James Rowe: Antivirus software is a strong protection for your devices, but it can become unnecessarily expensive if you ignore the auto-renew messages.
James Rowe: Hello, I'm James Rowe and welcome to Which? Shorts, your free weekly insight into Which? magazine, as well as our Money, Tech, Travel, and Gardening titles too. Today, I'm bringing you a piece that our tech expert Callum Pears wrote for the October/November issue of Which? Tech, all about antivirus software.
Whether or not you actually need antivirus totally depends on your devices and what you do on them. But our testing has shown that too many providers are making it far too difficult for people to navigate the auto-renew policies, potentially making people pay for another year of protection when they may want to switch. Callum explains what's going on and his best advice to navigate the antivirus market. Here is Callum's piece adapted for the podcast, this week read by Callum himself.
Callum Pears: Not so long ago, I was tasked with taking on more responsibility by my parents. After getting over the shock that the bank of mum and dad would be rather more restrictive with its generosity, I was faced with, among other things, looking after my own antivirus protection.
As a uni student with a library of important academic work stored on my computer, the horrifying scenarios of malware corrupting my files or ransomware locking them down was all the motivation I needed to look for the best possible protection.
So, having found a better antivirus deal elsewhere, I wanted to simply turn off auto-renew on my current antivirus and move on. The reality was that it turned into a stressful, confusing chore that almost acted as a barrier to me having the confidence to switch.
Ignoring auto-renew is a costly choice. Typically, the price of renewing your subscription is higher than the rate for the first year. Of the antivirus we tested this year, you could be locked into paying up to £90 for Windows antivirus or £70 for Mac. Plus, for many people, a simple free antivirus will be all that's needed. Which? testing has consistently found the best freebies are just as strong as software with a price tag.
The transparency of the auto-renew process, particularly how to switch it off, varies greatly between brands. You'll usually be informed that auto-renew is on by default, that the price for the second year of protection may differ, and that you can cancel at any time. However, further information, including how to cancel, can be trickier to locate.
We've been left frustrated by the lack of option to switch off auto-renew at the point of purchase. None of the seven antivirus brands we tested allow you to do this – there's no simple toggle button to switch off auto-renew, for example. Instead, you have to find the settings once the software has downloaded.
Only Sophos does something slightly different. People who buy its Home Premium software receive a handy link in the invoice email. This takes users to the account management page where they can deactivate auto-renew.
Some antivirus websites are better at providing information about how to cancel after purchase. Bitdefender and McAfee both provide clear, but brief information on how to cancel auto-renew. Norton is even more helpful – it provides a useful jump link near the purchase button that takes you to further details lower down on the page. Here, another link forwards you straight to a dedicated web page with step-by-step instructions to deactivate auto-renew, and even a how-to video.
However, F-Secure and Sophos are examples where this is handled poorly. Both require a lot of navigation from the product page to find detailed information on how to cancel auto-renew. Neither make finding the relevant sections obvious, and you have to navigate through a maze of menus. Both provide good instructions though, when you eventually find them, and Sophos even includes a video like Norton. But this information ought to be far simpler to locate.
Not many antivirus companies explain why they use auto-renew, but the few that do argue that it saves you time and reduces the risk of you forgetting to renew your protection and being left unprotected. Although this argument is sound, security-conscious computer users should be given a choice. The default response shouldn't be to assume they can't be trusted to keep their protection up to date themselves. Those who want it should have the option to easily switch off auto-renew at the point of purchase.
So what do you need to know? Well, cancelling auto-renew doesn't end your subscription there and then. It will continue until the end of your term date. You can find the end date in the account management page of the antivirus website or app.
When you do cancel auto-renew, you'll almost certainly receive a reminder email warning you your subscription is about to expire. Plus, it's worth staying on the mailing list of your old antivirus provider, as you may receive special offers. I've personally received a 50% off deal to re-subscribe to Avast, my previous antivirus provider.
Ultimately, auto-renew should be a handy tool to stay protected. It shouldn't be a laborious task to adjust, and a barrier to confidently shop around. No matter how well-intentioned, antivirus companies need to rethink the presentation of information about auto-renew and the ability to deactivate it more easily.
If you are going to switch, be sure to do it the right way. Have the end date of your subscription noted down in preparation for your switch to a new antivirus. You'll also want to back up any data you may have stored in additional features from your old antivirus. Examples include passwords on password managers, and files stored in any backup feature. When your subscription expires, this data is usually wiped soon after.
You don't have to wait for your current subscription to expire before using a new antivirus – simply uninstall the old one so they don't interfere with each other. If you do wait until your subscription ends, don't forget to uninstall it to avoid now irrelevant pop-up messaging and to free up space on your device.
If you're concerned about being unprotected when switching over, you can reduce any vulnerabilities by running a full system scan before you switch, and another when you've installed your new antivirus.
If you don't have any antivirus protection at all, I would only recommend paid-for software if you have more than one device to cover and don't want the hassle of using multiple email addresses to create separate free accounts. Otherwise, go for a superb free option. Additional features shouldn't sway you, as independent third-party alternatives are widely available.
Want to know which antivirus we recommend? Read our reviews on our website – there's a link to read them in the show notes.
James Rowe: That brings to an end another podcast from Which? There's loads more for you to read about everything we discussed today – just head to the episode description for more useful everyday advice. There, you'll also find an exclusive offer for podcast listeners like you to become a Which? member for 50% off the usual price, giving you access to our product reviews, our app, 1-to-1 personalised buying advice, and every issue of Which? magazine across the year. Plus, your membership helps us to make life simpler, fairer, and safer for everyone.
If you'd like to know when we release a new episode, then make sure you press subscribe wherever you're listening. That way, you can be one of the first to listen. And for any questions, comments, or anything in between, follow us on social media @WhichUK or email us podcast@which.co.uk. Goodbye.
