Advice Request Best Antivirus for my Family

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KnownStormChaser

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So I am looking for a new antivirus suite for my Family. And when I mean family, I mean my parents. We are currently using Bitdefender, but recently, my mother has complained that it's slowing down her laptop. Which I can understand, it's not exactly light on my gaming desktop either. Also, when I check Bitdefender Central, I see about once a day it blocks PowerShell for no apparent reason. Guess they haven't fixed that bug yet.

So these are the devices I need to protect for them, 2 windows laptops, 1 iPhone, 1 iPad and 1 pixel phone.

I do have a few options on the shortlist, McAfee, Trend Micro and possibly Avira or AVG. But I am open to other recommendations too.

The main thing I am looking for is good web protection, especially against phishing and scams. Plus not too heavy on the system like Bitdefender. I won't be able to go with options like ESET, Gdata, Emsisoft because they have no iOS application. And I prefer not to use F-Secure either because it has no system-wide web protection in iOS, only in Safari. And not Kaspersky either because from first hand experience their web protection is not as strong as I'd like it to be.

Hopefully you guys can help make my decision.
 
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McAfee would be an excellent choice, as it provides great protection while being extremely light, so it shouldn't slow down the laptop. Also, you can buy it very cheaply from third party sellers. You can have a read of the following McAfee thread for some more information.
malwaretips.com

App Review - McAfee Protection (Plus Plans, Total Protection, LiveSafe)

Hello guys and welcome to this McAfee review. Before we get to the McAfee details (which will be discussed in great depth), I would like to discuss the upgrade to my practices across this forum. This forum is not for promotion of favouritism, it is designed mainly as a technical and objective...
malwaretips.com malwaretips.com
 
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roger_m said:
McAfee would be an excellent choice, as it provides great protection while being extremely light, so it shouldn't slow down the laptop. Als,o you can buy it very cheaply from third party sellers. You can have a read of the following McAfee thread for some more information.
malwaretips.com

App Review - McAfee Protection (Plus Plans, Total Protection, LiveSafe)

Hello guys and welcome to this McAfee review. Before we get to the McAfee details (which will be discussed in great depth), I would like to discuss the upgrade to my practices across this forum. This forum is not for promotion of favouritism, it is designed mainly as a technical and objective...
malwaretips.com malwaretips.com
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Thanks, I was leaning more towards McAfee because I’ve been trying it on my main desktop and was pleasantly surprised. Best Buy currently has the version I want on sale so I might pick it up. I’ll see what others have to say first though.
 
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I would go with either Kaspersky or McAfee, both do even in web protection in my opinion but mcafee of course is more agressive blocking pup/pua over kaspersky.

Personally i like kaspersky on all devices over Mcafee, specially on android since there is no way to turn indicator icon of McAfee on atleast on pixel/samsung ( if you know how to please tell me ) Kaspersky has it on so i feel more safe when i know the antivirus is running on for sure

Kaspersky is more expensive to go with and mcafee is cheaper, actually mcafee 1 year 5 device licenses would fit for you as you have 5 devices and it costs like 3-4€ for license
 
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Moonhorse said:
I would go with either Kaspersky or McAfee, both do even in web protection in my opinion but mcafee of course is more agressive blocking pup/pua over kaspersky.

Personally i like kaspersky on all devices over Mcafee, specially on android since there is no way to turn indicator icon of McAfee on atleast on pixel/samsung ( if you know how to please tell me ) Kaspersky has it on so i feel more safe when i know the antivirus is running on for sure

Kaspersky is more expensive to go with and mcafee is cheaper, actually mcafee 1 year 5 device licenses would fit for you as you have 5 devices and it costs like 3-4€ for license
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i concur
 
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Moonhorse said:
I would go with either Kaspersky or McAfee, both do even in web protection in my opinion but mcafee of course is more agressive blocking pup/pua over kaspersky.

Personally i like kaspersky on all devices over Mcafee, specially on android since there is no way to turn indicator icon of McAfee on atleast on pixel/samsung ( if you know how to please tell me ) Kaspersky has it on so i feel more safe when i know the antivirus is running on for sure

Kaspersky is more expensive to go with and mcafee is cheaper, actually mcafee 1 year 5 device licenses would fit for you as you have 5 devices and it costs like 3-4€ for license
Click to expand...
I have used, and like Kaspersky on my desktop. However it’s not as aggressive as I’d like it to be for my parents. Plus my father knows it’s Russian, so he doesn’t want anything to do with it. I’ll use it on my personal machine sometimes though.
 
