Usually, free antivirus software offers baseline malware protection that may not be sufficient to combat the ever-evolving threat landscape. This is particularly true when it comes to the wide variety of zero-day threats and digital threats that go beyond just antivirus. Some features may be limited in use – even worse, some free programs can even gather your personal data in exchange for their services.
On the other hand, paid antivirus subscriptions give you up-to-date, advanced security protection against a wide variety of malware and digital threats. Paid solutions also tend to come with richer features and services. For example, McAfee® Total Protection includes identity protection to protect your personal info.
Rest assured that with our free 30-day trial you’ll get all the features of our flagship product, including antivirus, web protection, password manager, and more. Take advantage of our free trial and gain greater peace of mind every time you use your devices.
Knowing when a site is spoofed
Have you ever received a congratulatory text about a contest you never entered? Or maybe gotten a poorly drafted email from your bank about an overdue bill you know nothing about? These, and the infamous Nigerian Prince messages, are examples of phishing. Phishing is a tactic used by cybercriminals to mislead you into thinking you’re about to engage in a legitimate transaction. In reality, you may be about to enter your banking credentials or credit card into a fake site.
If you’re unsure about the legitimacy of some links or emails, you can type the address of a website directly into your browser instead of clicking the link you were sent. Checking the domain (or .com) that the email was sent from is another good practice. These simple steps can help you stay ahead of website spoofing or URL spoofing.
With McAfee® Web Protection, you can sidestep malicious sites with clear warnings of risky websites, links, and file downloads.
How does an antivirus detect emerging malware and threats?
Security tools of the past relied on manually gathering malware definitions (the different types of malicious software that had been found in the wild, like viruses, ransomware and spyware). As threats have advanced in nature and complexity, industry-leading antivirus software like McAfee Total Protection, also quickly developed to stay ahead of cybercriminals. At McAfee, we use strategies like behavioral detection and machine learning to ensure we can detect, isolate, and eliminate all recognized malware and even zero-day digital threats (brand new threats that haven’t been seen before) to keep you safe online.