Top Free Android Antivirus Apps of 2019: Which One is Right for You?

While you can still purchase the Avast SecureLine VPN app separately, VPN protection is now built into the main security app, and it comes without limits on bandwidth or server choices. In addition, it includes quite a few features to keep your phone running smoothly and safely. It can free up available RAM, reclaim storage space by deleting junk, and check both the safety and the speed of your Wi-Fi connection. The App Insights feature helps you manage app usage and privacy, and App Lock lets you put your most sensitive apps behind a secondary PIN. Avast can check known data breaches to see if your email shows up, block unwanted calls and texts, tweak settings to reduce power consumption, and more.

All the Android products mentioned here include an antivirus component that scans new apps and offers an on-demand scan as well. All but a couple of them can also run scans on a schedule, a feature perhaps more useful on Windows than Android. All of them also offer some form of safe browsing, to keep you from surfing to URLs that might try to plant malware, or fraudulent sites that might trick you into giving away your username and password for the login page they imitate.

Top Free Android Antivirus Apps of 2019

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It can be wise to secure your Android phone with antivirus software, but which ones can you count on? You can rule out most of them, apparently. AV-Comparatives has tested 250 antivirus apps for Google's platform, and only 80 of them (just under one third) passed the site's basic standards -- that is, they detected more than 30 percent of malicious apps from 2018 and had zero false positives. Some of the apps that fell short would even flag themselves, according to the researchers.

It's safe to say this serves as a reminder to stick to antivirus tools from companies with solid track records. However, this also illustrates the challenge Google and other store operators face in screening apps. They can verify that the apps aren't causing harm to users or violating the law, but they can't enforce a baseline level of quality needed to keep your phone safe.Turn on browser notifications to receive breaking news alerts from EngadgetYou can disable notifications at any time in your settings menu.Not nowTurn onTurned onTurn on

Bitdefender Antivirus Free is a free antivirus software especially designed to protect your Windows PC. Quick to install and light on computer resources, it is good for gaming, image and video editing, and resource-intensive applications.

If you want your device to remain protected from malicious software such as adware, spyware, ransomware and a variety of others, installing an antivirus software is the way to go. Deciding which antivirus software to install, however, is a chore to say the least. We have a few suggestions for the best free antivirus.

The downside to free antivirus software is that there are plenty of providers that offer no protection whatsoever. On the other hand, there are free providers that have a proven track record of keeping devices secure. These are the best free antivirus software providers in 2022, starting with the top choice, Bitdefender.

Even though it was acquired by Avast in 2016, AVG Antivirus Free remains the better choice for a free antivirus. It has a better set of protection features than Avast, all packed in a lightweight app that you can install on multiple mobile and desktop platforms. While AVG used to be our top choice, a data scandal in which parent company Avast was caught selling user data pushed it lower down our list.

Kaspersky was once a household name on antivirus programs lists. However, in March of 2022, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a statement adding Kaspersky to its list of companies affected by the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019, alongside China Mobile and China Telecom.

Paid antivirus programs tend to have the upper hand when it comes to additional features like parental controls, dark web monitoring or ransomware protection. However, using the free version of a paid antivirus program will usually give you the same levels of malware detection. To add to this, you can always use a free version of a paid antivirus to see if you like it before you purchase the full antivirus suite.

Best FREE Android antivirus and virus cleaner apps for powerful mobile security! Download the best free android antivirus apps on your mobile and get protected from malware and viruses.

I covered the 15 Best Security Tools You Should Have on Linux not too long ago and today, I bring you a list of the 5 Best Antivirus apps for Android Devices That You Should Have in 2019.

These are the best Android antivirus apps in 2019 and why you should use one. Perfect for keeping your Galaxy, Pixel or other devices safe. Security and privacy is a growing concern these days, as is malware, which is why being prepared is the smart move.

AVG Free offers the basics like antivirus, anti-phishing, and anti-malware scanning all in real-time. The Find My Phone feature is available for both free and paid users. AVG lets you remotely wipe out your phone or tablet if needed, on top of protecting it day in and day out.

