How well is your antivirus program protecting you? The top five are listed here, along with the three that you should never install.
These days, it is unthinkable to connect to the internet without an antivirus program. There are many scams and threats on the internet that aim to infect our computers and take over all of our data with the least amount of caution. We are shielded from these dangers by antivirus software. However, not all antivirus software protects us in the same way, despite what many people think.
There are platforms that take on the task of testing antivirus software security because we are unable to do it ourselves. The objective of the independent company AV Comparatives is to objectively identify the best and worst antivirus programs so that users can select the one that best meets their requirements.
Today, the platform released its latest security tests after evaluating the top antivirus software. They help us determine which antivirus software is the best in 2025 and which we should stay away from.
2025's Top Antivirus Programs
From February of last year to May of this year, AV Comparatives evaluated antivirus software available on the market. In order to analyze their behavior against each malicious link or malware sample, the most recent versions of the antivirus software tested 423 of them during this time.
This time, the first thing we noticed was that no antivirus software was 100% effective at preventing threats; instead, each one missed at least one. With just 0.2% of malware issues, Bitdefender was the safest program.
Avast, G-Data, Malwarebytes, Norton, Trend Micro, and Vipre Antivirus come in second with a mere 0.5%. However, because VIPRE has the fewest false positives among all of these programs, it is the only one we suggest.
With the exception of Panda, K7, and Quick Heal, which are essentially ineffective at defending our computers against threats, other examined antivirus programs continue to detect less than 1% of threats.
-What should I install?
As professionals, we have two suggestions. On the other hand, Microsoft Defender is without a doubt the greatest choice if you're a user who avoids trouble and doesn't usually participate in risky online activities. With a 0.9% infection rate and nearly no false positives, the Windows antivirus software has demonstrated respectable results. With a little common sense, this is the "easy option" for self-defense.
However, Bitdefender is currently the best antivirus program available if security is your top priority. With a 99.8% protection rate, only one sample out of over 420 viruses examined can get past it.
Although we should be cautious of this 0.5% rate and false positives for these programs, Avast, G DATA, Malwarebytes, Norton, Trend Micro, and VIPRE also produced excellent results, providing over 99.5% protection.