Is McAfee a good virus scanner?
In today's digital world, a reliable virus scanner is hugely important to secure all our devices. One of the best-known brands in this field is McAfee. In this article, we take a closer look at the question: is McAfee a good virus scanner?
What makes a good virus scanner?
Before we take a further look at McAfee's virus scanner, it is important to understand what makes a virus scanner considered "good". First, a good virus scanner should be able to detect and prevent various forms of malware, including viruses, spyware and ransomware, from infecting devices. It is also increasingly important that users' online privacy and identity are well protected. This is increasingly important because of growing digitalisation, increasing data collection and the risk of misuse by cybercriminals.
Important features for optimal security
Now you know the minimum requirements of a good virus scanner, but for optimal security you need to look beyond the minimum requirements. If you want to best protect your devices, files and online privacy and identity, there are a number of other features that are important. The features that matter for excellent security are: a VPN, password management and online backup. With these additional features, you can browse safely and anonymously, your passwords are unique and secure and you can fall back on backups if something does go wrong.
The strengths of McAfee
McAfee has years of experience in the world of cybersecurity and has also built strong reputations. One of McAfee's strengths is that they offer comprehensive security with their products. Besides basic protection against viruses and malware, McAfee products include features such as firewall protection, password management, and secure banking. The comprehensive security makes McAfee attractive to users looking for more than a standard or free virus scanner.
Comprehensive security features
In addition to standard virus protection against spyware, malware and ransomware, among others, McAfee scans both incoming and outgoing traffic via a VPN, blocking potential threats. In addition to this protection, McAfee also offers botnet protection to prevent your PC from becoming part of criminal activity. Another unique feature is scam protection, which protects against phishing and identity fraud. The feature not only scans your PC and your mailbox, but also, for example, the text messages on your mobile phone, including protection against phishing, smishing and quishing (phishing via QR codes).
Privacy protection
The Social Media Privacy Manager is another unique feature from McAfee. This feature allows you to be as private (or public) as you want on social media by easily managing your privacy settings with just a few clicks. Moreover, McAfee offers a VPN that allows you to ensure your online privacy and anonymity.
Online identity protection
McAfee's password manager (True Key Password Manager) protects your online identity. This password manager also synchronises with mobile devices, this is not common with many brands and is therefore a strength of McAfee. Also, McAfee also offers the Dark Web Monitoring and Identity Monitoring functions. In case of data breaches involving your data, you can easily address them with McAfee's support.
The latest and most comprehensive security: McAfee+
McAfee's latest security range is called McAfee+. These new products focus on online privacy and identity. In addition to the virus scanner, the McAfee+ products include a VPN, password management and much more. In addition, the software is easy to use due to its user-friendly interface.
The power of McAfee
Other, more traditional products put your computer at the centre of their antivirus product. McAfee goes further and looks at you as a person. Everything you do is protected, on every device. So it no longer matters whether you work on your laptop or on your smartphone or tablet. This includes privacy and identity protection because this is a central part of everything you do online. The potential damage of a breach of your privacy or identity is huge, often even greater than the damage of a virus on your computer.
McAfee's weaknesses
Despite McAfee's strengths, there are also some weaknesses. One point in which McAfee seems to lag behind some competitors is the lack of a built-in online backup feature. While some other security brands allow users to back up files and sync them to the cloud, McAfee lacks this feature. Because we think online backup is one of the most important security features, we have put together our own bundle with online backup: McAfee+ Premium Individual with Jottacloud Personal Unlimited. This bundle gives you a hugely comprehensive security package; you can protect an unlimited number of devices and with Jottacloud you have unlimited cloud storage.
Conclusion: is McAfee a good virus scanner?
The answer to the question of whether McAfee is a good virus scanner is yes. McAfee offers good security with comprehensive features and a user-friendly interface, but it is important to take into account that it does not include online backup. Users looking for an all-in-one security solution with advanced features can count on McAfee's security. People who care a lot about keeping their data safe can also use the software, only we recommend purchasing an online backup with it for optimal security.
