Forums are full of questions like: “What is the best antivirus firewall software?”. You need to know that there is NO such thing as an antivirus firewall software; much less, the best antivirus firewall software. If you peruse the archives of this blog, you’ll find out that an antivirus and firewall software are two different programs with different purposes.
An antivirus software does three main things:
- It checks new downloads and files to see if they are viruses;
- It scans your computer every now and then for viruses; and,
- It attempts to clean or remove viruses when any are found.
A firewall, on the other hand, acts as a checkpoint at your computer’s entry points. It determines which message is allowed to pass through.
There are also Internet security suites that contain both antivirus and firewall software. (Though most only include anti-spyware and antivirus software) But while some Internet security suites contain both antivirus and firewall software, they are still different programs packaged together—not one antivirus firewall software.
So, if you reached this page searching for antivirus firewall software, please let me guide you to Internet security suites instead. They provide a more complete protection for your computer and give you a safer Internet browsing experience. As to what Internet security suite to buy, there are a lot of good programs but you can’t go wrong with these:
- Eset Nod32 Antivirus System (current favorite)
- Kaspersky Internet Security (another favorite)
- Norton Internet Security (I used to hate this but after checking around, the latest versions are actually good)
- Vipre Antivirus with Anti-spyware
So stop searching for antivirus firewall software now and go get a good Internet security suite.