Is free antivirus (ie: AVG/Avast/Malwarebytes) just as good as a paid version (Symantec, Kaspersky, etc)?
Well for starters, let’s cover the freeware versions of antivirus available and cover why they often fall short. The freeware version of AVG (as opposed to the upgraded commercial version) covers the bare necessities of security, with a simple, straightforward graphical user interface (GUI) nearly anyone can use. However, it does have a relatively low detection rate of viruses (about 81%, but who’s keeping score?) and a rate of false positives that is higher than most, meaning it will detect a virus when there is none. The free copy also does not include adware or spyware removal and support for the product is limited. While it does have safe-mode support, a nice perk for a freeware AV, it has little rootkit detection, no registry scans, no firewall, and has recently acquired a larger resource-footprint with the addition of email scanners, a browser toolbar, and a link-scanner. With the spotty protection and gaining resource requirements, AVG is becoming less useful as the “lightweight
