by Vladimir Popescu
Managing Editor
Windows 11 is capable of far more security and privacy than any of the previous releases from Microsoft, having as one important requirement the need for a TPM 2.0 chip.
The TPM chip, also known as Trusted Platform Module, enables your newly installed Windows 11 OS to manage all encryption policies and other security features more effectively and productively.
If youre interested, or simply curious, you can always find out more information about the TPM chip.
This in turn enables you more freedom to explore the web without feeling insecure about third-parties getting access to your data, or following your activity online.
Even though there are mentions about Windows 11 being installed on systems without this security module, if you want to upgrade to the new OS and dont have the required capabilities, you can always invest in a TPM-enabled motherboard, or buy a laptop with these elements built-in.
All of these elements being considered dont subtract from the fact that your Windows 11, much as any other OS before it, will need additional security elements.
To improve your security even further you can try a variety of methods, including getting a stable and efficient VPN software running.
The other way in which you can perform this important task is to install a powerful antivirus on your Windows 11 system.
In todays guide, we will discuss the latter element in its entirety, and we will also explore some of the best options found on the market this year.
As in the case of any other software, no matter if its related to your systems security or not, will have specific targets to achieve to be worthy of its presence on a list comprised of the best options.
Our team of testers, which accumulate over 15 years of experience in the field, have tested more than 10.000 devices and software options ranging from monitors to KVM switches, and from image editing software to the best coding platforms.
Their experience, combined with an objective and thorough approach, allows us to be extremely confident about recommending software and hardware, thus enabling you to make a fast and efficient choice depending on a variety of personal factors.
Below you will find some of the most important factors that our team of testers considered when scouring for the best antivirus software for Windows 11.
To understand what elements have been considered by our testing team when creating the list for the best antivirus software for Windows 11, here is a shortlist:
Compatibility Scanning capabilities Script blocking Malware and virus databases Ransomware protection Firewall availability File removal capability
Because mentioning these factors is not enough for you to understand the implications of each of the above-mentioned wanted features, further, were going to break each of them down and discuss them shortly.
As you might assume, having antivirus software installed that doesnt work optimally, or doesnt work at all on your OS is not a good idea.
Besides the fact that you wont be able to get the full protection offered by an antivirus, it might even cause system instabilities and de-activate whenever you need it to protect you from third parties, phishing attacks, etc issues.
As our subject in this article covers only antivirus software that will run optimally on Windows 11, you dont need to worry about this aspect. Weve got you covered with this list.
A good antivirus will need to have the capability to analyze every attempt of connecting or intrusions from third parties, no matter if it comes in the form of data packets from the network or files from your browser.
This type of scanning is called reactive scanning, and it is extremely important to ensure the protection of your system.
Another aspect of scanning that is worth considering is the antiviruss capability to deal with threats that have already passed the aforementioned barrier, and are now on your system.
This type of scanning is called in-depth scanning or most commonly known as a full system scan. This element allows you to scan your system in-depth and ensures the ability to identify threats, and then isolate or remove the script, file, or program thats causing the issue.
The antivirus options well explore in this list provide full reactive scanning features and full system scans with a high degree of thoroughness, so you wont need to keep an eye out for this detail.
One other important element of powerful antivirus software is the capability to stop any scripts from running without permission.
As many ActiveX or Java scripts can infiltrate your system with ease, a good antivirus will have the ability to identify the attempt and stop it before the actual infestation takes place.
Plugins that use either ActiveX or Java as their platform can inject a variety of harmful elements inside your system, some of the most common being botnets, inject codes, and drive-by downloads.
As no antivirus software can be efficient if it doesnt have an updated list of the recent malware and virus databases, this element ends up being one of the most important of them all.
The databases of good antivirus software will need to be constantly updated by the softwares providers and offer easily accessible database packages containing new iterations of viruses and malware information, to allow a thorough and exact identification process.
Ransomware protection
As the name already suggests, besides having the capability to identify viruses and malignant scripts, a good antivirus will ensure that no ransomware could be used against you.
