Security software: Best Buys Best buy

Security Software

You should expect your security software to deal with daily internet security threats, but how do you know if it will? And how do you know the package you are considering is going to be easy to use?

Which? tests around 20 of the most popular packages each year, from free options to feature-packed paid-for software - and everything in between. After some gruelling tests, we know which software is worth installing on your machine.

  • We expose a collection of new and old viruses and malicious files to each security software package we test, and observe how the software copes with them so you can pick the one that will keep you safest.
  • Your computer won't be safe if the package you are using is confusing and potentially a compromise to security as a result. We perform a raft of ease of use tests to weed out the ones not worth bothering with.
  • We check how the software interacts with you, so you are not baffled with jargon and other confusing messages.

Find the best security software package to keep you and your family safe by taking out a £1 trial to Which?

What makes a Best Buy software program?

 

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Video transcript

It's never easy to know which software package you should buy. Not only are there the paid for ones in the shops, but you can also get free software downloaded from the internet. But not all software whether it's photo editing software, video editing software or security Speaker 1: Security software performs well and that's where Which? testing comes in.

Speaker 2: We see how easy it is to download and install via the manufacturer's website. if the manufacturer offers it on a website. So we'll see how easy that is to do we'll see whether we have to go through a long process of inputting key codes weather you have to uninstall other things for it to work and so on. So the installation processes is key.

Then, overall, we make sure that it isn't too hard to use. So what i mean to say is we run it on both high powered machines, also a low spec machine. So, if you don't have a particularly powerful computer at home we make sure it will run successfully and some software doesn't and some software will stall or crash quite frequently so we make sure it runs well on all machine.

Pretty much all machines. And we make sure its easier to use, the icons on the screens are large and that they are intuitive. We run software on both a very modern high powered computer, and also an older machine that doesn't have as much memory and power to make sure that it runs successfully on both types computer.

We also use both our experts and non-experts is part of our panel of testers to make sure that it's easy enough to use for non-experts or if it has all the advanced features that an advanced user might want to take advantage of.

At which we have over 50 years of testing experience. We test more than 2,500 products every year, from child car seats to electric ovens. So to find the right software for you and to take advantage of all our advice, log on at witch.co.uk.

Expert security software reviews you can trust

Norton, McAfee, Trend Micros, Microsoft, Bullguard, Kaspersky and Avast are just some of the brand names we test. 

Which? is independent - we work for you, the consumer, so you can be sure that our product recommendations are influenced only by our test results. We don't take advertising and we buy all the products that we test ourselves, so our advice helps you to make the right choice first time and avoid costly mistakes.

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  • Reviews of 24 security software packages.
  • 7 Best Buy security software packages for reliable protection.
  • Reviews of security software packages from 15 companies.

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