Earlier we mentioned AV-Test, a site that rates antivirus programs and is a trusted name in this segment. One of the highest-rated apps and AV apps for Android ever is AhnLab V3. So, of course, it makes our list.

DFNDR is completely free, although you can pay $4.99 a year for the premium subscription and get total protection without ads. This app offers everything from an antivirus, performance booster, phone cleaner, anti-phishing protection and more.

The report, published by Austrian antivirus testing outfit AV-Comparatives, was the result of a grueling testing process that took place in January this year and during which the organization's staff looked at 250 Android antivirus apps available on the official Google Play Store.

The report's results are tragicomical --with antivirus apps detecting themselves as malware-- and come to show the sorry state of Android antivirus industry, which appears to be filled with more snake-oilers than actual cyber-security vendors.

They did this 2,000 times for each app, having the test device download 2,000 of the most common Android malware strains found in the wild last year --meaning that all antivirus apps should have already indexed these strains a long time ago.

However, results didn't reflect this basic assumption. AV-Comparatives staffers said that many antivirus apps didn't actually scan the apps the user was downloading or installing, but merely used a whitelist/blacklist approach, and merely looked at the package names (instead of their code).

Essentially, some antivirus apps would mark any app installed on a user's phone as malicious, by default, if the app's package name wasn't included in its whitelist. This is why some antivirus apps detected themselves as malicious when the apps' authors forgot to add their own package names to the whitelist.

Unlike two deadbolts on a door, doubling up on security not only doesn't work with antivirus, it can actually sharply weaken security. This all assumes that both antivirus programs are professional, effective and well-intentioned. But that's often not the case. There are quite a few free antivirus programs out there, and they are disproportionately the ones employees opt to download. After all, if the company has already installed a high-level antivirus on the phone, why would an employee pay to install a second? But a free antivirus program is much more tempting.

That's why I found a new report from Comparitech so alarming. Not only are free antivirus filled with adware and engage in lots of privacy violations, but they are often not even very good at detecting viruses, which is supposed to be their whole raison d'être. Indeed, the Comparitech testing showed that almost half (47%) of the 21 free antivirus products that it tested (all on Android, for this report) failed.

Seven free Android antivirus couldn't detect the presence of a known virus. "The Metasploit payload we used attempts to open a reverse shell on the device without obfuscation. It was built for exactly this sort of testing. Every Android antivirus app should be able to detect and stop the attempt," the blog post said. The apps that couldn't detect Metasploit, according to Comparitech, were AEGISLAB Antivirus Free, Antiy AVL Pro Antivirus & Security, Brainiacs Antivirus System, Fotoable Super Cleaner, MalwareFox Anti-Malware, NQ Mobile Security & Antivirus Free, Tap Technology Antivirus Mobile, and Zemana Antivirus & Security.

Bischoff said the research results weren't all bad, noting that slightly more vendors fared fine than failed. Asked which of the free-antivirus firms tested fared best, Bischoff said "MalwareBytes is good, Komono is good."

Khamosh Pathak is a freelance technology writer and User Experience Designer. When he's not helping people make the best of their current technology, he's helping clients design better apps and websites. In his free time, you'll find him watching comedy specials on Netflix and trying once again, to get through a long book. He is @pixeldetective on Twitter.

There has never been a more important time to install anti-virus software on your smartphone (or laptop) and if you are on Android, there are lots of options for you. For full protection, we've curated the best antivirus software apps to help you keep the hackers at bay...

Called McAfee Mobile Security: Antivirus, Wi-Fi VPN & Anti-Theft, the antivirus has been created specifically for the Android platform, with a free tier and a premium add-on, although there's little extra in the paid-for version that'll convince you to pay 2.49/month (29.99/year).

These can be removed with a pro subscription - along with the one-app PIN protection limit - but it's a little disheartening to see Avast gate off something that many antivirus services offer free as standard. 2ff7e9595c