The amount of ransomware appearing online has been increased over time, so owning an antivirus capable of protection from this element is a sure plus.
Firewall
Even though most antivirus software has some sort of firewall built into its structure, not all firewalls are built the same.
Considering this idea, your choice of antivirus must have a capable and thorough firewall included, which will ensure that the entire process of reactive scanning will take place optimally.
File Shredder
To ensure that the files you want to remove from your system are actually removed without any traces left behind, having a good file shredder incorporated inside your antivirus choice is a big plus as well.
Because your antivirus choice will constantly run in the background, it is also extremely important to know that it wont interfere too much with your everyday usage.
To ensure that thats the case, a good antivirus will be optimized in such a way that it will offer great protection levels, while also not hogging too much of your systems resources.
This applies both to the background operations, but even more when it comes down to the scanning process.
The NOD32antivirus from Eset is one of the most powerful and versatile antivirus options found on the market this year.
Ensuring amazing security and privacy features, and wrapped into a beautiful and easy-to-use UI, it is not hard to understand why this antivirus software has been chosen as one of the best options for Windows 11.
This antivirus software offers great firewall protection, spam filter, and some useful parental control features that will enable you to manage what your children are able or are not able to explore on the web.
The parental control feature has been upgraded constantly across time, now being a reliable and useful tool that not only offers you peace of mind but also protects your childrens development by eliminating any violent content from their browsing experience.
Even though it would be helpful for the parent controls to extend further than the browsing experience, the scores obtained at this level by Eset NOD32 are still impressive.
To ensure that your privacy is protected at all times, NOD32 deploys state-of-the-art webcam security, thus blocking any unwanted attempts of spying or remote camera activation while exploring the web, and while your computer is in standby mode.
Because the developers at Eset understand how important your financial privacy is, they also enable you to protect your online banking transactions with high-grade encryption, thus eliminating the possibility that a third party could use your credit card details in any way.
As you can see from the image below, Eset NOD32 stats have improved considerably over time, offering great protection levels, great performance, and usability levels are also very good.
To round up this powerful antivirus and protection service, NOD32 also comes with a useful network analyzer, that not only protects the network itself from intrusions but also ensures that the data transferred through it is protected and managed at all times.
Other useful features:
Powerful protection bundled into an easy-to-understand user interface for your new Windows 11 OS.
Bitdefender is also a force to be reckoned with in the field of antivirus software for Windows 11, offering a wide range of useful features, and full compatibility with the new Microsoft OS.
As the developers of Bitdefender focus primarily on the security of its users, the app itself shows this element by offering a great set of extra features besides protection from viruses.
The password management system contained by this antivirus software enables you to rest assured that all your private credentials are stored securely and privately, without any risk of the data being stolen and used against you.
To cover the online transactions section of security, Bitdefender offers enhanced security in this department as well, allowing you to manage any data by clicking your mouse a couple of times.
No all-around security application would be complete without powerful ransomware protection services, and a VPN. Bitdefender doesnt lack in these departments either, offering top-of-the-range ransomware identification and protection, and a VPN that can rival some of the best stand-alone VPNs on the market.
Where BitDefender truly shines is the phishing protection level, which protects your system from being attacked with this modality, and thus protecting your user data, and eliminating any risks involving fake websites and applications.
As you can see from the graph below, BitDefender not only performs well but offers users constant protection without lacking in usability.
The entire series of Network Threat protection components work perfectly with the Online Threat Protection, covering the entire spectrum of possible threats, while also covering the duties of a firewall, and adds the Anti-Tracker component which installs in your browser for an extra layer of security.
Other useful features:
Compiling an amazing array of useful features that not only protect your privacy but also offer great security, Bitdefender also works great on Windows 11.
Bullguard is another great contender for the list of the best antivirus software to use on Windows 11, offering amazing threat identification features, and at the same time protecting your system from phishing, malware, and network data collection.
This antivirus software enables you to easily clean any malware infestation, while also preventing you from being exposed to any other new attacks, and to top it off, it stops you from accessing fraudulent websites by displaying a message whenever it detects a problem.
