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 and a VPN 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.

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.

Malware is a term for any type of malicious software, regardless of how it works, its intent or how it’s distributed. A virus is a specific type of malware that self-replicates by inserting its code into other programs. There are many ways cybercriminals distribute malware and viruses, but the most common are malicious emails and websites.

Fake antivirus software is one of the most persistent threats on the internet today. Masquerading as legitimate antivirus software, these malicious programs extort money from you to “fix” your computer. This new “antivirus” program even disables legitimate security software that you already have, leaving you exposed to real threats. These rogue programs catch unsuspecting users by displaying a browser popup that warns you that your computer may be infected, and that you need to download a (fake) security software to fix the problem.\n\nThis type of malware is often referred to as “scareware” since the pop-ups use messages like “You have a virus,” as a way to get you to click. Most of us are eager to get rid of any potential problems as quickly as possible, which opens a huge window of opportunity for these bad actors. If successful, the cybercriminals get your credit card details and other personal information, and you get nothing but malware in return.