Which 2013 Antivirus Program is For You?

The world is becoming more and more computer-centric, and there are very few people whose professional lives don't involve a computer to some degree. With computers being so important, protecting against viruses has become even more essential.

Millions of people have been affected by viruses since the beginning of the year, and the number of diverse viruses going around is constantly on the rise. A good antivirus program is all that's standing between your computer and spyware, malware, and viruses, so it's important to know which the best program for you is!

Here are some of the best antivirus programs of 2013:

Kaspersky Anti-Virus

Kaspersky is a Russian antivirus program, designed by some of the best ethical hackers on the planet. It's the costliest of the antivirus software packages on the market, but it's definitely the best. It will protect you from the latest viruses, and it's constantly receiving updates as new viruses are released. It is a beautiful program that will suss out any problems immediately, will stop phishing threats effectively, and will protect your computer better than any other antivirus software. The downside is that it uses a lot of your computer's resources, and the scans take a lot longer than any other program.

AVG Antivirus

Most people look at free antivirus software as being less than reliable, but the truth is that companies like CNET and AVG are programs that will be just as good as most of the paid antivirus programs. The free program provides excellent protection from most of the viruses and malware floating around in cyberspace, and smart computer users will never need to worry about a computer virus as long as they have AVG. It doesn't come with all of the tools that you get with Kaspersky, but it's absolutely free - a point in its favor.

Norton Antivirus

The latest version of Norton Antivirus has been released for the upcoming Windows 8 OS, and it ranked very highly in PCMag in terms of removing malware. Independent computer labs that have tested it have also given it a thumbs up, and it will be one of the best antivirus programs to use to block downloads of malicious software and files from the internet. It comes with handy additional features, but it isn't the best program for blocking malware that is already present on the computer. It's a solid choice, but the high price tag of $30 makes it a bit pricey.

BitDefender

This is another program that ranked quite highly in PCMag's review, and it will be an effective solution to use to keep your computer free from malware and phishing attacks. It comes with protection for your social media pages, and it can be managed remotely - a huge plus for large companies with IT departments. It's excellent at protecting your computer from phishing and spyware, and it will do a good job of cleaning up an infected computer.

The main downside to this program is that it will take a long time to clean out all the viruses from your computer, and the scan and fix will require a few hours to complete. Some people have even found that their computer was affected by the scan and cleanup, so only those that are fairly computer-savvy should use this complex program.