Added to this, as soon as you complete the installation process, Bullguard automatically updates all the virus definition packets, to ensure that its ready to tackle any threat, no matter how current it is.
Besides the modern UI that offers you an easy-to-understand installer, Bullguard uses a set of multiple elements to protect you from the biggest threats in the online world.
The multi-layered protection Bullguard has to offer include 6 total levels:
Its modern user interface not only looks good but also offers you quick access to the entire set of features you need to keep your system protected.
To do so, Bullguard keeps all the relevant information bundled in the main menu, thus whenever youre starting a scan and checking for system vulnerabilities, everything is presented in the respective box.
Below you can see the results of testing for the level of protection, performance, and also usability for this powerful antivirus.
As you can see, the protection level has stayed consistent, and the performance as well, while usability has been increased exponentially over the last year, making Bullguard one of the best options on the market.
Other useful features:
With BullGuard, you can rest assured that your system is protected entirely, and focus entirely on using your newly installed Windows 11.
Kaspersky Internet Security is another powerful application that enables you to easily protect both your local and online security, with a list of amazing features.
Even though it is only in the 4th position in this list, this doesnt make it any less capable of solving your security issues and does it with a beautiful and slick user interface, which enables quick access and quick control of all the aspects of your PCs security level.
After youve installed the application, once you open it, you will see the window presented below, which enables you to type in your email address and connect your account to automatically activate the license.
Making the setup process so easy to complete says a lot about the entire utilizability level of this powerful software, the same principles applying to all aspects of the program.
When it comes to the main focus of Kaspersky security this software proves to be a great contender for the software found in the first positions on this list.
Other useful features:
As you can see from the image below, added to the amazing set of features presented above, you also get access to a powerful Webcam Protection service which ensures that your privacy will always be protected.
These also include Account Check and Private Browsing to round it up nicely and offer protection in all departments.
Below, you can also observe the stats regarding how the services have evolved across time with Kaspersky:
As you can see from the data above, the stability of usability in the last year is absolutely spotless, while in terms of protection and performance, even though things have been shaky from time to time, it offers great overall results.
Make sure that you are always protected while using the Internet on Windows 11 with this powerful software.
Norton Antivirus Plus is very close to the first positions presented in this list in terms of security, optimization, and privacy features.
This powerful antivirus software offers full tech support no matter what your problem is, so in the case that Norton will fail when trying to remove malware from your system, experts from the company will help you by logging into your PC remotely and resolving the problem.
This service makes you feel like you have a full team of experts ready to tackle any sort of problems with the software, which makes it an incredible addition both for common users, but especially for enterprises and companies.
Besides this incredible customer service, Norton Antivirus Plus also includes a variety of other systems that allow you peace of mind no matter what your issues are.
The scanning array on Norton Antivirus Plus is absolutely amazing, offering a wide array of options, added to a Power Eraser, Norton Insight, and the capability to create Diagnostic Reports.
To get started, you get an Online Banking Protection feature, which, as described by the name itself protects your online payment processing at all times.
No antivirus would be complete without a Data Protector, which Norton does flawlessly, having an incredible rate of ransomware detection.
while also using Script Control and Wi-Fi security detectors to cover this area of your experience with the software.
My Norton is a central hub that gathers data from all the Norton elements you use across your devices.
This element can prove extremely useful if you want to manage the entire set of security systems with just a few clicks of the mouse.
Now lets see how Norton Antivirus Plus ranks when it comes to stability over time, in terms of protection, performance, and also usability.
As you can see, the results are extremely promising, and even though there were some issues here and there, Norton Antivirus Plus doesnt disappoint in any department.
Other useful features:
Explore the web on Windows 11 without any worries about phishing, malware, or attempts on your privacy, with this amazing software.
McAfee also deserves to be part of our best antivirus software list for Windows 11 as it ticks all the required boxes without any issues.
Continue reading here:
5+ best antivirus options for Windows 11 to try out today - WindowsReport.com