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How about completely free setup?
How is microsoft defender on your computer?

Use microsoft defender + defenderui/configure defender or hard confgurator ( includes configure defender i guess) also could install osprey extension on browsers or use mcafee webadvisor there on 2 pcs
Use sophos intercept x on mobile devices ( it goes hard against pup/pua + has reputable web filter)

can i ask what your parents do on computer, do they often download new stuff or?
My dad is avast fanatic since it came out, and it has keeped him safe, even he downloads music sometimes etc..

edit: i have used kaspersky on my devices now and then and i suppose you can still harden its application control, heuristics etc. I dont want to mess up with settings and im running it on default
 
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From my experience somewhat albeit limited but long in setting systems up for others, the simpler the better as more complicated means phone calls, etc to sort things out - If it were me & its not I would probably go for a cheap McAfee licence (which I'm still evaluating) as its very lite which on the people I know usually have computers that are anything but fast - On here we all often use & try weird & wonderful setups & try all sorts of things but for none tech which is most people I know a unified system like the basic Mcafee should suffice & I would feel happy about protection with people I care about - I would put Osprey with limited ticks on the PC's too - I think - My 10 pence worth :rolleyes:
 
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@KnownStormChaser, Do you want only antivirus software, or are you open to tools like @Andy Ful's?

@Andy Ful designed his tools for both security and usability. They are more than just system-hardening tools. The "experienced users" tag is for deployment and management. I've been using them on our kids' systems for months without issues. I also use them on my system. All software installations and updates have been successful.

Use @Andy Ful's recommended/default settings. Whitelist their portable apps folder, if they have one. Instruct them to use the right-click "Run By SmartScreen" feature for blocked installers. We haven't had issues using Hard_Configurator, ConfigureDefender, and FirewallHardening with default settings. I'm confident they will be fine too.

Antivirus solutions or @Andy Ful's tools... Why chase a storm you know when you could seek a sure calm! 😊
 
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Moonhorse said:
How about completely free setup?
How is microsoft defender on your computer?

Use microsoft defender + defenderui/configure defender or hard confgurator ( includes configure defender i guess) also could install osprey extension on browsers or use mcafee webadvisor there on 2 pcs
Use sophos intercept x on mobile devices ( it goes hard against pup/pua + has reputable web filter)

can i ask what your parents do on computer, do they often download new stuff or?
My dad is avast fanatic since it came out, and it has keeped him safe, even he downloads music sometimes etc..

edit: i have used kaspersky on my devices now and then and i suppose you can still harden its application control, heuristics etc. I dont want to mess up with settings and im running it on default
Click to expand...
I prefer one consistent suite. And I'm not a fan of WD. I need web protection system-wide, not just on Edge. Plus, there are cheaper solutions if I want mobile apps too.

They rarely download anything, but they do browse the web a lot and have clicked on phishing / scam links in the past. So I need stronger web protection than file protection.
 
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rashmi said:
@KnownStormChaser, Do you want only antivirus software, or are you open to tools like @Andy Ful's?

@Andy Ful designed his tools for both security and usability. They are more than just system-hardening tools. The "experienced users" tag is for deployment and management. I've been using them on our kids' systems for months without issues. I also use them on my system. All software installations and updates have been successful.

Use @Andy Ful's recommended/default settings. Whitelist their portable apps folder, if they have one. Instruct them to use the right-click "Run By SmartScreen" feature for blocked installers. We haven't had issues using Hard_Configurator, ConfigureDefender, and FirewallHardening with default settings. I'm confident they will be fine too.

Antivirus solutions or @Andy Ful's tools... Why chase a storm you know when you could seek a sure calm! 😊
Click to expand...
I won't be using windows defender for them. I need something that works on all devices and that has better web protection than only in Edge.
 
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I’ve already started deploying McAfee on all family devices, effectively replacing Trend Micro. Trend Micro is another contender.

I obviously use Check Point on my devices.

My advice when installing security software for family, look for the options that are easiest to use. Pay particular attention to alerts and ensure the security software doesn’t make “a big deal “ out of things. Make sure the software respects the performance of the device.

Any problems — you will deal with them. So make sure there aren’t such.
 
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