Alternatives to Norton, McAfee and big-name antivirus

Malwarebytes Antimalware

I’ve always been a fan of Malwarebytes Antimalware. It’s free to download and manually run scans. But I recommend upgrading to the premium edition for all your computers, so it actively protects you and runs scans automatically. You can buy directly online from Malwarebytes (www.malwarebytes.com), or call a local reseller like us. Pricing starts at $44.99 for a single device or $49.99 for two devices.

Malwarebytes stops not only viruses, but other malware and junk most big-name antivirus software ignores. You can even run Malwarebytes along with the big-name anti-virus programs. Or like I suggest: just purchase Malwarebytes and get rid of the expensive big-name antivirus. You’ll also have the free basic antivirus included in Windows.

Malwarebytes does provide a few other products/features, like VPN, identity protection, and a computer cleaner program. But I don’t think most users need those. I suggest just sticking to their main product: Malwarebytes Premium.

Malwarebytes Browser Guard

Website ADs can be annoying, intrusive, and misleading. But there are browser extensions out there for computers that can automatically remove most of these ADs. Malwarebytes Browser Guard (www.malwarebytes.com/browserguard/) is one good extension that blocks junk and scams in addition to ADs.

Keep in mind, some websites don’t like these AD blockers because they rely on AD revenue. You might see a popup from some websites complaining if you have an AD blocker enabled, and some going a step further, blocking you from viewing the website. However, you can easily disable the AD blocking for select websites.

Better educate and protect yourself

Antivirus can only protect you so much. I see customers getting scammed on the daily that have full antivirus. You should consider safe browsing practices, like these two:

Don’t click on search engine ADs or sponsored links: If you don’t type in a website address directly, but rather perform a search, keep in mind most search engines display ADs that look like search results. Sometimes this is helpful, allowing you to discover new products and services. But remember scammers can also try to trick you by posting seemingly legit ADs…