predecessor company H+BEDV Datentechnik GmbH.

As of 2012, Avira software is estimated to have over 100 million customers. In June 2012, Avira ranked sixth in the antivirus market share report from OPSWAT.

Avira's headquarters are located near Lake Constance, in Tettnang, Germany. The company has additional offices in the USA, China, Romania, and the Netherlands.

The company supports the Auerbach Stiftung, a foundation created by the company's founder, Tjark Auerbach. It promotes charitable and social projects, the arts, culture and science.

Avira periodically "cleans out" its virus definition files, replacing specific signatures with generic ones for a general increase in performance and scanning speed. A 15 MB database clean-out was made on 27 October 2008, causing problems to the users of the Free edition because of its large size and Avira's slow Free edition servers. Avira responded by reducing the size of the individual update files, delivering less data in each update. Nowadays there are 32 smaller definition files that are updated regularly in order to avoid peaks in the download of the updates.

5) Panda is an antivirus program developed by Panda Security . It, like almost all other antiviruses, aims to ensure effective protection to your PC through frequent online updates. There are different versions of this software, depending on its endowment and the number of licenses granted; The Panda software includes various programs, including a firewall . Very often the Panda software is a trial version for 30 days. There are freeware versions .

In a review by PC Magazine , Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.0 received an Editor's Choice Award in 2009 for the best antivirus program.  In 2011, the assessment of Panda Cloud Antivirus 1.5 Free Edition was slightly less positive, but it would still do its job properly. 

In a review of Panda about the new version of Panda Cloud Antivirus 3.0 it is said that the removal of viruses is slow. The program would be particularly suitable for internet users who do not frequently use dangerous and malware-sensitive sites. 

Among its technological milestones include having been a pioneer in launching security systems such as the concept of SaaS (Security as a Service)  or antivirus allowing protection from the cloud and are based on what Panda named Collective Intelligence, a security model that Panda presented in 2007. Panda also boasts the recognition of having been the first security service provider to offer daily updates of the signature database in 1998.

Panda Security has been the precursor of the union of the EPP and EDR systems in the same solution  , constituting a new security model capable of monitoring, registering and classifying all the

active processes of a system. A model that dispenses with blacklists or whitelists, since it takes as main axiom the behavior of those processes.

In the market for solutions for home users, Panda has incorporated advanced detection technologies and subscription payment as an alternative to traditional systems of annual 

6) Bitdefender is a Romanian cybersecurity and anti-virus software company.It was founded in 2001 by Florin Talpeş who is currently the CEO. Bitdefender develops and sells anti-virus software, internet security software, endpoint security software, and other cybersecurity products and services.

As of 2017, the software has about 500 million users worldwide. As of August 2017, Bitdefender ranks ninth in the global ranking of Windows anti-malware application vendors.

Bitdefender introduced Active Virus Control in August 2009.

This technology continuously monitors each program (specific processes) running on the PC as it executes, and it notes any malware-like actions. Each action is scored and, when a given threshold is reached, the process is reported as harmful. Unlike heuristic technologies that check executable files when they are accessed or started, Active Virus Control monitors everything applications do as long as they are active.

In May 2006 Bitdefender developed a new technology, B-HAVE, to reduce dependency on virus signatures through proactive detection of unknown threats. This technology is based on a behavioral analysis in a virtualized environment.

To determine whether a program is malicious or not, this technology makes use of a virtual PC in which files are executed and analyzed. The virtual PC includes a set of virtual hardware devices, mimicking the configuration of a typical PC. B-HAVE checks for characteristics known to be associated with malware. A program may be deemed to be malicious if it attempts to modify certain files, read from or write to a sensitive area of the memory or create a file that is a product of a known virus. When attempting to use a non-trusted program, B-HAVE delays the launching until the program’s behavior and characteristics are analyzed and catalogued in the virtual environment. If no malicious actions are detected, B-HAVE starts the program normally; if a suspect conduct is present, B-HAVE automatically quarantines or deletes the application

7) Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) is an antivirus software (AV) that provides protection against different types of malicious software, such as computer viruses, spyware, rootkits, and trojan horses. Prior to version 4.5, MSE ran on Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7, but not on Windows 8 and later, which have built-in AV components known as Windows Defender Antivirus. MSE 4.5 and later versions do not run on Windows XP. The license agreement allows home users and small businesses to install and use the product free-of-charge. It replaces Windows Live OneCare, a discontinued commercial subscription-based AV service, and the free Windows Defender, which only protected users from spyware until Windows 8.

Built upon the same scanning engine and virus definitions as other Microsoft antivirus products, it provides real-time protection, which constantly monitoring activities on the computer, scanning new files as they are created or downloaded, and disabling detected threats. It lacks the OneCare personal firewall and the Forefront Endpoint Protection centralized management features

8) ESET is an IT security company that offers anti-virus and firewall products such as ESET NOD32. It was founded in 1992. ESET is headquartered in Bratislava, Slovakia, and was awarded the recognition of the most successful Slovak company in 2008, 2009 and in 2010 It plays a significant role in overall Cybersecurity.

The company was founded in 1992 when Miroslav Trnka and Peter Paško, authors of antivirus software NOD, partnered up with Rudolf Hrubý. They adopted ESET, the name of the Egyptian goddess of health, marriage and love, as the company name. In 1998 NOD received the VB100 award of Virus Bulletin, which helped the company establish subsidiaries in the United States, Argentina and Singapore, and development facilities in Poland and Czech Republic.

                                                          

9) eScan Antivirus is an antivirus program made by the Indian anti-virus company MicroWorld Technologies Inc. . It first appeared in India and this in the year 1993 . Nowadays eScan is becoming better known internationally and is available in 13 languages. The most recent version is 11.0 and appeared on November 18, 2010. This version is available for Windows 2000 + and Linux .

eScan is simple enough to figure out, and it can stop viruses from downloading onto your computer. However, it lacks too many security tools to be considered one of the best antivirus programs.

eScan Anti-Virus doesn’t stop you from visiting malicious websites. However, it does recognize when a virus is attempting to download to your computer and deletes it before it can fully download and attack your system. It looks a bit dated and requires you to set up every part of the program before it starts protecting your system, but eScan Anti-Virus is laid out well enough that navigation is pretty simple. All the tools included with this antivirus software are displayed on the dashboard and are colored red until you enable them.

10) Norton AntiVirus is an anti-malware software developed and distributed by Symantec Corporation since 1991 as part of its Nortonfamily of computer security products. It uses signatures and heuristics to identify viruses. Other features included in it are e-mail spamfiltering and phishing protection.

Symantec distributes the product as a download, a box copy, and as OEM software. Norton AntiVirus and Norton Internet Security, a related product, held a 61% US retail market share for security suites as of the first half of 2007. Competitors, in terms of market share in this study, include antivirus products from CA, Trend Micro, and Kaspersky Lab.

Norton AntiVirus runs on Microsoft Windows and macOS. Windows 7 support was in development for versions 2006 through 2008. Version 2009 has Windows 7 supported update already. Versions 2010, 2011, and 2012 all natively support Windows 7 and windows 10 , without needing an update. Version 12 is the only version fully compatible with Mac OS X Lion. With the 2015 series of products, Symantec made changes in its portfolio and briefly discontinued Norton AntiVirus. This action was later reversed with the introduction of Norton AntiVirus Basic.  http://www.fileyogi.com