A quick terminology primer: The word malware just means bad software and encompasses anything that runs on your computer with unintended and usually harmful consequences.

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Kevin Purdy Thorin Klosowski Share this post We set out to do a standard Wirecutter guide to the best antivirus app, so we spent months researching software, reading reports from independent testing labs and institutions, and consulting experts on safe computing.

The best antivirus for most people to buy, it turns out, is nothing.

Windows Defender, Microsofts built-in tool, is good enough for most people.

We spent dozens of hours reading results from independent labs like AV-Test and AV-Comparatives, feature articles from many publications such as Ars Technica and PCMag, and white papers and releases from institutions and groups like Usenix and Googles Project Zero.

We also read up on the viruses, ransomware, spyware, and other malware of recent years to learn what threats try to get onto most peoples computers today.

Over the years, weve also spoken with security experts, IT professionals, and the information security team of The New York Times (Wirecutters parent company) to filter out the noise of the typical antivirus table-tennis headlines: Antivirus is increasingly useless, no, actually its still pretty handy, no, antivirus is unnecessary, wait, no, it isnt, and so on.

Although in any category we usually test all the products were considering, we cant test the performance of antivirus suites any better than the experts at independent test labs already do, so we relied on their expertise.

But ultimately, relying on any one app to protect your system, data, and privacy is a bad bet, especially when almost every antivirus app has proven vulnerable on occasion.

No antivirus tool, paid or free, can catch every malicious bit of software that arrives on your computer.

You also need secure passwords, two-factor logins, data encryption, systemwide backups, automatic software updates, and smart privacy tools added to your browser.

You need to be mindful of what you download and to download software only from official sources, such as the Microsoft App Store and Apple Mac App Store, whenever possible.

You should avoid downloading and opening email attachments unless you know what they are.

For guidance, check out our full guide to setting up all these security layers.

Why we dont recommend a traditional antivirus suite Its insufficient for a security app to just protect against a single set of known viruses.

There is a potentially infinite number of malware variations that have been crypted encoded to look like regular, trusted programsand that deliver their system-breaking goods once opened.

Although antivirus firms constantly update their detection systems to outwit crypting services, theyll never be able to keep up with malware makers intent on getting through.

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